Colum McCann (2009)
Genre
Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction
Reading Time
470 min
Key Themes
See below
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In 1970s New York, a tightrope walker's daring act above the Twin Towers connects the lives of a diverse group of New Yorkers, who find their paths interwoven by hope, grief, and the city's energy.
In August 1974, New York City wakes up to an amazing sight: Philippe Petit, a French aerialist, is walking a tightrope between the new Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This bold, unapproved act happens high above lower Manhattan, attracting a huge crowd. Police are called, and efforts are made to catch him, but for almost an hour, Petit performs on the wire. His daring act becomes a symbol of beauty and defiance against the background of a tough, struggling city, briefly uniting its people in shared awe before his arrest.
Corrigan, a young, idealist Irish monk, lives and works in a run-down part of the Bronx, helping the community's poor, especially prostitutes. He shares an apartment with his friend, Ciaran, another monk. Corrigan struggles with his faith, his past, and the despair he sees every day. He offers comfort, food, and a listening ear, often feeling his own efforts are not enough. His kindness is deep, but his methods are unusual, sometimes leading him into morally unclear situations, reflecting the complex and often harsh lives he tries to help.
Tillie, a thirty-eight-year-old grandmother, works as a prostitute in the Bronx, trying to support her two daughters and grandchildren. Her youngest daughter, Jazzlyn, has also started working the streets, a choice that pains but also connects them. Tillie is very protective and determined to ensure her family's survival, even through great hardship. She dreams of a better life for her grandchildren, especially the smart Lara. Their lives are linked with Corrigan's, as he often helps them and gives them a sense of respect in their difficult lives.
Claire, a wealthy Park Avenue socialite, hosts a support group for mothers who lost sons in the Vietnam War. Her own son, Richard, died in the war, and she deals with her grief and the political questions about the war. The group includes women from different social classes, showing the large class divides in New York City even in shared sorrow. While they first seek comfort in common experience, their different views on class, privilege, and sacrifice often cause tension, showing that grief itself does not make everyone equal.
Solomon, a young hacker and artist, tries to find his place in New York City's growing art scene. He likes the city's energy and anonymity, using his skills to explore and create. One night, while driving, Solomon is in a hit-and-run accident, hitting a woman later identified as a prostitute. The incident deeply affects him, sending his life into guilt and fear. He struggles with the moral consequences of his actions and the anonymity of city life, which both helps his art and lets him avoid immediate responsibility.
Corrigan's strong commitment to the poor in the Bronx leads to his death. While trying to help a young, drug-addicted prostitute named Adelita, he is in a car accident. The details are not clear at first, but it is suggested he was driving Adelita, who was injured, to safety or medical care. Corrigan dies in the accident, leaving behind his friend Ciaran and the community he served. His death deeply affects those he helped, especially Tillie and Jazzlyn, who feel a great loss for the monk who offered them kindness and hope.
After Corrigan's death, the lives of several characters start to come together, in subtle and obvious ways. Jazzlyn and Tillie are heartbroken, feeling his absence. Jazzlyn, especially, struggles with guilt and grief, believing she could have done more. Solomon, haunted by his hit-and-run, learns that the woman he hit was Adelita, the same woman Corrigan was helping. This realization deepens his despair and begins to connect him to the tragic events in the Bronx, though he does not know of Corrigan's direct role in Adelita's final moments.
Solomon is eventually found and arrested for the hit-and-run that killed Adelita. The trial brings some of the story threads closer. Jazzlyn, as Adelita's friend, is called to testify, forcing her to face the harsh realities of her life and the loss of her friend. Claire, through her work with the Vietnam mothers, becomes aware of the social unfairness in such cases. The trial highlights responsibility, justice, and the often unequal application of the law, while Solomon deals with his guilt and the lasting results of his actions.
Lara, Tillie's granddaughter, becomes a source of hope amid the despair. She is bright, observant, and artistic. Inspired by stories of Philippe Petit's walk and the art she sees, Lara begins to draw. She attends Solomon's trial, seeing the complexities of justice and human connection. Her growing artistic talent and her ability to find beauty even in hardship represent New York's enduring spirit and the chance for a future beyond her family's struggles, like the power of art.
As the story continues, the characters, though mostly unaware of their full connections, think about their shared experiences in the city. Claire continues her work, finding new ways to connect with others. Tillie and Jazzlyn work for a better life for Lara, remembering Corrigan's kindness. Solomon seeks forgiveness, dealing with the weight of his choices. The memory of Philippe Petit's walk, a moment of impossible beauty, is a repeated idea, symbolizing human strength, vulnerability, and connection in the vast, indifferent, yet vibrant city of New York.
