Helpful Score: 11
You know, I wasn't going to write a review of this book at first. At first, I was ready to quit and say I tried, and give it up for a lost cause. I am so glad that I stuck with this book! It is a real treat to read.
This book is about a dozen people living in NYC in 1974 and how their lives intersected on one fateful day. There is a religious zealot, an artist, a judge, a housewife, a prostitute, a nurse, and a few others. On this particular day, a tightrope walker decides to take a hike across the urban canyon between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A lot of people saw this tightrope walker do his thing, and parts of his story are interspersed with the others, and how one small act has reverberations throughout many lives.
Now, I almost quit this book because the first story (about the religious zealot) didn't really seem to make sense in the grand scheme of things. The second story, likewise, but if you stay with it, and keep reading, you will see the pattern that emerges.
Now if you're looking for mystery, or action, adventure, and thrills, then look elsewhere, because this book is totally not about any of those. It's very much character-driven. One would even say that the characterizations are very rich and inclusive.
It is a really great story and I'm glad that I read it. I was sorry to see the ending though, it rather sprung up more quickly than I had anticipated.
This book is about a dozen people living in NYC in 1974 and how their lives intersected on one fateful day. There is a religious zealot, an artist, a judge, a housewife, a prostitute, a nurse, and a few others. On this particular day, a tightrope walker decides to take a hike across the urban canyon between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A lot of people saw this tightrope walker do his thing, and parts of his story are interspersed with the others, and how one small act has reverberations throughout many lives.
Now, I almost quit this book because the first story (about the religious zealot) didn't really seem to make sense in the grand scheme of things. The second story, likewise, but if you stay with it, and keep reading, you will see the pattern that emerges.
Now if you're looking for mystery, or action, adventure, and thrills, then look elsewhere, because this book is totally not about any of those. It's very much character-driven. One would even say that the characterizations are very rich and inclusive.
It is a really great story and I'm glad that I read it. I was sorry to see the ending though, it rather sprung up more quickly than I had anticipated.
Helpful Score: 6
I listened to this book on audio book; the audio book was really well done with each story being read by a different person who really fit the character. I picked this book up because I had heard such wonderful things about it. It was a very interesting book and overall I enjoyed it.
The book is basically broken down into a series of short stories about different people living in New York City in the 70's. In between stories there are interludes about a tight rope walker who walks between the world trade center towers. In the end all of the stories and characters are tied together in some way.
The book starts out a bit slow; depicting the early life of a pair of Irish brothers and telling about how they ended up in New York City. One of the brothers is looking for the meaning of God in the derelicts of New York. Then there is a story told from the point of a old woman who lost her son in Vietnam. The next story is told by one of the hookers the Irish brother tries to help. Then a story about a young hacker who hacks into phones near the World Trade Center during the tightrope walk. Next a story from the mother of the hooker who the Irish brother helped. Then a story from a judge's point of view, he is the husband of the woman who lost his son in Vietnam. This is just an example of the first few stories...you get the point. There are nine stories in total, they are interrupted by interludes about the tight rope walker.
McCann does a great job creating believable characters that, while not very likable at times, are easy to sympathize with. All of the characters are very human. There is some plot as the stories of all the individuals interconnect and culminate in an interesting ending. I wouldn't say the book is really plot driven though, it is more about taking glimpses into the lives of ordinary people and what makes them make the decisions they make. McCann goes into deep descriptions so that you can easily visualize the settings and there is a lot of internal dialogue from the characters telling the story. This is definitely not an action driven book but more of a slow paced mystery of sorts and a story of the social picture in New York at the current time frame.
The title of the book basically tells you the point of the story: no matter what happens history repeats itself and people's lives go on.
One of my biggest gripes about the book is that it moves at a very deliberate pace. People who are into action or plot driven stories should skip this one. If you are interesting in society and history, or about the ordinary man's story than you will enjoy this book. The other thing that bothered me was how unresolved the ending was. I was expecting something awesome and the book just kind of ends at the middle of a scene...I suppose this does depict life but I don't really like my stories to end this way.
