21st Century Literature discussion

This is a place to discuss other characters with their 'own' chapters: Solomon, Lara, 'The Kid', Adie and Fernando -- the chapters that concern them, their appearances in the chapters of others, and any minor characters who may crop up in 'their' chapters.

It's okay to post spoilers here -- don't read this unless you're happy to read spoilers.

Throwing some questions out there. Pick and choose ones to answer or make your own comments about the other characters.

Lara and Blaine drive away from the accident. How do their different reactions to having driven off define them as characters?

Solomon, in judging Tillie and Jazzlyn, has one eye on how his performance sits with the watching crowds, and is thinking of the walker. How do you feel about this?

How do you feel about the way Adie deals with Corrigan's conflictedness?

How do you think Fernando's attempts to become a photographer shed light on how New York was at that time?

How does the way 'The Kid's chapter is written help you to understand the tightrope walk and its effects?

I really like the way Solomon is characterized. He's well-rounded and avoids being "just" a disillusioned cog in the justice system. His difficulty mourning his son, his close relationship wth his wife, and, yes, his theatrical bent in the courtroom are all complementary and interesting. Some aspects of his job are still exciting to him, and that endears him to us despite his allegiance to "the system", his conservative politics, upper-class values and somewhat cold professional demeanor. I'm reading the courtroom scene with the Tilly/Jazzlyn and the tightwalker now and am enjoying it.

I've read quite a few novels set in NYC over the past couple of years (memorably, Jonathan Lethem's "Motherless Brooklyn", "Fortress of Solitude","Chronic City" and "Dissident Gardens", "World's Fair" by Doctorow, Delillo's "Underworld"), and I think this book fits right in as a fascinating depiction of the city in a historical moment. Not only the setting, but the characters contribute to this depiction of NYC and in a way they are all NY "types", but they mostly resist being cardboard cutouts. Blaine is the least interesting, I think. It kind of reminds me of the weekly epilogue to the 1950s TV show "Naked City" ... "There are 8 million stories in the naked city..this has been one of them".

James, 'Underworld' is pretty much next on my reading list. Do you feel there may be a benefit in reading these books in quick succession, especially for someone who's never been to New York?

I'm interested to hear the opinions of people who are in a position to say, about how realistic these NY characters are. My impression was: very, but as I say, I've never been.

Terry wrote: "James, 'Underworld' is pretty much next on my reading list. Do you feel there may be a benefit in reading these books in quick succession, especially for someone who's never been to New York?...."

I'd say any time is a great time to read Underworld if you have the time and willingness to put into it. (How many "times" can I get in one sentence? Sorry. [g] I listened/read it -- sort of back and forth. I consider it would be worth re-reading, question is when?) But Underworld is about a lot, lot more than NYC, even through the city and its people have key presence. It is also focused more on the Cold War period than later history.

Terry wrote: "How does the way 'The Kid's chapter is written help you to understand the tightrope walk and its effects? ..."

For me, that chapter was just plain fun. (I thought of the picture of the sailor kissing the stranger nurse (dental assistant?) in Times Square at the end of WWII.) But, the chapter did a couple of other things as well. It felt like it heightened and expanded the significance of what Joshua probably did. The story of that group of guys made Joshua more real, less one-dimensional, even though he wasn't a part of that group. Otherwise he may have come across as more of an unfortunate nerd who got caught in the war machine. A little bit, it heightened the sadness that Joshua had had to serve in Vietnam rather than with such a group state-side.

Second, the story made a vivid contrast of the changes in technology from 1974 to 2001 (and beyond). (Internet was not widely available until the early eighties and later.) One of the things that does continue to puzzle me is where is television in this story? Colum refers several times to radio, rather than TV, for real time news about the walk.

James E. wrote: "I really like the way Solomon is characterized. He's well-rounded and avoids being "just" a disillusioned cog in the justice system. His difficulty mourning his son, his close relationship wth his ..."