Even after his death, Corrigan's impact continues to shape the lives of those he met. His selflessness and kindness leave a lasting impression on Tillie and Jazzlyn, who often recall his gentle presence and the support he offered. Ciaran, his fellow monk, struggles with his grief but also finds new purpose in continuing their shared mission. Corrigan's story shows the quiet heroism of everyday kindness and the deep impact one person can have, even in a city as large and anonymous as New York, showing the novel's exploration of faith and human connection.
Despite constant struggles and tragic losses, Tillie remains strong. She continues to navigate the harsh realities of her life, driven by a fierce love for her grandchildren, especially Lara. Her determination to provide for them, to give them a chance at a life beyond the streets, shows her lasting strength and maternal instinct. Tillie embodies survival and the sacrifices made by many in the city's poor areas, always seeking a bit of hope and respect amid overwhelming difficulty.
The Supporting
Corrigan's arc is one of selfless devotion leading to tragic self-sacrifice, leaving a profound impact on those he sought to help.
The Supporting
Tillie endures immense hardship and loss, demonstrating unwavering resilience and maternal love, ultimately finding hope in her granddaughter's future.
The Supporting
Jazzlyn grapples with her difficult circumstances and experiences profound loss, leading to a slow awakening of self-awareness and a desire for a different path.
The Supporting
Claire moves from isolated grief to a more empathetic understanding of diverse experiences of loss and social injustice.
The Supporting
Solomon's arc is one of profound guilt and a slow, painful journey towards acknowledging responsibility and seeking redemption.
The Mentioned
Not applicable as a traditional character; his 'arc' is the walk itself, a singular, transcendent event.
The Supporting
Lara's arc is one of awakening to the world's complexities and finding an outlet for expression through art, symbolizing future possibility.
The Supporting
Ciaran grapples with loss and grief, ultimately finding renewed purpose in continuing the work he shared with Corrigan.
The Mentioned
Not applicable as a traditional character; her arc is tragic and serves as a plot catalyst.
The novel shows how seemingly separate lives in a large city are connected, often by chance or tragedy. Philippe Petit's walk briefly unites the entire city in shared wonder. Later, Corrigan's death and Adelita's fate link Tillie, Jazzlyn, Solomon, and even Claire indirectly. These connections show that no one lives alone, and every action, no matter how small, can affect others, creating a complex web of human experience.
“And there, in the space between the two towers, it was as if he had created a bridge for all of them, a connection they hadn’t known they needed.”
Amidst the harshness, poverty, and despair of 1970s New York, characters constantly look for moments of beauty, grace, and something beyond the ordinary. Philippe Petit's walk is the clearest example, a moment of impossible beauty that lifts the city's spirit. Corrigan finds beauty in his selfless acts of kindness, and Lara finds it in her art. This theme suggests that even in the toughest places, people desire and can create moments of deep beauty and spiritual uplift, offering relief and hope.
“The walk was an impossible thing, a defiance of gravity and reason, and yet it was happening, right there, above their heads, a thread of hope against the sky.”
McCann clearly shows the strong class differences in New York City. The novel contrasts the wealthy lives of characters like Claire on Park Avenue with the desperate struggles of Tillie and Jazzlyn in the Bronx. The Vietnam mothers' support group reveals how even shared grief can be felt and processed differently across social classes. This theme highlights the unfair systems and the vastly different opportunities and challenges people face based on their economic status, shaping their lives and choices.
“The city was a million stories, and some of them were told from penthouse windows, and some from the gutters, and they were all true.”
Many characters deal with guilt, regret, and the chance for redemption. Solomon is troubled by his hit-and-run, seeking a way to make up for his actions. Corrigan, despite his outward religious devotion, struggles with his own past and sense of failure, always trying for personal redemption through service. Tillie and Jazzlyn, living lives society judges, seek dignity and a form of redemption through their love for Lara. The novel explores the complex process of finding forgiveness, both from others and from oneself, after making mistakes and facing difficult situations.
“Maybe the only way to forgive yourself was to keep going, to keep trying to make things right, even when you knew you couldn't.”
The novel itself shows the power of storytelling, combining different narratives to create a larger, unified picture of humanity. Within the story, Philippe Petit's 'artistic crime' becomes a famous tale. Lara's growing artistic talent gives her a way to understand and express her world. The characters' individual stories, when combined, create a collective narrative that reflects the city's spirit and its people, showing how art, in its various forms, can provide meaning, connection, and a way to understand the world.
