Category: Blog Postings

Part 2:

The judge gets both Tillie and Jazzlyn, and the tightrope guy on the same day. By doubling up on these two central events, the tension in the novel is greater than ever and more connections are seen between all of the characters. This gives for great storytelling and understanding of why certain events have happened. The judge, who happens to be Claire’s husband, has to sentence Tillie and Jazzlyn, which shows how they’re connected and then the tightrope guy which further connects him to the rest of the characters. Everyone affects one another in some way, and that is clarified through the doubling up of these two events.

Part 3:

Claire is dying while Jaslyn watches her. She notes that the although she is dying, the world will keep spinning. Jaslyn and Claire represent a major bridge from Claire to Jaslyn to Gloria to Tillie to Jazzlyn and to Corrigan. In the prologue, we are being introduced to New Yorkers finding a man atop a wire in between the twin towers. Some people are interested and watching him to see if he would fall or not, and some are ignoring him as if nothing cool was happening. In the ending, we find all these characters brought together through the events that occurred on that very day. Their connections have been bridged, and the effect each character has on another has been clearly bridged. We see how Claire and Jaslyn’s relationship was created and how significant that day was to have brought these characters together. Everything had to happen for a reason and this day clarified that.

The bridge that unsettled me in some way was definitely between Ciaran and Lara. I never understood why either character would be interested in the other. Lara was responsible for Ciaran’s brother’s death and Ciaran knew the details about this occurrence. He still, nonetheless, pursued Lara as a romantic interested and that always unsettled me. This was not a rational or logical bridge for these characters to build.

A bridge that really made my heart sing was that of Ciaran and Corrigan. There was something about their relationship that kept me wanting to see more of them. They were brothers who cared about each other and who wanted the ultimate best for each other, even if they never admitted this directly. Corrigan wanted to help everyone he could and Ciaran wanted to help Corrigan before he hurt himself. Their intentions and actions are purely made out of love which is why I like this bridge.

Part 1 is not here because I was absent during this class.

Part 1: Distillation

The excerpt from judge’s day describes the chaotic nature of the city, as though experiencing crime, as a recipient or responsible for delivery, is inescapable. The spirit of the legal system regards sentencing as correcting missteps. The man on the wire took a walk as a result of planning, practice, and precise execution of balanced footfalls. Any misstep would lead to disaster that could not be corrected.

Part 2: Concurrence

The justice system becomes routine and boring, after a while, to a judge who has just about seen it all. This day however, the judge is entertaining a major junction in the brothers’ storyline, but it is overshadowed, even rushed, to make room for the tightrope walker. It is evident as the judge gives frequent glances to the walker, even remarking in an aside that the walker was showing the telltale signs of being arraigned for the first time. This scene is only referred to in another chapter, while following Ciaran’s perspective, but now that we have walked the length of the wire, we are rewarded for our ocular effort. The walker’s resolution is primed by this alluded foothold of story, and connected further by Claire’s matrimony. While the first event may be important to us because of the relative buildup, the flow of the story treats it as an inconvenience to get to the desirable lapse in monotony. If we were not lead through prior character development, we would perhaps feel the same as the judge. The overlap of these two events leads to a competition of prose to decide which has greater power over the inked pages.

Part 3: Stand Clear of the Gap

Bridges connect to allow passage of thought or physical form. Material trains of being and trains of thought run in cyclical blind fervor. You can choose which bridges to make, but you also cannot prevent them from forming on their own. Collisions make bridges that may stand or fall under the weight of the world. The entire story is a tightrope walk, swaying between dutiful moral responsibility and the practicality of undesirable consequences. The prologue opens with with a general wonder at an unforeseen spectacle. A man risking his life at a dizzying height, while the momentous world of passerby stops. The world seems to halt revolution, to steady the wire. He sways as onlookers dare him to do the impossible. He walks on air, circumventing their comments. In one day there is a countless potential for collision. A simple walk can characterize a lifetime. The hazardous walk might begin on the towers, but it is representative of everything below. A last show, to slow the world down, and take a breath even if it is a gasp. A feeble effort against an unforgiving world. Death lives on, and inevitably the world spins on, regardless of those who step above the crowd. (reality shining in spite of its fictional nature)

I was perturbed by one particular collision that manifested in physical contact of motor vehicles. This bridge was constructed by circumstance, then neglected, falling into disrepair. The driver of the car that hit the van immediately drove off and hid the car, basically putting a halt on bridge construction. The passenger and driver of the van were both fatally injured. This is an example of a bridge created by nature, but was an extreme case study. Some are not open to maintaining the connections that present themselves in the turmoil of chance, be it for legal considerations or individual nature. What unsettles me the most is how disastrous such simple interaction can be. Had this bridge been maintained, due consequence would have rightly been enacted, but fate can only place foundation. It is human will that must be evidently cooperative to facilitate lasting association.

