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    Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn
    Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn
    Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn
    Audiobook1 hour

    Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn

    Written by Colum McCann and Colm Toibin

    Narrated by Isaiah Sheffer and Michael Cerveris

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Isaiah Sheffer sits down with two great contemporary authors, Colum McCann and Colm Toibin, to discuss their books, Let the Great World Spin and Brooklyn. Michael Cerveris reads excerpts from the two novels.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSymphony Space
    Release dateMar 31, 2010
    ISBN9781467663724
    Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn

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    Reviews for Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Sad, but hopeful, and beautifully written. I loved it.
    • 5/5
      Fabulous book - so well written!
    • 3/5
      I had a tough time with this book. I think because I didn't like much of the setting for the first part of the book and I didn't care for many of the characters that were first presented. Having said that the writing itself is excellent. The author transports the reader to the places he writes about; I just didn't want to go where he sent me. He also creates vivid characters that are easily believable. I don't want to bash this book because I think it was more a disconnect between myself and the book rather than a poor job by the author.
    • 4/5
      The prologue deserves five stars, for delicious little sentences like these: "Revolving doors pushed quarters of conversation out into the street."Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn't knock my socks off. This is one of those patchwork-quilty "isn't it a small world after all?" novels where disparate characters happen to have something in common. Like a book of short stories held together with velcro. It's well done, but reads (in parts) like the product of a creative writing homework assignment.Some of the characters are beautifully drawn, though. My favorites were the grieving Park Avenue mother, and the subway graffiti photographer.
    • 4/5
      It bordered on excessive sentimentality and contained some unlikely coincidences, but (for me) never crossed the line. The well-drawn scenes were powerful enough and the narrative streams flowed strongly enough to save it all. And I'm a sucker for the multiple stories/overlapping characters setup anyway, be it in books or movies...
    • 5/5
      There was so much to like about this book with its (mostly) intersecting stories of a collection of disparate characters. Kudos to the connection to the true story of the highwire artist who intersects the sky above the streets of New York. Just as McCann brilliantly describes plastic bags carried on the wind as more of a ballet than a litter-strewn ghetto, he extends the metaphor to the 1974 dance of daring between the twin towers of the World Trade Center as "pureness moving...He was inside and outside his body at the same time, indulging in what it meant to belong to the air..." For the most part, Mr. McCann writes in breathtaking prose on mundane and even downright disturbing topics.This was an almost perfect book for me. I loved the beginning and the end, and, after much reflection, I have forgiven the author the 30-page lapse in Book 2 that had me struggling with his jarring change of style and lack of cohesiveness. But please don't let my negative reaction to these few pages deter you from reading this memorable book. On a positive note, this brief interlude gives respite (and a chance to catch your breath) from the otherwise galvanizing story.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book; it took me two attempts and a book group selection to get momentum in reading; however, once I did, the writing was beautiful and the book was a surprising gem. In particular, I enjoyed the descriptions of the the city and especially the people of New York City; they are both beautiful and ugly, clean and dirty, indifferent and friendly ... all of the variants that describe the complexity of this wonderful city. The book is about 9/11, but in a way where the actual terrorist event/tragedy is never mentioned. The characters are as varied as the people of NYC, but are brought together by the other big event surrounding the two towers: Phillip Petit tight-rope walking between the two towers in 1974. It truly resonates of the city that I lived in when I lived there... and what we all witnessed after 9/11.
    • 4/5
      In Let the Great World Spin Colum McCann connects a number of voices with a steel cable strung between the Twin Towers. Each vignette in the novel delves into the life of a different character at the time of Phillippe Petit's tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade center. McCann's prose solidly reflects the differences in the points of view of the characters and is a treat to read.The book suffers from its own lack of a center of gravity. While most of the vignettes interconnect with each other, weaving in perichoresis around a tragic death, a few appear and disappear without explanation or connection. This contributes to the failure of the ending to sufficiently tie together the variable threads.Despite its flaws, however, the novel was a pleasure to read and masterful work of prose.
    • 4/5
      This was my first read of 2016 that was really hard for me to get into! The first chapters were so disconnected from each other that it felt more like a book of short stories I was reading than a novel, and I'm not a short story fan at all so it was a real struggle. It wasn't until maybe 200 pages in that I really felt like I was seeing a full picture rather than just a lot of scattered starts and stops. That said, the last few chapters were so beautiful they made the first 8+ worth it. I'm glad I read this book.
    • 4/5
