Let the Great World Spin

Last night our book club discussed Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.  Jan chose it because she thought it would be about the man who walked between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.  While that story wove its way through the novel, it was not about him.

Like other novels these days, this book is a collection of stories about unrelated people.  And yet, these disparate characters manage to intersect with each other in surprising ways throughout, especially near the end.

Our group thought that while the novel had potential, it tried to cover too much and did not integrate the various threads enough.  I think I liked it, but a second reading would be much more helpful in trying to clarify themes and characters.