The book “Let the Great World Spin” was interesting because it was made up of three different main stories and it gave the audience knowledge of what was going on from the perspectives of different people. One story was about John and Corian Corrigan and the people they met in New York City. Another story was about Claire, Gloria, Jaslyn and other people they met in or going to New York City. There was also the real life story about the man, Philippe Petit, when he walked across a wire between the Twin Towers in New York City. Throughout the book, there are connections between the stories.
Each story has the goal of telling the reader that it is important to get involved with New York City, rather than sit back and let things happen without your input. Everyone is effected by the city. Whether living in it as a religious pauper, walking on a tight rope between the World Trade Centers, or even just coming to buy a special chess set made of Canadian wood.
What I find unique about this book is that the author, Colum McCann, switches his writing style back and forth between first person and third person. Once I read a chapter of the book, I have to change the way I pick up information from the following chapter.
Although at times, the narrative style McCann uses can be a little confusing, however, it really adds more life to the fictional city created through introducing these different perceptions. You can see the perspectives of the various characters as many of them come from very very different backgrounds. By seeing the differences between the characters you can see how they react to the same events that go on in the city, specifically with the tightrope walker’s performance. I think the style greatly added to the novel, and it makes up for any confusion it creates. To me, it was actually pretty easy to follow after the first few chapters as it becomes quite apparent what McCann is doing.