      Rating: 4/5I must say that I don’t believe I have read a book with as many different stylistic forms of writing than this one. Every character had their own voice which actually helped keep the characters straight. Never once was I confused as to whether or not a different person was talking since they were all so distinct.While I can see how the sheer amount of voices and characters could have easily become out of hand, I believe that McCann manages to bring the story together wonderfully through the event of the tightrope walking across the Twin Towers. Every story tied into this event which made it easier to see how these characters connected to each other and kept me fully aware of where in time I was since the majority of the story takes place on the same day.Overall, I believe that McCann did a wonderful job of showing just how interconnected the world we live in really is, even if the connection is minute and how, like the tightrope walker, we are all trying to keep our balance in a topsy-turvy world, but with some luck and determination we will make to the other side.
    • 5/5
      Loosely revolving around individual reactions to Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, Let the Great World Spin follows the lives of several New Yorkers. McCann examines and draws out the intertwining relationships of two Irish brothers, mother and daughter prostitutes - and their daughters and granddaughters, a group of mothers that meet to heal over their sons killed in Vietnam, a couple responsible for a hit and run, and a judge - among others. McCann explores New York lovingly, from the top of the towers to the backs of fruit trucks under the Major Deegan Expressway. His New Yorkers mirror the reality - they gather from over the country and the world - and exist together in ways beautiful and not. McCann has a fine way of putting words together to create sentences that sparkle, but not at the expense of the story.
    • 3/5
      Framed by Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers, this series of linked stories centers on characters who are all troubled or searching for something. I’m not really sure how to describe them. I went up and down with this one. At the beginning I was really enjoying it, then I got bogged down for a while, then would pick back up. I found that I enjoyed it more at the beginning before the stories started collapsing on themselves and becoming more connected. In the end, I liked it, the writing was beautiful, but I can’t say that I loved it.
    • 3/5
      Had a hard time getting into the book, and didn't think it would get more than 2 stars but somehow the end of the book made me feel like the time reading it was time well spent. 3 1/2 stars
    • 4/5
      And another half star. I saw the 'Man on Wire' documentary before the 2001 Twin Towers attack and was already entranced. I guess from the acknowledgements that the author put a great deal of work into the content and construction of this book - and it shows in the best way possible - it seems so natural and effortless, almost as if he gave it a start and then it wrote itself. Written 35 years after Philippe Petit walked the wire it opens my eyes to the great differences - my world of 1974 with today and my world with New York then. And how extraordinary people are - any chance person you meet will have such a complex history, family, future.
    • 4/5
      Thrilling, expansive, not compelling all the way through, but a worthy 21st century successor to EL Doctorow's Ragtime.
    • 5/5
      New Yorkers' lives intertwine and overlap, centering on Phillip Petit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. Best story imho is "Miro, Miro on the Wall" -- women of diverse backgrounds meet at a Park Avenue penthouse for brunch. The hostess is ashamed of her wealth, fearful (socially) and prone to daydreams. Slowly the reader learns that the focal point of the meeting is that the women have all lost sons in the Vietnam War. It is an interesting look at class and racial differences and the intersection of different 'worlds' where the only bond is grief. A riveting, wonderfully-written book.
    • 3/5
      The idea of a book about a city - a metropolis at that - raises all sorts of questions. I was raised when artistically cities were known for their anonymity - individuals are like a drop in the ocean. Cities allow people to build their own little universes around their own needs, tastes and desires, populated with like minded people. It meant that it did not matter what your neighbours were doing, and they just like you, lived in their own little universes. It often meant people did not know their neighbours; people living in the one time and space could have nothing in common. So how do you write a book that captures the spirit of a city? McCann tries in this book.Let the Great World Spin is essentially a book of short stories with a thread or two weaving between a few of the stories, held together by a tightrope walker that symbolises city life - a dangerous balancing act that finds meaning in the intent and dedication of the actor. McCann has this great talent of drawing you into his stories - his writing is beautiful and compelling. You are lead to understand their worlds and you feel for them. For the tightrope walker, the Monk, the prostitutes, the artists, the judges, the grafitti artists, the upper east side housewife, the black woman in the Bronx and a long way from more humble Tennesse roots. They are loosely linked together by the Vietnam War and the tightrope spectacle, and in their interactions bring meaning to their lives.Yet despite these wonderful elements I did not feel satisfied with the outcome. I appreciated the artistry of the author more than the stories he told. There is no centre to the stories to make the effort of reading worthwhile. Maybe that is the message of the city.
    • 3/5
      This is a beautifully written book that is not at all what I was expecting. First off, for some reason, I thought this was going to be nonfiction and it's not. Truth be told, I bought the audiobook without even reading the description. I'd just heard so many people talking about what a great book it was and it was on a sale. I ended up being impressed with the way Colum McCann was able to tell all these interlocking stories with one common theme - they each happened around the tightrope walking between the Twin Towers.