“He understood then that the wire was not just a wire, but a story, a line drawn between two impossible points, and everyone below was reading it.”
The tightrope walk serves as a unifying metaphor and opening event.
Philippe Petit's audacious tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974 acts as the novel's central framing device. It opens the narrative, capturing the imagination of the city and the reader, and recurs as a symbol throughout. This single, extraordinary event serves as a metaphor for the precariousness of life, the pursuit of beauty, and the unexpected moments of human connection that can arise in a vast, fragmented city. It sets a tone of wonder and defiance against the backdrop of urban struggle, creating a moment of shared experience that transcends individual narratives.
Multiple, seemingly disparate storylines converge and intertwine.
McCann employs a narrative structure that weaves together the stories of numerous characters, initially presenting them as separate threads. These individual stories, set across different social strata of 1970s New York, gradually begin to intersect and impact one another, often through chance encounters, shared tragedies, or subtle connections. This device emphasizes the interconnectedness of human lives in a large city, creating a rich tapestry of experiences and demonstrating how personal choices can have far-reaching, unforeseen consequences across diverse communities.
The World Trade Center represents aspiration, vulnerability, and connection.
The Twin Towers, both as the site of Petit's walk and as a looming presence in the city, serve as a powerful symbol. They represent human aspiration, architectural ambition, and the pinnacle of urban modernity. However, they also symbolize vulnerability, as demonstrated by the precariousness of Petit's act and, implicitly for readers, the future tragedy of 9/11. The space between them, bridged by Petit, symbolizes the potential for connection, beauty, and defiance in a world that often feels divided. They are a constant reminder of both human achievement and fragility.
Contrasting elements highlight themes of inequality and human experience.
The novel frequently uses juxtaposition to highlight its central themes. It contrasts the wealth and privilege of characters like Claire with the poverty and desperation of Tillie and Jazzlyn. The transcendent beauty of Petit's walk is set against the grim realities of the Bronx. These sharp contrasts underscore the vast social inequalities within New York City and emphasize the diverse ways in which individuals experience life, grief, and hope. This technique deepens the reader's understanding of the complexities and contradictions inherent in urban existence.
“The thing about falling is that it is a journey. It is a journey of gravity. It is a journey of trust. It is a journey of fear. It is a journey of joy. It is a journey of surrender. It is a journey of self. It is a journey of God.”
— Reflecting on the nature of falling, particularly relevant to Philippe Petit's high-wire walk.
“There are times when you want to give up, and times when you want to lie down and let the world just pass over you, and times when you want to just run away from it all.”
— A general observation on the struggles and desires of life.
“It was not a metaphor. It was real. It was a man walking on a wire between two towers, and it was a city looking up, and it was a moment, and it was forever.”
— Describing the impact and reality of Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers.
“Sometimes the world is a terrible place. Sometimes it's a beautiful place. Sometimes it's both.”
— A reflection on the duality of life's experiences.
“We are all just trying to make sense of something that makes no sense.”
— A character's thought on the human condition and the search for meaning.
“The past is not a story to be told, but a story to be lived.”
— A thought on how history and personal pasts continue to influence the present.
“This is what it means to be alive: to be able to look up and see the impossible, and to know that it is possible.”
— Inspired by the high-wire walk, a character muses on hope and possibility.
“Grief is a ghost. It lingers. It haunts. It whispers.”
— A poetic description of the enduring nature of grief.
“There are moments when you just want to reach out and touch something, anything, just to know that you're real.”
— A feeling of existential longing or a need for connection.
“The city was a million stories, all happening at once, all interconnected, all oblivious to each other.”
— An observation on the vastness and interconnectedness of New York City life.
“It was a beautiful day to be alive, even if it was a terrible day to be a human being.”
— A poignant reflection on the contrast between the external beauty of the world and internal human suffering.
“We carry our histories with us, whether we want to or not. They are woven into the fabric of who we are.”
— Emphasizing the inescapable influence of personal and collective history.
“The ordinary became extraordinary, just for a moment.”
— Describing how a singular event can transform perception and experience.
“Sometimes the greatest acts of courage are the quietest ones.”
— A reflection on different forms of bravery, beyond grand gestures.
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Colum McCann is an Irish-born novelist known for his critically acclaimed works that often explore themes of connection and displacement. His novel "Let the Great World Spin" won the National Book Award for Fiction, and "This Side of Brightness" was a New York Times Notable Book. McCann's writing is celebrated for its lyrical prose and ambitious scope.