First of all, my immediate reaction was, “my heart does not sing,” in fact if this activity ever befell my circulatory power source, I would seek professional medical attention. I’m imagining the perplexed look on the doctor’s face after they ask what’s wrong. Jokes aside, one particular story contained a multifaceted bridge, strengthened by a desire to heal by way of mutual support. This main purpose struck a chord with me because the one type of event I hate attending the most is a funeral. The energy of such functions may be focused around loving remembrance, but there is always an undercurrent of loss and mortality. These feelings are further amplified if the individual was extended or biological family. Claire and the bereaved mothers, however, didn’t all have bodies to bury. The passing of their sons was also not natural. Add these factors, and I am simply amazed these women have the fortitude to speak past the tears and frozen memories, rather than keep the emotion under a calm facade.

I.        Both the Judge’s monologue in Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann and Man on Wire deal with crime. The crime Phillipe Petit committed and the crimes Judge Soderberg spoke about are not the same, however. Phillipe’s crime is one driven by passion and love for the art (of tightrope walking) while the crimes the judge speaks about are crimes driven by lust and greed. These crimes include rape, murder, and robbery.

II.        Judge Soderberg gets both Phillipe Petit as well as Jazlyn and Tillie on the same day. This judge is Claire’s husband, and this bridge in the characters is what ties them together. The judge almost has a predetermined outlook on the characters in which he thinks of Tillie and Jazzlyn as bottom feeder criminals and prostitutes and sees Corrigan as nothing more than their pimp. Doubling up on both of these cases show the different walks of life in which these people come from while still highlighting a connection they make with one another (a prominent judge, two prostitutes, and an Irish missionary).

III.       The prologue in Let the Great World Spin tells the story of the day Phillipe Petit crossed a wire connecting the World Trade Center Towers. It tells how all of New York hushed in amazement over the great feat that was being done over their heads. People halted their daily commutes to watch this man do what was thought to be impossible and perhaps foolish. As the two buildings were bridged that day by the tightrope cable, people from different walks of life crossed paths as well. It was on that very day on August 7, 1974, that said events would take place. We learn Tillie and Jazzlyn get arrested, Corrigan dies, Claire has the women from counseling over, and Judge Soderberg presides over both the tightrope walker as well as Jazzlyn and Tillie. Whether they knew it or not, these people would affect each other in one way or another.

The connection that surprised me the most was the one of Corrigan and Adelita. Knowing he was a Catholic monk and that he had to take a vow of celibacy, I was truly shocked when we first learned how intimate their relationship truly was. With talks of furthering their relationship, it was soon evident that Corrigan showed interest in leaving his duties as a monk and eventually his duties as a priest. I feel like this was solidified in having sex with Adelita. I think its also interesting in noting the fact that neither Corrigan nor Adelita were native to New York, or the United States for that manner. Adelita is from Guatemala while Corrigan’s original home was Ireland.

A connection that makes my heart skip a beat is that of Jaslyn and the tightrope walker. Jaslyn carries a photo of Phillipe Petit in her pocket in memory of her mother. When she looks at it, she wonders how something so beautiful can happen the same day just hours before of something so wicked taking form (the death of her mother).  This was significant to me because we should all be aware of fleeting time. The notion of significant events happening in concert with one another. This goes well with a book like this because it is a perfect example of the networks this book establishes among its characters.

Part One:

The judge went on a rant in his monologue about crime consuming the city, and the Man on Wire was a crime itself. However, the crimes listed by the judge tore the city apart whereas the man on wire united it. All of the criminals: thieves, rapists, members of the mafia committed their crimes with selfish intentions and left their victims either dead or distraught. The man on the wire committed a crime to take his passion to the next level; a passion that left his audience united in awe.

