When you think about anything that's about the World Trade Center or 9/11, dramatic and upsetting works come to mind, like United 93 or some political commentary about the events of the day. And they always seem to fall just a little short. Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin is not like these.
In fact, Let the Great World Spin takes place (for the most part) some 27 years before when Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between those ill-fated buildings.
But even Petit is not the main focus. Rather, the book concentrates on how this fantastic event impacted the lives of New Yorkers that day, from an Irish immigrant to a Bronx prostitute to a Park Avenue grieving mother.
But even Petit is not the main focus. Rather, the book concentrates on how this fantastic event impacted the lives of New Yorkers that day, from an Irish immigrant to a Bronx prostitute to a Park Avenue grieving mother.
Through this narrative, McCann endows the twin towers with such a beautiful mythology that seems incomprehensible nowadays. Just as the events of September 11, 2001 at the WTC provoke feelings of horror, dread and heartache, the events of August 7, 1974 at the WTC, as written by McCann, provoke feelings of hope, amazement and wonder.
McCann does not stop there. While Let the Great World Spin is arguably about the twin towers, it is also about the city itself. Its very New York cast of about 10 characters (of whom Lara, an artist’s wife wrenching with guilt, is my favorite) span the Atlantic divide, the racial divide, the gender divide, the economic divide, and any other divide you can imagine. And while that many characters seem daunting to follow, McCann paints them with passionate precision so that each maintains the perfect amount of limelight.
The irony of these amazing literary feat is that McCann himself is not from New York. Nor is he American. And he was only 9 in 1974. So I suppose the old adage that you write what you know has gone to the dogs. And in reality, it is probably this distance from the place and the event that allows McCann to write as powerfully as he does.
I’ll leave you with what the late Frank McCourt, a fellow Irish writer, had to say about our dear McCann because I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“Now I worry about Colum McCann. What is he going to do after this blockbuster groundbreaking heartbreaking symphony of a novel? No novelist writing of New York has climbed higher, dived deeper.” (amazon.com)
(And as a sidenote… After I read this, I sought some more McCann but I was completely thrown off by Dancer. Is it worth reading? I embarrassingly judge books harshly by their cover, and a man's hairy foot is far less desirable than a delicate tightrope walker.)
[Jillian]
McCann does not stop there. While Let the Great World Spin is arguably about the twin towers, it is also about the city itself. Its very New York cast of about 10 characters (of whom Lara, an artist’s wife wrenching with guilt, is my favorite) span the Atlantic divide, the racial divide, the gender divide, the economic divide, and any other divide you can imagine. And while that many characters seem daunting to follow, McCann paints them with passionate precision so that each maintains the perfect amount of limelight.
The irony of these amazing literary feat is that McCann himself is not from New York. Nor is he American. And he was only 9 in 1974. So I suppose the old adage that you write what you know has gone to the dogs. And in reality, it is probably this distance from the place and the event that allows McCann to write as powerfully as he does.
I’ll leave you with what the late Frank McCourt, a fellow Irish writer, had to say about our dear McCann because I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“Now I worry about Colum McCann. What is he going to do after this blockbuster groundbreaking heartbreaking symphony of a novel? No novelist writing of New York has climbed higher, dived deeper.” (amazon.com)
(And as a sidenote… After I read this, I sought some more McCann but I was completely thrown off by Dancer. Is it worth reading? I embarrassingly judge books harshly by their cover, and a man's hairy foot is far less desirable than a delicate tightrope walker.)
[Jillian]
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