Overall I liked the book. It was well done and gave an interesting look into the New York City of the 1970's. The characters were well done and believable; listening to this on audio book with the different speakers was awesome. The pace of the book is pretty slow and the ending very open, which were the only negatives to it. This book is for people interested in the human condition and history. Action fans or mystery fans shouldn't expect much of either here.
The book is basically broken down into a series of short stories about different people living in New York City in the 70's. In between stories there are interludes about a tight rope walker who walks between the world trade center towers. In the end all of the stories and characters are tied together in some way.
The book starts out a bit slow; depicting the early life of a pair of Irish brothers and telling about how they ended up in New York City. One of the brothers is looking for the meaning of God in the derelicts of New York. Then there is a story told from the point of a old woman who lost her son in Vietnam. The next story is told by one of the hookers the Irish brother tries to help. Then a story about a young hacker who hacks into phones near the World Trade Center during the tightrope walk. Next a story from the mother of the hooker who the Irish brother helped. Then a story from a judge's point of view, he is the husband of the woman who lost his son in Vietnam. This is just an example of the first few stories...you get the point. There are nine stories in total, they are interrupted by interludes about the tight rope walker.
McCann does a great job creating believable characters that, while not very likable at times, are easy to sympathize with. All of the characters are very human. There is some plot as the stories of all the individuals interconnect and culminate in an interesting ending. I wouldn't say the book is really plot driven though, it is more about taking glimpses into the lives of ordinary people and what makes them make the decisions they make. McCann goes into deep descriptions so that you can easily visualize the settings and there is a lot of internal dialogue from the characters telling the story. This is definitely not an action driven book but more of a slow paced mystery of sorts and a story of the social picture in New York at the current time frame.
The title of the book basically tells you the point of the story: no matter what happens history repeats itself and people's lives go on.
One of my biggest gripes about the book is that it moves at a very deliberate pace. People who are into action or plot driven stories should skip this one. If you are interesting in society and history, or about the ordinary man's story than you will enjoy this book. The other thing that bothered me was how unresolved the ending was. I was expecting something awesome and the book just kind of ends at the middle of a scene...I suppose this does depict life but I don't really like my stories to end this way.
Overall I liked the book. It was well done and gave an interesting look into the New York City of the 1970's. The characters were well done and believable; listening to this on audio book with the different speakers was awesome. The pace of the book is pretty slow and the ending very open, which were the only negatives to it. This book is for people interested in the human condition and history. Action fans or mystery fans shouldn't expect much of either here.
Helpful Score: 5
It took me time to get into the swing of this book,and when it finally ended i did. Was not impressed, wished it would have given us a longer story line on the tight rope walker instead of lingering on other characters. Over all i did not like it very much.
Helpful Score: 4
This is one of the best books I've read in the past year. Having lived through the events at the core of this novel, it was fascinating how McCann was able to weave them together around the man on the wire. It's a book that's hard to put down. It also led me to view the documentary "Man on a Wire" -- am sorry now that I did not take the time to see on the big screen. Pick this one up -- you won't be sorry you did!
Helpful Score: 3
I predict I will be the odd-man out, but here goes: If you try to guard your mind against depravity, this is the wrong book to read, lol. I SO wanted to love this book - it had intriguing stories and characters - but honestly, I had to quit half-way through. Some of the sections were just overly vile, and I got sick of multiple 'f'-bombs on nearly every other page. I understand that sometimes life can be gritty and depraved, but imo a true literary artist can create interesting (even debased) characters without relentlessly searing your brain with smut. Draw me into your world without making me feel filthy and hopeless. I think a huge opportunity was missed here to shine some light of hopefulness into what can be a very dark world. I suggest you read To Kill A Mockingbird instead.