Part Two:

I was really excited to know Tillie, Jaslyn, Corrigan and the man on the wire were in the same courtroom. McCann ended the prologue on a cliffhanger, and I was curious about the significance of the man on the wire throughout the different stories, but now I see they all cross paths in one way or another. When Soderberg finds out he may have the chance to judge the tightrope walker’s trial, he is relieved to finally get a case that doesn’t have to deal with barbarous crime. He had always imagined himself to be a reformer in the court, but he realized he could not change the ineffective system and will have to deal with charging the endless number of criminals. When Soderberg spots the tightrope walker in the line of defendants, he is impressed by his confidence and becomes anxious to hear his case because he knows the city will be watching him. Soderberg rushes through Jaslyn’s and Tillie’s case and judges them from their appearance and behavior. To him, Jaslyn and Tillie are just another pair of criminals he has to deal with every day. Soderberg without knowing anything about Corrigan assumes that he is their pimp. He believes the only reason a white man would be helping prostitutes is for money and does not even consider the possibility of them being friends. Soderberg’s attitude towards the two different crimes shows that he too is fascinated by the tight rope’s walker’s performance and is tired of the crime that puts the city in a bad light.

Part Three:

In the prologue, we encounter a strange man who is walking across a thin cable near the clouds without knowing whether he was able to complete his stunt. That cable is the beginning of a bridge that took us through New York City. As we cross this bridge we are exposed to the cultural prejudice and economic divides in the lives of the characters. However, at the end characters who are at the polar ends of the city and economy are bridged together through loss and fate. As the different backgrounds unite, the city no longer feels so big and divided. The novel ends with Jaslyn’s thought of the world spinning as she lay beside Claire. Although Claire’s life is coming to an end, the clocks keep on ticking, the fan keeps on whirring, and the world keeps spinning.

 

The bridge that unsettled me at first was the one between Ciaran and Lara. I could not understand how Ciaran can feel an attraction to someone who was involved in his brother’s death. But then I thought maybe he realized that she was genuinely not a bad person. When the two were together, Ciaran saw that Lara did not argue with the guy that hit the back of her car and let him go. She also confessed to him that she was not the one who was driving the car that killed Corrigan, and she attended his funeral. Her ex-husband Blaine was the reason behind her misery. Through his actions, it was easy to tell Blaine did not care about anyone but himself, whereas Lara still held onto her morals.

 

The bridge between Corrigan and all the people in his life made my heart sing. His heart made room for anyone who wanted space. From a very young age, he gravitated towards the unfortunate and put himself in their shoes to share their burden. After he moves to New York, he does everything he can to help the prostitutes in the Bronx. He even keeps the doors to his apartment open at all times to make sure they have somewhere to go to use the bathroom, rest and eat. Although he vowed to celibacy when he fell in love with Adelita he took good care of her and her children. Corrigan treated everyone in his life with love no matter their actions, social and economic position. Corrigan’s personality is an inspiration for everyone to be compassionate towards one and other. He created a bridge in his world and extended it to everyone else he met.

Part I:  The crimes that the judge initially describes are the ones committed through necessity and done in order to make a living. The crime that the tight-rope walker commits however is a crime done purely out of Petit’s own desire and curiosity, rather than the an essentiality. Petit’s crime is scene as a work of art, and by the judge a kind monument that truly represents New York. A place of chaos, insanity, and beauty all mixed together.

Part II: The doubling up of the two cases furthers the contrast between two different kinds of crimes discussed in part I. Even though the judge is forced to give some sort of consequence for Petit’s actions, he still has a lot of sympathy for him from the get go. Before event facing the trial he already thinks about how bizarre this will be and he is very effected by this court case. He sees Petit’s crime in a very different light than he does of Tillie and Jazzlyn. This is why he has an internal conflict on what he has to do as a judge rather than what he actually feels about the crime committed by the tightrope walker. When it comes to Tillie and Jazzlyn, the judge is very prejudice, and he immediately sees Tillie as a representation of the lower class, and stereotypes her. Rather than thinking about the crime he thinks about looking good in front of the reporters that came for the tightrope walkers case. It is isn’t until the end when he feels some sort of empathy after realizing the mother and daughter relationship, where his real feelings start to come out. The contrast between the two cases that happen on the same day reveal how different people and crimes are viewed and how different prejudices exist.

Part III:

The prologue is the explanation of Philippe Petit’s incredible tightrope walk between the twin towers. This event is interpreted in many ways wether it is the admiration of the human will, or wether it is to find the beauty in everyday things, or whether in the case of some of the characters such as Marcia, a resurrection of her dead son, all the characters are somehow affected by this image of a man walking in the air. It literally stops the chaotic New York, and this event is not only a different symbol for each of the characters in the book but its also a symbol of interconnectedness and unity amongst them. This wasn’t apparent in the prologue but once the story ends it bridges back to this event, as connections are made between characters that are not expected and out of the blue just like the tightrope walker.

Continuing off this theme of uniting people in unfamiliar and random ways, Jaslyn and Pino two strangers ended up getting together in the last chapter. These two strangers unexpectedly got together and it formed a bridge with the earlier symbol of the tightrope walker and how different connections are constantly being made on accident or by chance.

