Author: Column McCann
As he has done in “Let the Great World Spin”, McCann weaves history with fiction to create this interesting novel where you will learn about many Transatlantic firsts and be entertained at the same time. The description of how two aviators — Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown — prepared and made their first Transatlantic flight in 1919, is rendered so well that you can taste the peanut butter in their sandwiches.
The next story about Frederick Douglass, who escapes from slavery in the United States to go on a lecture tour in Ireland in 1845, is a little harder to connect with. Nevertheless it is still a poignant piece that is full of drama and McCann will find a way to connect it with the central story that he concocts to pull all of these tales together. The final Transatlantic crossing is that of Senator George Mitchell as he is negotiating Northern Ireland’s peace talks and bringing them to their conclusion.
I found the first half of the book very well done and it felt that McCann had done his homework and the writing made you relive the excitement that surely must have prevailed in Ireland. However, towards the end, the book seems to meander along and drags to a rather limp conclusion. I recommend reading it simply on the merit of the first few chapters that describe some great moments in history.
As he has done in “Let the Great World Spin”, McCann weaves history with fiction to create this interesting novel where you will learn about many Transatlantic firsts and be entertained at the same time. The description of how two aviators — Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown — prepared and made their first Transatlantic flight in 1919, is rendered so well that you can taste the peanut butter in their sandwiches.
The next story about Frederick Douglass, who escapes from slavery in the United States to go on a lecture tour in Ireland in 1845, is a little harder to connect with. Nevertheless it is still a poignant piece that is full of drama and McCann will find a way to connect it with the central story that he concocts to pull all of these tales together. The final Transatlantic crossing is that of Senator George Mitchell as he is negotiating Northern Ireland’s peace talks and bringing them to their conclusion.
I found the first half of the book very well done and it felt that McCann had done his homework and the writing made you relive the excitement that surely must have prevailed in Ireland. However, towards the end, the book seems to meander along and drags to a rather limp conclusion. I recommend reading it simply on the merit of the first few chapters that describe some great moments in history.
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