What We’re Reading: Two Great Books About New York
“Each man reads his own meaning into New York” – Meyer Berger
Let the Great World Spin: Colum McCann’s novel centers on a day in 1974 when a young Frenchman, Philippe Petit, stunned the world by tightrope walking between the newly constructed twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Several stories are intertwined expertly as many lives collide on this hot August day. Corrigan is an Irish monk who lives in the Bronx and has become somewhat of a saviour to a group of prostitutes he has taken under his wing. Corrigan’s brother travels to New York to find him living in squalor and is unable to understand his motivation–until it’s too late. Across town and a world away, a group of women from diverse backgrounds gathers at a Park Avenue apartment to share their memories of their sons who have been killed in Vietnam. Above it all soars the young man who has perpetrated one of the greatest feats in history. This book will amaze you with its scope and touch you with its humanity.
Absent Friends: S.J. Rozan’s book tells the story of the surviving members of a tightly-knit group of seven friends as they struggle to recreate their lives after a terrorist attack on those same twin towers. They have been touched by tragedy before in their lives, but nothing compares to the death of one of their own–a hero firefighter with the FDNY. After his death, however, past secrets are unveiled and those remaining struggle to keep his memory alive and preserve his reputation. The narrative alternates in time, following the friends as they move through their lives and are inexorably joined once again following the events of September 11, 2001. An extremely powerful novel and one you won’t soon forget.
Colum McCann won'the 2009 National Book Award for his latest novel, “Let the Great World Spin”; S.J. Rozan’s 2004 novel “Absent Friends” is not nearly as well-known–but equally as absorbing. Both novels are epic representations of a great city at two very different times.
Review courtesy of Margot, TPL staff.
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