Helpful Score: 2
I don't normally write book reviews, but this isn't the normal book. It actually took me about 6 months to finish the book because I found it slow at first, but once I got going I couldn't stop. I loved how the author varied his narrative based on the character presented. It does leave you with a bit of an unfinished feeling, but that is what I think is the intent.
Essentially, if you like your books wrapped up neat and tidy by the end and leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest, this book probably is not for you. Otherwise, give it a chance!
Essentially, if you like your books wrapped up neat and tidy by the end and leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest, this book probably is not for you. Otherwise, give it a chance!
Helpful Score: 2
I really, really liked this book. It's a story of intersecting lives in New York in 1974 with Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the twin towers as the linchpin. The stories reflect the diversity of NY, ranging from the black hookers in the Bronx to the wealthy on Park Avenue -- and remind us that we all walk a tightrope -- though the difference is how high off the ground we are. The characters are well-drawn; the writing often exquisite; and the stories heart-breaking, poignant, surprising, and mundane. Well-worth reading.
Helpful Score: 1
Fascinating,poignant,and irresistable read, a glimpse into the 70's, a time when the Twin Towers just being built and a tightrope artist took the ultimate challenge. McCann interweaves a strong variety of characters and stories as a backdrop to the main event. As the best Books go, this was mine for 2010!
Helpful Score: 1
In all, a decent novel and written intelligently. I liked that it focused not on the spectacle, the person most obviously attracting the attention (who did manage to snag the book cover), but instead about the anonymous people below. McCann wrote about the little people (smaller, even, when one is suspended a quarter mile in the air) who hold this world together, who give it that spin and keep it spinning while only a few observe from above. But a warning: below is an ugly place.
The people populating this story were anything but beautiful, anything but small, and anything but simple. The priest, the prostitutes, the drug-addled artistall were flawed and difficult to look at in the light McCann shined on them. I couldn't connect to any of the characters and truthfully, I found Gloria's voice saccharine and full of threadbare metaphor. It's a shame because in theory, she's the one I should have most liked. Tillie's voice grew tiresome and false, too.
I'm unsure as to McCann's intention with the characters - did he want us to hate them? Did he want us to connect with any of them? Part of me thinks no, but part of me thinks that the point of the novel was explaining that we can and do connect with each other as humans in the face of all things, good (an unexpected tightrope walker) and bad (the Vietnam War). Why couldn't I connect with these people, then? I'm willing to give McCann another chance, though. Perhaps I'll like this one better after Book Club discusses it.
The people populating this story were anything but beautiful, anything but small, and anything but simple. The priest, the prostitutes, the drug-addled artistall were flawed and difficult to look at in the light McCann shined on them. I couldn't connect to any of the characters and truthfully, I found Gloria's voice saccharine and full of threadbare metaphor. It's a shame because in theory, she's the one I should have most liked. Tillie's voice grew tiresome and false, too.
I'm unsure as to McCann's intention with the characters - did he want us to hate them? Did he want us to connect with any of them? Part of me thinks no, but part of me thinks that the point of the novel was explaining that we can and do connect with each other as humans in the face of all things, good (an unexpected tightrope walker) and bad (the Vietnam War). Why couldn't I connect with these people, then? I'm willing to give McCann another chance, though. Perhaps I'll like this one better after Book Club discusses it.
Helpful Score: 1
I found this book difficult to get through. I really wanted to like it, but I did not. I don't see what the historical event of the walk had to do with the rest of the story. There was also an aura of sadness that permeated throughout the book for. Maybe it was the writing style. At the end, it seemed to be one of those books that I "should" read or perhaps one that would be assigned as school reading.
loved this book! the writing is amazing. he weaves the lives of 12 people together, set in the early 19070's in new york city. a must-read.
What a wonderful novel! I was on the fence about a third of the way in but reviews by friends encouraged me to continue. I'm so glad I did! Colum McCann is a brilliant writer.
