What do readers think of Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann? Write your own review.

Unbelievable character development. Each chapter could be a short story. All parts tied together in the end.

I began reading this book for a reading club, and almost quit. It seemed so disjointed and I was completely confused. But deciding to read on, skimming whole paragraphs if necessary, I eventually felt as if this were a great jazz piece. Disparate themes with disparate characters, each giving a different variation on a theme, until I finally understood in whole. Parts which very poetic and so beautifully expressed. I find myself feeling deeply entwined with this tapestry of characters and life.

Usually when I read novel, I think it is something I might have written. Not so with Let the Great World Spin. In this fiction collage which meticulously explores the characters' vulnerabilities, McAnn achieves a poetic resonance which surpasses any fiction I've read in years. It is never pretentious or contrived, it simply hums with melancholy and sensitivity. It stays with me and makes me both sad and grateful.