Part 1

Judge Soderberg’s monologue and Man on the Wire both spoke on the topic of crime. They are both about contrasting types of crime, however, with different perspectives on the topic. Soderberg speaks of rape, theft, murder, and other crimes that we may regard as horrific or even “dirty.” Phillipe Petit’s crime, however, may be regarded by people as a form of art, a crime which possesses a beauty in its rush of adrenaline. People have even called it a form of art. Even those both talk about crime, Petit’s in considered a form of art, while the types Soderberg talks about are perceived by society as awful.

Part 2

The meeting between Soderberg and Jazzlyn and Tillie and the meeting between Soderberg and Petit held more significance than I first thought they did. At first, I thought Soderberg was just a side character we wouldn’t hear from again. But after his monologue and his meetings, I realized that they played an important role in setting up for future connections. Soderberg displayed a sort of care or pity for both parties. He displayed that he felt bad for both Tillie and Jazzlyn, and that even though their crimes were disgusting they were still humans and that their love for each other was unbreakable. For Petit, Soderberg understood the need Petit felt to walk the towers,. He didn’t want to jail him for something that didn’t harm anyone so he created what he thought was a very clever sentence.

Part 3

The prologue described Petit’s walk between the towers. A task that even he believed to be impossible, yet he dared to try anyway. In the scene, crowds of people stopped on their way to work to watch the walk. After the prologue, however,  I wasn’t sure how the story of the tightrope walker tied in. For the longest time, the book only spoke of Corrigan, Jazzlyn, Tillie, and other more prevalent characters. Then it happened. One by one, almost every person’s story in the book began to mention something related to the tightrope walk or even the walk itself. Throughout the book, we are given views of almost the entirety of New York, its common stereotypes, boroughs, people, and ways of life through the perspectives of people across the city. At the end, it is all tied together when Claire is dying and Jaslyn feels the “world spinning.” To me, this encapsulates the feelings I got from the entire book as it described New York in such a beautiful fashion.

The part that unsettled me the most was the one where Ciaran and Lara met. I thought that Ciaran would be enraged, that the funeral would be ruined, or that they may even start fighting. Their relationship was rocky at first, but they eventually became lovers. I don’t know what disturbed me more, the moment when they first met and I thought they would fight or the moment they fell in love. Who falls in love with the person who killed (kind of killed) their brother? I guess love makes you do crazy things.

The bridge I enjoyed the most was Gloria and Jazzlyn’s kids. From the beginning of Claire’s story, it was apparent that Gloria was not as well-off as the rest. I felt that she was one of the most caring, loving people, however, and I was hoping to hear how she was doing before the book ended. My wishes came true when I read that she was caring for Jazlyn’s kids. I believe that the kids were in good hands, which left me relieved since I was scared that they would be left in the hands of abusive people when they got taken away. In the end, this was my favorite bridge because it left me feeling warm on the inside, like everything was going to be alright.

Part 1: In the judge’s monologue he is speaking about all the crime in the world and how people are committing these crimes simply to make ends meet and to have better lives. Man on Wire is also about crime but Phillipe is trying to do something grand and more art like. The kind of crime that the judge is describing is more about people just being morally bad whereas the tightrope walker is doing something artistic that also happens to be a crime.

Part 2: The judge getting both the tightrope guy and Jazzlyn and Tillie on the same day is important because the judge is Claire’s husband and this ties in another central character with other central characters. Additionally, the judge sort of feels sympathy for Jazzlyn and Tillie and the tightrope guy. For Jazzlyn and Tillie he thinks the relationship between them is a bit messed up, but he can sense the love. For the tightrope guy he doesn’t really want to put him in jail but has to for the law and to make their law system look good.

Part 3: In the prologue it is a description of what was going on as Phillipe was getting ready to walk across the tightrope and you wonder how this has anything to do with the story that follows, but then it is bridged later on during the same day that Jazzlyn and Tillie get arrested, Claire has those guests over, Solomon judges both cases, and Jazzlyn and Corrigan’s deaths as well. It was very surprising to see how these two seemingly unrelated stories would be so closely connected.

The bridge that unsettled me the most at first was Lara and Blaine being the ones that crashed into Corrigan and Jazzlyn while they were driving. It made me uncomfortable at first because it was weird to see this happen and then Lara ending up with Ciaran. That’s a pretty weird circumstance to meet a lover.