This book is about a handful of people living in NYC in 1974. Several of the people witness a tightrope walker making his way between the World Trade Towers on this one day. Most of the book shows how their lives intersect on this news making day. We learn the stories of all the individuals and how they interconnect. The books takes a look into the lives of ordinary people and what drives them to act the way they do. This is not an action driven book but a beautiful story of the social picture in New York City in 1974.
This book is about a handful of people living in NYC in 1974. Several of the people witness a tightrope walker making his way between the World Trade Towers on this one day. Most of the book shows how their lives intersect on this news making day. We learn the stories of all the individuals and how they interconnect. The books takes a look into the lives of ordinary people and what drives them to act the way they do. This is not an action driven book but a beautiful story of the social picture in New York City in 1974.
Excellent read. It was an emotional ride of how one day can intertwine a group of people. A group of diverse troubled people who were so interesting to read about. They seemed so human. I loved reading about New York City during this particular time period. Has much changed, I'm not so sure. Thank you Mr. McCann for such a momentous read.
This was my favorite book of 2009. The characters are complex and full of depth and humanity. Great story and very thoughtful. I couldn't put it down.
This book started out a little slow for me, but then I couldn't put it down because I wanted to see how all of the different characters tied together. It amazed me how Colum McCann weaved all of the characters together and it all came together at the end. Wonderful book!
While I didn't love Let the Great World Spin, I can appreciate it. It's a story set in New York City in 1974, standing in for NYC on 9/11, that brings the reader into the lives of ordinary citizens. The novel depicts grief, shortcomings, redemption, joy, humanity and interconnectedness. Masterful writing by the talented Colum McCann.
I just finished reading this book for an English class, and I'd have to say that this is the best book that I have ever been forced to read for a class. Colum McCann is a great author and makes you think you are right there with the characters. It was a fairly quick read for me, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.
A beautiful book through and through, Let the Great World Spin is filled with vivid and complex characters (one being the city of New York itself), visually evocative prose, and a gritty and crisp wit that only a true irishman can produce. The book is a stunner.
Its no surprise it won the National Book Award for 2009.
Its no surprise it won the National Book Award for 2009.
This book is marvelous-- the writing, the characters and how everything spins around beautifully. One of my favorites of the year. Highly recommended.
I know this book has been hugely popular, but I was not impressed. I kept "hearing" the author thinking how clever he was.
I am in awe of the unbelievable emotional power of this post-911 tragedy. The story of a day when a lone tightrope walker walked between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Seeing the documentary Man on a Wire really gave a feel for the event. This multi-perspective modern novel takes a single day in 1974 and looks at how the lives of the people of NY are touched: hookers and heros, mothers their sons who died in Vietnam, judges and junkies, priests and painters. We do not know the small ways that our lives are woven together.
It had never occurred to me before, one character says, but everything in New York is built upon another thing, nothing is entirely by itself, each thing as strange as the last, and connected. A unique tale that intertwines the lives of several people that live in New York in 1974. An Irish monk living in the Bronx projects fighting off the Vice Squad, a Guatemalan nurse who loves a doomed man, a Park Avenue mother in mourning for her dead son, blown up in a café in Saigon. There are computer hackers who "visit" New York in an early echo of the Internet and an artist who learns to love simply, but not before causing a terrible tragedy. And of course, a kind-hearted hooker. There's always one of those. I must admit that I had a hard time getting through that short prologue, but read with patience. You'll be rewarded for it. A masterpiece.
most interesting book i've read this year. each chapter was a new character that all tied together at end. really great message too!
I offer mixed reviews on this one: On the one hand, it is an extremely well written book with a well thought out plot, amazingly well-defined characters, and the ability to pull the reader right into the scenes and the feelings of its varied and various entities. On the other hand, I would not read it again, because it left me feeling sad, dragged down, depressed, and rudderless for several days. Not a good feeling and not one I would go scouting for on purpose.
