Three great reads in 2010
The three novels we read over the summer of 2010 were Tinkers by Paul Harding, Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann, and Home by the inimitable Marilynne Robinson. Check out some of our posts from last summer here.
In Good Company
My friends, our reading of Tinkers apparently coincides with President Obama’s own time with the novel. He purchased a copy to read last week while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. So we are indeed in distinguished company as we share our thoughts about this one! What stands out so prominently for me is that Tinkers […]
Welcome Home
Sweet Briar students return to campus this week — classes begin on Thursday — and the summer, at least for those in the academic world, comes officially to a close. Meanwhile, here is a wonderful (and long and eloquent) 2008 interview with Marilynne Robinson from The Paris Review, in which she talks about Housekeeping, her […]
Brave beginning
Tinkers has received an amazing critical and popular reception in the literary world, all of it richly deserved, I think. The novel ascended easily into my top ten list. (How wonderful that these lists of ours keep expanding over the years. Just when I think there couldn’t be a novel I love as much as […]
On “Let The Great World Spin”
As I read the first chapter in “Let the Great World Spin,” I, too, looked up to see the man standing on the ledge. I became one of the invisible people standing on the sidewalk, wondering not if he planned to jump, but if he would attempt to walk across and fall. I had an […]
Glorious prose
I’ve been re-reading Let The Great World Spin, waiting for the end of the month when I can write something about Tinkers — please tell me you’re loving Tinkers — and I read a passage today that seemed to me both emblematic of McCann’s style and also wonderfully instructive for young writers. There is much […]
Risks and Rewards
After finishing Let the Great World Spin, I had to take a step back and rethink the tightrope walker metaphor. I’d initially thought the image was about maintaining a sense of separation or aloofness out of a need for self protection. Now, however, and somewhat ironically, I believe it’s about being willing to engage, to […]
Man On Wire
The anonymous “walker” in Let The Great World Spin obviously is inspired by Philippe Petit, the French high-wire artist who walked between the Twin Towers in New York in 1974. Anyone interested in that extraordinary act of artistic daredevilry might want to see the 2008 documentary about the event directed by James Marsh, which won […]
First Impressions
Over the weekend, I picked up Let the Great World Spin, and was immediately drawn in. The New York described in its pages is gritty and forbidding, with layer upon layer of humanity, crime, culture, redemption, and disappointment. I’m also struck by the lead characters and their palpable sense of isolation. In a city of […]
Let the Great World Spin
Even if you’re just getting started, you’ll appreciate this: p. 4, paragraph 5: “Another day, another dolor.” That’s not a typo, it’s a beautiful play with language. “Dolor” is grief, or sadness. I seldom dog-ear pages in my books, but this one already has 20 pages folded over to mark exceptional uses of language.
Writing About New York
Every great city has writers who seek to capture something about the place they consider the center of the universe. There are many, many great New York novels, and if Colum McCann’s Let The Great World Spin makes you curious about others, here’s a link to a wonderful 1995 list of the best books — fiction and non-fiction […]
Update For Bloggers
Hi Bloggers, This is an update from your friendly administrator, to explain the process of contributing posts to the blog. As a reminder, the way to become a contributor is to subscribe to the blog and create a username and password. (This can be done at the bottom of the blog page on the right […]
Ready to blog
I just picked up Let the Great World Spin, and can’t wait to get started. However, I’m another blogging neanderthal – poor Molly! Should be a nice way to share book opinions, though. (For anyone from the SBC Book Club who is logged in: See? We GET the book, we READ the book and then […]
Book Discounts
All, just another note to let you know that Dianne Williams has informed me that if you buy this summer’s books at the SBC bookshop, you’ll receive a 25% discount. They’re approaching inventory over there, and so trying not to order lots of books that won’t be purchased. Let them know if you’d like them […]
Scheduling Etc.
Hi all, My technology consultant on the blog is my daughter Molly, who saved me — a technological Neanderthal — from a meltdown by designing the blog and meanwhile offering administrative assistance. You might be hearing from her about various, er, technical matters. At some point, she’ll have to cut me loose here (at which […]
Welcome
Welcome to the Sweet Briar College Summer Book Club Blog Students at Sweet Briar – current and former – know that they joined a unique community when they enrolled at the College, a sisterhood of friends and intellectual peers who will entertain, enlarge, enrich and support each other not just during their four years […]