Book Review – LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN by Colum McCann

Let The Great World Spin – Colum McCann

Profound. Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin should take a bow.

One of my favourite authors, Frank McCourt, has described this work ‘a symphony of a novel’. I agree with this description whole-heartedly. I felt like applauding when I reached the final page.

McCann presents New York City in 1974, at the time of the Vietnam War as a single living breathing organism and then deconstructs that into disparate parts through the intertwining stories of its inhabitants. At the epicentre is a single man, a tightrope walker, between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre.
The character development achieved by McCann in less than 400 pages is impressive to say the least. These characters are gritty and real – McCann shows us this through their flaws. The characters individual stories are each in themselves compelling, and the way their stories intertwine poetic.
But McCann’s skill as an author does more than tell a story, he takes the reader on a journey. A journey that genuinely moved me. Why was I moved? McCann shows great sensitivity for his characters and for humanity.

‘Everything falls into the hands of music eventually. The only thing that ever rescued me was listening to a big voice. There are years accumulated in a sound.’

The symbolism used in Let The Great World Spin is brilliant.

Each individual, the city, the country, the world – all on a metaphorical tight-rope. This novel epitomizes why I enjoy literary fiction. At its worst literary fiction can provide a stage for an author’s self-indulgence; at its best, it is a form of artistic expression that has the power to influence thinking. In my opinion, Let the Great World Spin is the latter.

You do not need to have lived through the Vietnam War to be able to connect with this novel. If you appreciated the movie Crash, this novel is for you. I cannot recommend Let The Great World Spin more highly. I look forward to reading more from Colum McCann.
BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Let The Great World Spin (Amazon), Let The Great World Spin (The Book Depository)

About the Author: Colum McCann was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1965. He now lives in New York with his wife and three children. In 2009 McCann was awarded the National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin (2009).

Other titles by McCann include Zoli (2006), Dancer (2003), Everything in This Country Must (2001), This Side of Brightness (1998), Songdogs (1998), Fishing the Sloe-Black River (1998). His fiction has been published in 30 languages and received numerous literary awards.
Zoli Dancer: A Novel Everything in This Country Must: A Novella and Two Stories
This Side of Brightness: A Novel Songdogs: A NovelFishing the Sloe-Black River: Stories
Subscribe to Booklover Book Reviews posts by email or RSS reader

Other titles that may interest you:

Tags:

Posted by Joanne P (Booklover Book Reviews) on Aug 1st, 2010 and is filed under Historical, Literature, My Book Reviews.

Trackback from your site.

Add this post to Del.icio.us - Digg

6 Responses to “Book Review – LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN by Colum McCann”

  1. Becky (Page Turners) says:
    August 1st, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    I have heard so many great reviews about this book, and yours in one of the really good ones. I must make sure that I read this soon.

  2. JoV says:
    August 2nd, 2010 at 7:04 pm

    Well done on July read! I saw this book on shelf last week. I think I have to read this, great reviews all around, yours included!

  3. mummazappa says:
    August 2nd, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    i have a copy of this sitting on my shelf, i must get to it soon!

  4. Booklover Book Reviews says:
    August 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 am

    Becky, JoV, Mummazappa – I find it really easy to write a review when I enjoyed a book this much. There is so much in this novel, it has something for everyone I think – it is certainly one of the best books I have read this year.

  5. lisa (the little reader) says:
    August 10th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    i have this on my kindle and will be toting it along on my vacation. hopefully, i won't get too distracted and will finally get around to reading it. your review makes it sounds as wonderful as i hope it will be!

    i ADORED the movie Crash, so high hopes from this booknerd. :)

  6. Booklover Book Reviews says:
    August 11th, 2010 at 10:32 am

    Lisa – Yay, another Crash fan. I look forward to hearing what you think!

Leave a Reply