Let the Great World Spin

Long ago I came to the conclusion that there are far more books I want to read than I'll be able to conquer in my lifetime, and so it was necessary to be heartless when it came to books that didn't "grab" me. I don't have a strict page number policy, except I try to give a book at least 50 pages (more if it's a chunkster) before giving up. I realize in doing so that I might be missing out on something wonderful, but so be it--there are plenty of wonderful books waiting their turn.

So when I got into the second story of Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and found my mind wandering, I said, buh-bye, back to the library with you, and I moved on. I read many other books that were engrossing, but I started to notice that the McCann book was getting great praise all over the praise; then it won the National Book Award. Not that I think winning a book award means I'll love it--far from it. But it did give me pause.

Then the Tournament of Books added the book to its shortlist, and shortly afterward I walked into my local bookstore, and there it was, in paperback. On a whim, I snapped it up and brought it home.

Well.

Not that I plan to rethink my overall strategy in terms of plowing through books I'm not enjoying, but I'm so, so glad I gave this one a second chance. Even the story that bothered me the first time was fascinating this time. Is it because I caved to popular opinion, or was I just not in the right mood the first time I tried? I'm going with the latter.

In any event, Let the Great World Spin, if you haven't heard about it, is set in New York City mostly during the summer of 1974, when Philippe Petit astonished the world by crossing the space between the World Trade Towers on a tightrope. That's the framework for this novel in stories, but the heart of the book is in other characters: Corrigan, a young Irish priest obsessed with the lowest levels of New York's population; Claire, a mother grieving the loss of her son in Vietnam; Tillie and Jazzlyn, a mother-daughter pair of hookers; and Lara and Blaine, artists trying to find their way in a world beginning to change from the wildness of the 60's.

To tell how these characters' cross paths with each other and how their lives become woven together would require a great number of spoilers, so suffice it to say that they do become intertwined, rich and poor, black and white and Hispanic, male and female. McCann does a marvelous balancing job of his own (pun intended) in moving between characters and stories, with distinct voices and personalities for each.

It certainly doesn't hurt that he's a fantastic writer:

"A row of smokers stood out in front of Metropolitan Hospital on Ninety-eighth and First Avenue. Each looked like his last cigarette, ashen and ready to fall. Through the swinging doors, the receiving room was full to capacity. Another cloud of smoke inside. Patches of blood on the floor. Junkies strung out along the benches. It was the type of hospital that looked like it needed a hospital."

I loved these characters, even the ones I wouldn't want to meet in real life. I was sad for the book to end; I wanted to know more about these people, more about their lives, but really, McCann told me what I needed to know for the point of the book itself.

So, Tournament of Books and Random House, thanks for the serendipity of the shortlist announcement and the paperback release occurring close enough together to trigger me to give this book another try. I'm so glad I did--it might even make it onto that very, very short list of books I plan to re-read someday.

Comments

[Jenny]

Hi, I followed you over here from Jennifer's blog hop!

I wanted to read this b/c I heard such great things about it. But then I picked up the book in the store and even the first page couldn't grab me so now I'm not sure. But good to know you thought it was worth it on your second read!