Fiction | Book Chatter

Welcome to Wuthering Heights Wednesday! Softdrink is hosting a read-along of this classic novel, and we’re reading (and posting about) 3 chapters a week.

Volume II, Chapters 8-10

My Synopsis:

The wretchedness continues!

This week’s reading is all about Cathy and Linton. As you may recall from last week, Cathy and Linton were caught writing letters to each other. LOVE letters which Mrs. Dean quickly put an end to. In case you forgot, Cathy and Linton are cousins. However, when Cathy runs into Heathcliff (yet again), Heathcliff lays a guilt trip on her. He tells her that Linton’s health has taken a turn and that he has one foot in the grave. Why? All because Cathy stopped writing her letters. Apparently Linton is just “sick” over it.

Cathy, in her bubble-headed way, insists that she visit poor Linton and although Mrs. Dean does not agree, she wants to prove to Cathy that Linton is just fine and that this is all a bunch of nonsense, so off they go for a brief visit. Except, that when they visit, Linton IS in poor spirits and DOES appear to be sickly (afterall, he was born that way). At first, he seems to perk up a bit at the sight of Cathy but then they argue over whose dad is best… “my dad, no MY dad!” and then Linton falls out of the chair, upon the hearth and writhes like a child trying to get out of a high chair!

Cathy, bubble-head that she is (did I say that twice?) falls for it and promises to visit when she can. Mrs. Dean sweeps Cathy away, and then promptly falls ill for three weeks, which gives Cathy plenty of time to sneak off and visit the wretch. What’s interesting here is that Cathy wants to love Linton like a brother so he can live with her always. Linton wants to love her like a wife, but Cathy claims that sometimes husbands hate their wives. How profound, and coming out of Cathy’s mouth no less!

When dear Papa finds out about Cathy’s little adventure, he puts a stop to her visits which sends her into despair. What will Linton think? Will he fall ill? Will he throw himself upon the hearth and die from heartbreak?

My Thoughts:

In previous chapters I felt sorry for Linton but he’s a sniveling little twerp and deserves no pity. He whines and whines about his predicament, so much so that Joseph and Hareton (remember them?) completely ignore him. Trust me, if he were in my house I’d ignore him too.

I love how Cathy is the epitome of youthful exuberance and how Linton is just a puny little wretch. Such opposites. I wondered how Cathy could even find happiness in being around him but she says it best, she thinks of him as her “little pet.” Isn’t that enough to make you want to gag?

Reading along:

Let the Great World Spin Book Cover

Let the Great World Spin
By Colum McCann
Random House
December 2009
400pp

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

Corrigan, a radical young Irish monk, struggles with his own demons as he lives among the prostitutes in the middle of the burning Bronx. A group of mothers gather in a Park Avenue apartment to mourn their sons who died in Vietnam, only to discover just how much divides them even in grief. A young artist finds herself at the scene of a hit-and-run that sends her own life careening sideways. Tillie, a thirty-eight-year-old grandmother, turns tricks alongside her teenage daughter, determined not only to take care of her family but to prove her own worth…

The Short of It:

Let the Great World Spin is a spectacle of sorts…a visual romp through 1970’s New York where the lives of many come together in unusual ways.

The Rest of It:

Let the Great World Spin is a collection of stories. Did you know that? I did not. However, the stories are told from several different points of view, and although each character has a very distinct voice, the stories eventually collide with one another leaving the reader standing there, wondering who or what comes next.

Something terrible happens, and as the chain of events unfold, we view the same event from different perspectives. It’s as if the world is spinning in slow motion, and we are forced to look at the bits and pieces that are not normally noticed when time moves at a more normal pace.

There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it’s the last we’ll ever have and we record it for the rest of our long journey. We take perfect snapshots, an album to despair over. We trim the edges and place them in plastic. We tuck the scrapbook away to take out in our ruined times.

Many of these characters are flawed. They are striving for something, and often find themselves on the outside looking in. As they observe the world around them, life as we know it, continues on. As I read this book, I was mesmerized by the author’s ability to take me in and out of a character’s head. One story is told from a prostitute’s point of view, and as I was reading her story, I felt what she was feeling, the frustration, the loss, the helplessness. It was a lonely place to be.

I know I haven’t said much about the plot, but as you can imagine, when something terrible happens, there is a downward spiral that takes place. As things come crashing to a halt, there is no place to go but up. This book is like that. We take the plunge into despair, visit with these characters awhile, and then we’re given a small glimpse of what lies ahead. To me, the the plot didn’t really matter. I was so absorbed the the internal conflict within each character that plot was secondary to me.

I love this book. I appreciate this book. I am in awe of this book.

It has a quiet, understated quality to it that I wasn’t expecting. The characters are complex and conflicted and even though some of them may not be the type of people I’d be friendly with, I could relate to many of them. This is the type of book that you can re-read, and see (and feel) something different each time you pick it up.

I know for some readers, the varying perspective was a source of confusion at times, but once I figured out where the author was going, I had no problem with the different viewpoints.

Let the Great World Spin will be on my list of faves for 2010 and was a National Book Award winner for 2009.

Photo of Colum McCann

To visit McCann’s website, click here.

To view McCann’s other TLC tour stops, click here.

Source: A big ‘thank you’ to TLC Book Tours for asking me to be a part of this tour and to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of the book.

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