The bridge I liked the most was the one with Jaslyn being with Claire as she is dying. I saw this as being very touching because she wasn’t able to be there for Jazzlyn when she died but now she is with Claire who could resemble Jazzlyn or even Tillie.

 

Earlier this year around May, I went to one of my friend’s senior piano recital and watched her perform some pieces by classical composers, however one of them has stuck with me since that day. The song Notturno Op.54, No, 4, by Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer, was and still is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard performed. The reason I like it so much is because it is really calming and it steadily increases in strength and tempo, but eventually slows down and goes back to being soothing and calm. I imagine this song as if it were describing a place sometime in the fall because the high trills and also the contrast of low and high chords make the higher notes stand out more, almost as if it was chilly, yet the lower notes produce a warm feel. Listening to this song takes me back to being in the concert hall being completely surrounded by the music and just coming to the realization that my friend was capable and talented enough of producing such a beautiful melody. When later looking at the sheet music, I saw that it was not too difficult to learn; I also saw that the way that it was written was also very nice and not as overwhelming as other piano compositions that I have played. When I began playing it myself, it felt really calming, I was instantly transported to the day of the concert as well as that imaginary fall scene that I have correlated with it. In all, this song to me is almost surreal because it isn’t sad, or happy, but a mixture of both and none at the same time; it is a calming song that can transport one to another world, while remaining in this one too.

The Classic: Levels by Avicii. (If anyone of you recalls it also)

I do consider myself a modest fan of electronic mix music, which is more or less popular in my generation. One of the pieces of music which had stayed in my music library as one of my favorites for many years and had never bored or annoyed me is a classic mix by Avicii Levels. It has a unique melody, which is the dominant part of the music since it barely has any lyrics to it. However, it is that melody, which brings the piece its upbringing tone and a very positive emotional effect.

One of the first times that I had heard it was once when it became a hit even back in 2009. I was in elementary school then and was very open to new things and find out what was popular while also appealing to me. All that in addition to adding some new things to my base knowledge of music trends. I liked to play video games and basketball outside with my many friends to this music which had made this connection to those good times for me.

Listening to this piece always brings me back to those times and hot summer days of basketball and video games. So the primary emotions which fill me while listening to it is nostalgia and upbringing. And what makes me love this piece even more every single time I replay it to myself and others today is that most of the people I know of my age also have good memories of this music and add to the good vibe which still persists around it today.

You know, I couldn’t care less about the lyrics most times. I started following a music critic in the past year or so on social media and he mainly criticizes the lyrics, the words, rarely the beat. After hearing him, I channelled my inner critic and focused on the lyrics. I remember for the song “Talk dirty” By Jason Derulo, I was so upset at the lyrics especially when they didnt rhyme. However, after following less regularly, Ive continue to care much more about the beat. I want to say music instead of beat but one of my teachers said music is the lyrics. I will say music as in beat, the sound. Anyway, sometimes music has the ability to

Anyway, sometimes music has the ability to MEELLT your heart. It is so pleasurable.  Theres this song by Lauv called “The Other.” Anytime I listen to it, it melts my heart. It is feeling I rarely feel. I feel so at ease, so relaxed, more than satisfied. I want to drop everything and just listen to the song. I don’t think Im doing it justice, though.  I LOVE music like that. Taylor Sift’s music has always done that for me too. Her music and voice are just amazing. Say what you will about TS. Ive had a song called 1000 Times stuck in my head for months. At first, I thought it was a slow paced song. Then I thought it was a medium paced song. I don’t typically listen to music like that. For a long time, I thought a lyric was one thing and then when I read the lyrics, they were completely different. It changed my perspective of the song. I thought it was “your tempo won’t help much…” (don’t ask me how I got that), but the lyric is “The tenth of November… the years almost over.” That I think is much more nostalgic and depressing because we get nostalgic when the year is almost over and we think about what happened the past year. I get a sense of urgency and a little bit of regret- urgency to make the best of the month, days left. I get depressed because what did I do this past year? When I used it in my imovie, I had a new understanding. I had to listen to it over and over as I was editing. It was a different context for listening to it. I contemplated the lyrics more. I thought, when he sings about dreams, it sounds innocent so Ill add clips of children and such. You get to make it your own when making an imovie like we all did in class and all our movies are examples of that. Then there are some songs that stay with you forever. My English teacher showed the class a trailer for a movie called Pina freshman year and the song has stayed with me since. It reoccurs in my mind from time to time. I mostly get introduced to songs from commercials (they have really good songs! ex: just recently found “More More More”- Dagny- Target Ad. Got an 80’s dance vibe), movies and TV shows. I just use Shazam.