Although I don't generally require that all the books I read have fairytale endings, I do prefer reading material that leaves me with at least a sense of hope or the hint of a possibility at a resolution for some of the characters I've come to care about. I did not find that in this book. It leaves things stark and unfinished with not even a flicker of a suggestion that anything would continue on any path other than where we had left it. Perhaps some people like that feeling, but I prefer to be left with more hope.
Although I don't generally require that all the books I read have fairytale endings, I do prefer reading material that leaves me with at least a sense of hope or the hint of a possibility at a resolution for some of the characters I've come to care about. I did not find that in this book. It leaves things stark and unfinished with not even a flicker of a suggestion that anything would continue on any path other than where we had left it. Perhaps some people like that feeling, but I prefer to be left with more hope.
Let the Great World Spin literally begins on a high note: on an August morning in 1974, a lone tightrope walker performs between the Twin Towers, transfixing all of lower Manhattan below. Colum McCann gets the rhythm of the city just right, and stays in pitch as he descends into the masses for a series of interwoven stories. He masterfully and effortlessly guides us through the first person narrative of an Irishman visiting his brother living out his monastic vow of poverty in a Bronx housing project to the third person account of the Park Avenue judge assigned to the tightrope walker's case, with many more intricate connecting bits. Taken together it's a portrait of New York City in the 1970s -- grungier, filthier but one in which its inhabitants can and do look up at the gleaming new World Trade Center towers, as opposed to the post-9/11 present. The title reminds us how interconnect we all are; it's from a Tenneyson poem influenced in turn by sixth century Arabic poetry. The prose reminds us of the passion we can feel even in the midst of dirt and loss.
My book club enjoyed this novel.
The language is a joy to read and the story is woven together as carefully as a tightrope walker's rope.
I didn't actually go in expecting much from this book. I had heard good things about it, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it. Frankly, i expected it to be slow. Boy, was I wrong. Couldn't put it down, and absolutely adored it.
Although this book is award winning and technically well written, I hated the blasphemy and excessive swearing throughout. It spoiled what might have been a good book.
I will probably be in the minority on this review. While I did not hate the book, I can say that I was simply not impressed.
This is a book about human depravity laid bare, and it offers very little hope to balance the scales. The characters were well drawn and emotionally compelling enough, but that doesn't mean that I enjoyed their stories.
There was something else about this book that frustrated me, something that I could never quite put my finger on. I had this sense that the author's personal agenda was peeking around the corner of every page, and one line in the author's note finally summed things up for me: "Originally, I wanted my tight rope walker to fall, as the Bush years seemed to imply that he must ... When Barack Obama got elected I thought that the story had to go in a different direction, and so I tried to push it that way, toward a point of recovery."
Did I enjoy the book? Not really. Would I recommend it? Unlikely. And will it make me seek out other books by this same author? Probably not. For me, those three strikes equal two stars. It's not necessarily a book that is badly written, it is simply a book that I really did not like.
This is a book about human depravity laid bare, and it offers very little hope to balance the scales. The characters were well drawn and emotionally compelling enough, but that doesn't mean that I enjoyed their stories.
There was something else about this book that frustrated me, something that I could never quite put my finger on. I had this sense that the author's personal agenda was peeking around the corner of every page, and one line in the author's note finally summed things up for me: "Originally, I wanted my tight rope walker to fall, as the Bush years seemed to imply that he must ... When Barack Obama got elected I thought that the story had to go in a different direction, and so I tried to push it that way, toward a point of recovery."
Did I enjoy the book? Not really. Would I recommend it? Unlikely. And will it make me seek out other books by this same author? Probably not. For me, those three strikes equal two stars. It's not necessarily a book that is badly written, it is simply a book that I really did not like.
Individuals in NY so unaware of each other late-summer in 1974 but connected and affecting each other while the world around them was changing. NY and the country was dealing with all the rapid changes including Vietnam war heroes who were unappreciated to the people involved in the new internet frontier. The world was truly spinning with emotion, change and destruction.