Thx for your post, James. You captured a lot. It was touching to me that at the end his portrait remained, even though "She had sold some of the other paintings--even her Miró, to help pay the expenses...." p335

Terry wrote: "How do you think Fernando's attempts to become a photographer shed light on how New York was at that time?...."

Was the Chapter "Tag" necessary to the book or does it simply add aspects of the City (all the graffiti on the subway cars and in the tunnels) that were so much part of the scene in 1974? Colum doesn't seem to have found someplace else to describe the graffiti that exemplified the deterioration of services and the lack of governmental control, control that had been undercut by paucity of tax resources. Graffiti had sort of become voices--the phantasmal "screams"--of the disenfranchised and under-employed.

(Yes, I know, I'm only tangential to your question, Terry.)

Hey, the questions are just a jumping-off point. Tangents (or flat-out non-sequiturs, as long as they're vaguely related to the thread title) are fine.

I wondered about the necessity of Tag. It doesn't link at all, as far as I can make out, to any of the other characters. I guess as well as showing those elements of the city, it does help to stop things being too 'neat' -- there are varying degrees of connectedness for each character, from Corrigan/Jaz at one end of the scale, to Fernando at the other, but the kid for instance is towards the less-connected end of the scale... I guess that variance seems more real than something more symmetrical or evenly woven.

Adelita says: "The thing about love is that we come alive in bodies not our own." Does this resonate with you? What does she mean by this?

I actually enjoyed Tag. It spoke to me of the underbelly of the city, and how the most interesting stories are often those which require some unearthing. I suppose it's also representative of McCann's own storytelling. Anyone else writing a novel about 9/11 would write the obvious - analogous, if you will, to tagging Grand Central Station. McCann goes about things from a totally different perspective, though, stuffing his novel full of references that are only visible if you pay enough attention or know where to look. My two cents on the matter...

I don't think a credible novel of this scope about NYC in 1974 could have been written without subway graffiti, its presence felt that ubiquitous and still has echoes. Now, just what McCann is doing by introducing it this way is an interesting question. I resonate with the "underbelly" allusion. Daniel, I got lost on the "obvious-analogous" -- i.e., "tagging Grand Central Station." What am I not "unearthing"?

Lily wrote: "Daniel, I got lost on the "obvious-analogous" -- i.e., "tagging Grand Central Station." What am I not "unearthing"? "

Read that as a dash, and not a hyphen (my apologies for the confusion). Other authors would focus only on the obvious i.e. the actual events of 9/11. In a way, that's analogous to tagging Grand Central Station. It's the obvious place to look or be seen. Does that clear up my train of thought a bit?

And I totally agree with your point that subway graffiti is inextricably linked to NYC in 1974. Another reason for Tag feeling like a good fit with the rest of the novel.

'There comes a point when, tired of losing, you decide to stop failing yourself, or at least to try, or to send up the final flare, one last chance.'

How does this quote from Lara relate to her story in the book? Does it say anything about the other characters, as well?

Think of how the funambulist was treated at court?


This was a Google Headline today, 5/6/2014:
"Three skydivers say they spent about four hours atop 1 World Trade Center in New York City before parachuting off it in a stunt that raised questions about security and left them facing felony charges." (Bold added.)

This is just one of those little things that irks at me.

In Part III when Judge Soderberg (I think that was his name) is having his little reflection about New York city and how it is a city that doesn't care about the past, and doesn't acknowledge the past, then he starts remarking about how there are no real statues in New York to commentate the past.

A part of me understands where he is coming from and gets what he is saying and the point he is trying to make, but then especially when he starts mentioning specific statues and states there are know blind justices and so forth, and says the only real statues are in Central Park, and no one goes there anymore. I am thinking to myself aren't you forgetting a little something called the Statue of Liberty?

That is a pretty large, widely recognized statue commemorating the past that is also an iconic image of New York.

Post 9-11 it's not surprising.