      I almost wish I'd read this book as at times I got lost in the audiobook. I wouldn't realize that narrators had changed and would have to rewind a bit to find out what happened. All the narrators did a wonderful job and one of them (whose name I couldn't figure out) did an amazing job. But I still felt like I missed something by doing an audiobook.
    • 4/5
      What an incredible opening to a novel!With so many memorable sentences: "It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful."and "The men sat rooted like Larkin Poems."The main characters are finely woven together, though readers may wonder why Corrigandid not simply take his brother for treatment...?
    • 5/5
      Excellent! They way he unfolds the life of each character is so evocative. I want to know more about all of them.
    • 5/5
      Priests and prostitutes, junkies and judges - all human life is here. A fine novel that uses multiple points of view tell a story of New York in 1974 that reflects New York post 9/11. I'm not entirely sure what Philipp Petit's tightrope walk between the towers is supposed to represent, but somehow it stands for freedom, bravery, living your life your way and everything else important. Outstanding.
    • 2/5
      I felt this one was lacking, sure, a relief was created against Ulysses and The Instructions; that said, I felt the characters cheap and cloying the story a sigh of history.
    • 3/5
      Very sweet in place, but the strands seemed utterly disconnected. More like a series of short stories. In addition, given that Petit had the whole city transfixed its scope seems surprisingly narrow.
    • 5/5
      Finally, a book with interconnected characters that is well written and that works! Great stories that combine to tell a beautiful story. Fascinating characters I loved and wanted to follow.
    • 5/5
      This was great. Not without its faults—it's very talky, more tell than show—but it's got a huge heart and the writing is terrific. I kept thinking it was one of the best 9/11 novels I've read, although that's only glancingly alluded to at the very end—which is what makes it work as such. I am not an easy sell on the 9/11 thing.I was finishing up the last few pages on the train in to work this morning and there was one tiny vignette—I'm not going to spoil it, but it's one of my favorite old Bronx anecdotes—and for whatever reason, I found myself with tears running down my cheeks. Not because it was sad, but because the emotion in this book ran so close to the surface for me. I think the setting must have a lot to do with it—various storylines in mid-70s NYC, all circling around Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the two WTC towers—but McCann also obviously loves his characters so much, it's contagious.
    • 4/5
      An ambitious and complex novel set in New York in 1974. Each chapter tells the story of a different character, and it gradually becomes clear that they are much more linked than seems the case early on. McCann's characters are rounded and sympathetic, covering a wide cross section of New York society. The central inspiration is Philippe Petit's high wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Centre, and his story has a symbolic resonance that links the remaining tales of survival. If I have a slight criticism it is that the last chapter, set in 2006, ties up the loose ends a little too neatly, but overall this was a very rewarding read.
    • 4/5
      Another great book by Colum McCann, who is becoming one of my favourite writers. He is able to weave together different stories to bring about a whole, deep tapestry of the place and time he is portraying. I loved it!
    • 4/5
      I could re-read this book and maybe enjoy it more the second time. It took some time for me to appreciate the way the book was structured. The writing style is understated. It wasn't until I was 2/3 of the way through the I really started to appreciate the depth of the book.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed some of the stories in the book, especially in the first half (Claire, Corrigan, Petit's training story). I also liked the idea that they all involved the tightrope walker in some way, even peripherally.

      Some of the stories I found flawed. The one about the judge (wanted to do good, but now feels like a paper pusher) and especially the one about the prostitute (life has been tough, but she is smarter than she looks!) especially one dimensional. I think the trouble with short character pieces is that you run into trouble if you try to share everything about their emotions and lives in such a short space, which he did with these two.

      Not sure if I will read anything else by him. But it would also be interesting to see him progress as a writer, since this had a lot of great stuff and a lot of promise .
    • 3/5
      This is less a novel and more a series of interconnected vignettes about the lives of New York City residents on the day in 1974 when a daredevil walked a tightrope between the two towers of The World Trade Center.

      Actually, there is distressingly little about the tightrope walk, which was an interesting and exciting historical event. Instead, all the stories revolve around a disillusioned Irish priest, John Corrigan, and all the characters are being eaten by soul-destroying pain of one form or another.

      I'm of two minds about this book. While I admire McCann's writing skills and found some real gems in the prose, I could never get into the book and had to force myself to finish. Really depressing - I'm surprised Oprah hasn't picked this one.