Everyone has a story. I believe one could pull aside any checker at Walmart, for example, talk to them for a bit, and find that there is something remarkably interesting about their life.
This book seems to indicate the author agrees with me. However, I have mixed feelings about the way he presents his characters and their lives to his readers. Sometimes I literally couldn’t put the book down; other times I would toss the book on the bed and think, “What in the hell is he talking about?” Overall, I found Let the Great World Spin to be a good read.
One of my favorite things about the book was the way he presented the characters one at a time, and then eventually weaved them all together in the courtroom. For the most part, I found his characters interesting. The author, however, only gave a one-dimensional blip about each character – just enough to grab my interest. I would have loved to know the characters better. For example, we learn that Lara and Ciaran end up together, but how did that come about? What did Lara ever see in her weird and self-centered boyfriend ? What made her suggest they leave the scene of the accident, and then be so unable to forgive herself?
In an interview in the back of the copy of the book I read, the author says that the book became more about ordinary people on the street walking a tightrope just one inch off the ground. Which character and situation touched you the most as an ordinary person walking a tightrope one inch off the ground? The character for whom I had the most sympathy was Claire, whose loss of her son broke my heart. But my favorite character was Gloria, whose ability to love was endless.
Tying all of these stories to the tightrope walker in 1974 was creative, I thought. It seemed significant that the author used this particular true-life incident as his central theme because the World Trade Centers have become so symbolic to us of how we are all tied together as Americans. In the same interview, the author says he was very affected by 9/11. He stated that the only way to shake the dust off from that day was to go backwards to different points of innocence. He went back to 1974 to explore war (Claire/Joshua) and art (Lara), liberation theology (Corrigan), and issues of technology (phone phreakers – and goodness gracious, what was up with them?). McCann says that for him, the towers got built back up when the two little girls got rescued by strangers. Using that same imagery, the towers got rebuilt up for me when, following her mugging, Gloria took the cab back to Claire, who so desperately needed her friendship. Was there a time or story in the book when the towers got built back up for you?
McCann says that Corrigan is the first character who came to him when writing this book and that he is the one who introduced him to all of the other characters. He says that he was sad when Corrigan died and there were times when he wanted to roll back the stone and apologize to him. I really liked Corrigan as a character, but he was a puzzle to me. While he clearly used his role as a priest, or a brother, or a monk, or whatever he was, to help those who really needed his help, I never understood why he became a member of a religious order. I didn’t ever get a sense that he became a priest (or whatever he was) because he had an extraordinary love of God. His need to care for those around him almost seemed painful. And his death so early in the book really took me by surprise. Could you tell that Corrigan played an important role in the novel for the author by the way he presented him?
Finally, can someone (perhaps an English teacher?) explain to me why the author chose to use dashes instead of quotation marks, ala Cry, the Beloved Country? And even more confusing, why did he do that for most of the book, but in a couple of instances, use quotation marks? Yikes. That made my head explode.
Overall, I would give the book a 7 or 8 out of 10, for the interesting characters, the strong sense of place (the Bronx in the 70s) and the interesting way in which the author tied it all together in the end.
I’m not going to say much right now, but I did really like this book. I enjoyed how all the seemingly disparate stories came together at the end. I also appreciated the last chapter as it highlighted the relationship between Claire and Jasmyn. The sense of finality and especially the mostly optimistic tone seems unusual for contemporary fiction.
ReplyDeleteLike Kris, I thought the use of the tight-rope walking and the Towers was effective. I wonder if part of the reason the author used this particular incident is that the rope or line can represent the thread that held all the stories together as well as the thread that connects all people…six degrees of separation and all that. Using the Towers had impact because of how very strong that image now is for all of us; it’s ironic that, at the time, many saw the buildings as atrocities and now we have turned them into almost sacred symbols. The author definitely is playing around with that image, and I love it!
As for the quotations: I didn’t even notice the dashes. For me, not using quotation marks makes the dialogue easier and smoother to read…I feel like I’m following a real conversation instead of something stilted and constructed. I’ll have to go back through the book (not so easy to do on a Kindle) to notice the use of that punctuation.
I’m anxious to know what others thought of the book.
This book is a perfect example of why I enjoy being in a book club. I know I would never have read this book if not for the group picking it. But I'm glad I did read it.
ReplyDeleteThe storyline that I found to be someone walking a tightrope one inch off the ground was that of Tillie. I found her life very depressing. The chapter when she was in prison made me so sad I had to take a break from the book for a few days. I think I'd prefer to walk the tightrope that Philippe Petit (real tightrope walker) walked than live the life Tillie did, surrounded by drugs, pimps and prostitution. And I'm afraid of heights!
The story of redemption for me was the friendship that came between Claire and Gloria. I loved when Gloria turned around and went back to Claire's. I also enjoyed finding out through Jaslyn's life that they were life long friends very much involved in one another's life.
Corrigan was a mystery to me. I never did figure out why he made the life choices he did. McCann said he wanted to write a book in a radical Catholic context. I don't know, I think he missed that for me. In my perception Corrigan wasn't truly a practicing Catholic priest.
