LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN

Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann - This is a story composed of short stories set to the background of Phillipe Petite's iconic tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in New York City in 1974. The story moves forward because each story includes characters we've met in previous stories. It flows beautifully, and the the stories unfold with compassion and intuition. Each story is about a life, whether told in the first or third person. It's interesting that I didn't get a good visual image of any of the characters, and yet I feel like I really knew them, and that if I saw them walking down the street, I might have a flash of recognition. There's something of the historical novel here, when you think about a year, 1974, and all that was happening in the world in that year, and all that could affect people in that year. It has gritty moments and moments of passion and moments of wealth, and many many moments of love which you'll find between the lines.
At the end of this version of the book is a small interview with the author where he briefly discusses book covers. I find the different covers for books and movies to be so interesting, and wonder who makes the decisions, and how it ever became so complicated and possible.

On another note, I've been making slow but sure progress toward my goal of living a more minimalistic life of art and craft. Slow is the operative word, but as long as I move forward every day, I'll continue to believe that I can do it. Here's a quote from Colum McCann in that author interview:

"It's strange but as I grow older, I find myself developing more optimism. I keep inching toward the point where I believe that it's more difficult to have hope than it is to embrace cynicism...."

That observation resonated with me as much as the entire book did; I think that's why we often enjoy or don't enjoy a story....we know when we are reading the words of someone who would judge, and we know when we are reading the words of someone who would accept. So I'll keep going about the tasks of hoping and doing.