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Our Books of the Month for March
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Let the Great World Spin
Colum McCann
The seamier side of New York City is brought vividly to life in this highly original novel. McCann effortlessly links the different lives of numerous vivid characters while far above the unnamed figure of Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist, walks for 45 minutes along a tightrope stretched between the Twin Towers of the newly opened World Trade Centre.
Written largely in the first person, the author touches on his own background through the introduction of Corrigan, an Irish Jesuit monk and the central character in the novel. Corrigan's self-imposed mission to help a group of Bronx prostitutes is thrown into disarray after a tragic car accident, an event which is curiously linked with the pain of a mother who has lost her only son in Vietnam. These and other characters are cleverly interwoven by McCann, but each of them is fundamentally flawed in some way, each battling against inner conflicts.
The reader cannot help but be touched by these often heartrending glimpses into other lives – emotionally, the novel is almost like walking along a tightrope in itself, one never knows when McCann will employ a line or turn of phrase that will throw you into an emotional abyss. All along, we as readers, know that the future will bring an event that will change New York and its characters for ever.
Recommended by Michael
Former Books of the Month
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buch
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CHF 16.90
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The Ghost. Film Tie-In. Arrow Books
Robert Harris
A half-successful writer is offered the chance of a lifetime: to spend two weeks with Adam Lang, an ex-Prime Minister, and ‘ghost’ his memoirs. Easy money for turning another man’s words into a bestseller. But nothing is ever that easy, especially in politics.
Things start to go horribly wrong for our hero (who remains nameless throughout the whole book). How did his predecessor die? What is the truth behind Lang’s political success? And is Mrs Lang as innocent as she seems?
Suddenly writing becomes a very dangerous profession, meaning that the ghost writer could become a ghost for real.
Harris started out as a political reporter and was once a friend of Tony Blair, so there’s lots of authentic detail. But are the Langs really fictional versions the Blairs? That is perhaps the biggest mystery of this compelling book.
Recommended by Diccon
Former Crimes of the Month
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buch
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CHF 17.90
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