McCann's writing style did drive me crazy. And as Kris said, I really wanted my Honors English teaching sister to be up in arms with it as well! Bec, in the chapter Miro Miro On the Wall, when Claire was getting ready for the women to come up to her home, those short choppy sentences made me nuts. "Oh. The buzzer. Oh. Oh. Spoon clang to the floor. Oh." Someone, please agree with me here!
When I started the book I would have rated it a 5 or 6. It just didn't grab me. But I did enjoy how he wove the characters together and how the book ended. Therefore, I would now rate it a 7.5. I'm not sure what my problem is, but Darlene had to explain one character tie in to me and Kris had to remind me of another. Maybe because we didn't get to know any characters too well, I would miss that they were back in a later story.
Tillie's story really was very sad. Reading about her life reminded me how difficult it is to leave a life of poverty, and how it passes down from generation to generation. More than likely if Jazzlyn had lived, Jaslyn would have also been a drug addict and prostitute. I also found it interesting that Claire was so embarrassed about her wealth, at least as compared to her support group.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Corrigan: I found his story both irritating and poignant. I remember the days when priests and religious were working very hard to become “relevant.” Some of them were trying to get out of the ivory towers and help others, especially those caught in the trap of poverty. For me, Corrigan was so idealistic that it was almost counterproductive; if I’d been his sibling, I would have responded as Ciaran did. Ciaran loved him and wanted to support him, but he was frustrated by his naiveté. I guess Corrigan, as a young boy, knew he wanted to devote his life to others and didn’t know how to do it, except through the Church.
ReplyDeleteTillie’s story made me sad; she was the tightrope walker for me. Her determination that her daughter would not be in the life, and her disappointment in herself at not being able to follow through with that resolution were heartbreaking. Losing her daughter was the last straw. I agree with Jen, that had Tillie lived and raised her granddaughters, their lives would probably not have been as good as they turned out. On some level, Tillie probably recognized that possibility, which is saddest of all.
About McCann’s writing style: I like it very much. Writing a book in this style must be very challenging, because the author needs to make sure each section has the voice of the characters it’s revealing. I thought McCann did that very well. As soon as I started a chapter, I had an idea of who it would be about, just from the language, sentence structure, tone, etc. His ability to do that and still create a cohesive piece was, for me, impressive.
I would rate this book an 8. I was intrigued by the premise from the beginning, and I liked it more and more as it kept coming back to the same characters and tying their stories together.
Oops...sorry. It was ER who made that comment about Jasmyn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jennie about being in a book club and reading books I might not otherwise read. In this case, I'm not sure I would have finished the book if I weren't in the book club. I am glad I did, though, and I think I'd give it a 7 overall.
ReplyDeleteAt times, it seemed lke McCann was trying too hard to be a significant writer. I found some of the parts to be filled with over-agnst, but that may be because I like happier endings than happened for most of the characters. I do have to admit I liked the phrase "ontological glue" though.
I thought Corrigan's childhood indicated that he had a spiritual link to the world's cast-offs, and I thought he was quite well done as a character. I'm not sure why McCann wrote him as a nouveau (hippie?) priest. Maybe spiritual Irish men from that time period had to become priests? I would have liked him to be a lay spiritual man and then have a great relationship with Adelita and her kids. I would have even been fine with him leaving whatever order he was in and marrying Adelita. (My Pollyanna coming through). I didn't think it was necessary to the story to have Corrigan die.
I think it was over-contrived to have Lara eventually marry Ciaran. Perhaps I didn't fully embrace the McCann's tapestry of connectedness. At the end, I kept waiting for Ciaran or Lara to admit to Jaslyn that she was in the car that killed Jaslyn's mother.
I liked the time span of the book and the linkage to 9/11 and the towers. However, the towers didn't get rebuilt for me by anything in the book.
Tillie's story was heart-wrenching. Taking the blame for Jazz and then having Jazz die on the way home was a bit maudlin for me though. McCann could have chosen a moment of redemption, and he didn't, and I was disappointed by that.
I thought it was sad that Corrigan died, but I disagree that it was unnecessary. I actually think that, if one does embrace the "tapestry of connectedness" that Margaret described, it had to begin with Corrigan and Jazz dying in the car crash. The domino effect sort of began there. And, in my world, at some point in their lives, Ciaran or Lara did admit to Jaslyn that her car killed her mother. That's because of my Pollyanna!
ReplyDeleteOkay so here I am a new member (Darlene) and I have to say overall this book kind of annoyed me and it took alot for me to finish it. I did not care for Corrigan or Ciaran, I never felt Corrigan ever practiced a faith and when he was young in Ireland and hung out with homeless etc...it was more like he was trying to get back at his father and in the end Ciaran and Lara get together, UGH!!! I think most of the characters were very insecure, weak people. Who I truly loved was Claire, Gloria and Jaslyn. The two of them seemed so lonesome in there lives and when they met and formed that bond of friendship it made me feel like I had not wasted my time reading the book. I was so glad Gloria took the girls and I thought it was interesting how Jaslyn wanted to check the past and the connections and her sister could have gave a rats!!!! I probably would have liked Janice as a character HAHAHA...so there is my comment today, might have more later. This is so fun. Thank you for inviting me.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Janice, and how she had no interest in learning about her past. It's interesting that the author chose to have the two sisters be so different, at least in that regard. But I guess Ciaran and Corrigan were also different. Your reaction to Lara and Ciaran as a couple made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteI think as I read the comments from the other readers it makes me think and view some of the book in different way. Everyone that was linked had such different backgrounds and life styles. I wonder what Corrigan would have thought of his brothers wealth, at least Lara made a better choice the second time around her first husband was an egotistic, self centered looser. I agree with Jennie though, I definitely would not have read this book and the chapter on Tillie in prison was hard to get through, the choice of suicide over the life she had waiting for her made me sad.
