On Wednesday August 7, 1974 shortly after 7:15am Phillipe Petit began his tightrope walk between the South and North towers of New York's World Trade Center Towers-1,368 feet above the ground.
Colum McCann's story while marketed to a degree as what took place for many New Yorkers on the historic day is actually a much more epic story from a pair of brothers' childhood in Ireland to a grieving mother who lost her son in Vietnam. The story spans decades and continents more than a couple hundred feet of wire cable.
The book artfully went from family saga, to political drama, to hookers shooting heroin in the Bronx. While I consistently feel that switching POV is a risky business (as some character's stories always seem more boring or confusing than others) Let the Great World Spin-for the most part-avoiding falling into this trap. (The exception is one very misplaced chapter involving a telephone conversation that just doesn't fit.)
There were a few subtle nudges toward 9/11, but they didn't bother me- they felt fluid and relevant to where the story was going. I've heard people say that they felt that the theme of this book was "everything happens for a reason"- I must say that what I took from it was... there's no rhyme or reason to why things happen. You can try to hold onto or harp on the past, but mostly it's meaningless- sure we try to give it meaning to make ourselves feel better about things that may have happened (or didn't)- but mostly the only thing with any kind of lasting value is the present.
A-
*2009 National Book Award
*NY Times Notable Book
*Amazon.com best book of the year 2009
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