ReplyDeleteI really didn’t care for this book very much. I thought by the description of the book that it was going to be more exciting. I agree with Aunt Kris that the author never fully developed every character in the book. I thought the writing was kind of poetic, not in a good way for me. The short choppy sentences were bothersome. (I agree with you mom). I agree with the person who said McCann was trying too hard. I would have to go back over what I just read because I would get bored or distracted. It just wasn’t keeping my attention. I did like how the characters were linked together. I didn’t understand those radio guys who were calling pay phones???? Weird. I would give the book a 5 or 6.
ReplyDeleteThe character that I did like the best was Gloria. I liked her whole background story. I liked how she ended up taking care of the little girls. I liked that she and Claire became friends.
Corrigan was a really unusual character. He seemed so conflicted from when he was little until he eventually died. I guess I liked that he was trying to be a good friend to the prostitutes but then I didn’t understand why he brought that old guy from the nursing home over and was therefore condoning prostitution. So he just wanted to be a “caring” and “accepting” friend and that’s it with no intention of trying to change them??
I think the towers were built back up when Gloria took on the responsibility of the two little girls. She broke the cycle those two girls would have eventually fallen into.
I like Margaret's story line with Carrigan much better than McCann's!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone in the group hasn't read McCann's comments and the interview at the end of the book take time to read it. That really helped me understand what McCann was tyring to achieve. I'm not sure he did entirely, though. Until I read that he was trying to make a statement about technology in 1974 I had no idea what the "phone phreakers" were about. I still think he could have done better with that subject!
Has anyone googled Philippe Petit? That's a crazy true story and now we'll always remember what year he did that as a piece of trivia!
BTW, I thought the World Trade Centers were much older than they actually were in 1974. I don't know why I thought that.
When I talked to Maggie on the phone tonight she said that this book reminded her of a book one would read in high school and have to look for the deeper meaning. Beckie probably would wonder why anyone would take the time to read a book and not want there to be a deeper meaning!
Are we allowed to lower our rating mid discussion? Margaret, Maggie and Darlene are swaying my decision!
It's true...I do enjoy the challenge of working out what the author is telling me through his structure, symbols, etc. I thought this was going to be a book of unrelated stories and then little by little McCann revealed the connections between them. I must admit I was a little slow, because I didn't get for quite a while that the van accident was the one that killed Corrigan.
ReplyDeleteI will agree with everyone that whatever point the author was trying to make with the weird phone phreakers didn't work.
Still, overall I haven't changed my opinion of the book. It reminded me (a little) of A Tale of Two Cities. There are all these different plot strands and you wonder what they're all about. And then, at the end, they nicely come together.
Jennie, thank you for inviting me into the book club, I am so hooked on reading the comments and the chats. It has made me so much more aware of different things in the book that I would not have viewed the way others have, a wonderful way to get the mind going in different directions. I forgot about the phone breakers and did not understand that until I read the interview in the back of the book, the only thing I remembered is the young guy wanted to know the girls name and her phone number because I think through her voice and the way she talked he felt an attraction to her and some how wanted to talk to her more, kind of one of those fleeting moments we have when you see a stranger in passing and for just a second feel a connection. But over all I am just not feeling it for this book and I would rate it a 5 only because it had moments I truly wanted to read it, but for the most part the book just did not do it for me.
ReplyDeleteSo, as I am reading through everyone's posts, I still have mixed emotions about this book. Aunt Kris, was it you who once said that you never feel guilty about not finishing a book, because life is too short to read bad ones? Well, not that I think this book was "bad", because it wasn't. BUT, this book was not for me. I had a super hard time getting into it. I promised myself I would give it 100 pages. Then I kept reading, slowly. Then I debated...to finish or not to finish? Then I tried to renew it from the library, and there was my answer. I did not finish the book...UGH...there it is. I said it.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I did read, I think the author had great purpose. I wanted to get to the end to know how every event and every person were interrelated. However, I needed something compelling to keep me going. Cliffhangers or excitement or at least a HINT. I didn't get those things. The stories were mostly so sad and desperate. Corrigan, in my opinion, was God's gift to the streets of the Bronx. His story had no where to go but down. Only the good die young...as Billy Joel so elloquently expressed it.
Tillie...what a hot mess. Her daughter never stood a chance. Claire...poor lonely thing. The phone hackers...great comic relief (or at least an attempt).
And that is where the story ends for me. I am looking forward to the next book.