Maybe I didnt really like it (the book, the story), but I must have loved it. It drew me in and wouldnt let go. It had a profound impact on me, but Ive yet to determine what that is. Like people in your life that you know you love, and dont always like them; but they are who they are. In the story there was grief, pain, sadness, hard times; the mood was overwhelmingly depressing, morose; no, thats not correct. It was life, life as it was lived in hard times and harder places. Maybe because it was about people, reality, that gets me thinking I didnt like the book; who of us wants to be reminded of our own pain and sadness?
It makes you want to write and talk like the author, in brief, relevant sentences; thoughts really. Emotions. Struggles. Relativity. Real life is lived in brevity: seconds, minutes, hours, days.
Centering his story on Philippe Petits tightrope walk between the Twin Towers was genius! It was the focal point that pulled everything together, yet it was not about the exhibitionist at all. His was another of the lives framed in time, of a longing, yearning, burning desire to accomplishsomething. Thats what I found in this story: survival, accomplishments, reality and overcoming the obstacles even by death that life throws our way. And just a note: according to Wikipedia, the cable actually weighed 450 pounds (200 kg), not 200 pounds as spoken by Solomon Soderberg near the end of the book. Everything else about the preparation and actual walk seems to be pretty much in agreement with the Wikipedia account. A truly amazing accomplishment!
I cried throughout the book, sometimes with real tears, mostly silently: for lost love, devotion, failure to live up to our own ambitions and the joy of discovery that life is what it is, or rather what we make of it. Because in the end we all have choices, we just dont all have the same opportunities. Sometimes our choices are out of need, sometimes out of want, but always out of desire for what we think is the thing we must do to achieve our goals no matter how profound our leap or minute a step, one foot in front of the other, to get through another day.
I loved Corrie and the fact that the author finally gave him the ability to experience physical love as well as emotional love. And I applaud him for his ending: it was fitting, a tribute to all who have struggled through a life of destitution as well as to those who made it to all the Park Avenues in the world.
Our lives can touch the hearts and souls of everyone we meet, whether in person, by relation, or through cyberspace to those we only know of such as our brave military men and women. I know NY a little, but not really. Ive been there many times. Just a breeze through a city, never really looking left or right. Maybe I missed something in my hurriedness: quick strolls down the streets, the avenue, Central Park; from uptown, through midtown Manhattan, to downtown, never lingering long in one place. Taking the subways, always wanting to take the Express, never the Local. In a taxi through the Bronx or Queens, noticing the litter and graffiti but not really thinking about it. Getting to and from the airport. And always hoping no one would stop and ask me for change. Yes, I definitely missedsomething.
It makes you want to write and talk like the author, in brief, relevant sentences; thoughts really. Emotions. Struggles. Relativity. Real life is lived in brevity: seconds, minutes, hours, days.
Centering his story on Philippe Petits tightrope walk between the Twin Towers was genius! It was the focal point that pulled everything together, yet it was not about the exhibitionist at all. His was another of the lives framed in time, of a longing, yearning, burning desire to accomplishsomething. Thats what I found in this story: survival, accomplishments, reality and overcoming the obstacles even by death that life throws our way. And just a note: according to Wikipedia, the cable actually weighed 450 pounds (200 kg), not 200 pounds as spoken by Solomon Soderberg near the end of the book. Everything else about the preparation and actual walk seems to be pretty much in agreement with the Wikipedia account. A truly amazing accomplishment!
I cried throughout the book, sometimes with real tears, mostly silently: for lost love, devotion, failure to live up to our own ambitions and the joy of discovery that life is what it is, or rather what we make of it. Because in the end we all have choices, we just dont all have the same opportunities. Sometimes our choices are out of need, sometimes out of want, but always out of desire for what we think is the thing we must do to achieve our goals no matter how profound our leap or minute a step, one foot in front of the other, to get through another day.
I loved Corrie and the fact that the author finally gave him the ability to experience physical love as well as emotional love. And I applaud him for his ending: it was fitting, a tribute to all who have struggled through a life of destitution as well as to those who made it to all the Park Avenues in the world.
Our lives can touch the hearts and souls of everyone we meet, whether in person, by relation, or through cyberspace to those we only know of such as our brave military men and women. I know NY a little, but not really. Ive been there many times. Just a breeze through a city, never really looking left or right. Maybe I missed something in my hurriedness: quick strolls down the streets, the avenue, Central Park; from uptown, through midtown Manhattan, to downtown, never lingering long in one place. Taking the subways, always wanting to take the Express, never the Local. In a taxi through the Bronx or Queens, noticing the litter and graffiti but not really thinking about it. Getting to and from the airport. And always hoping no one would stop and ask me for change. Yes, I definitely missedsomething.
I will probably be in the minority on this review. While I did not hate the book, I can say that I was simply not impressed.
This is a book about human depravity laid bare, and it offers very little hope to balance the scales. The characters were well drawn and emotionally compelling enough, but that doesn't mean that I enjoyed their stories.
There was something else about this book that frustrated me, something that I could never quite put my finger on. I had this sense that the author's personal agenda was peeking around the corner of every page, and one line in the author's note finally summed things up for me: "Originally, I wanted my tight rope walker to fall, as the Bush years seemed to imply that he must ... When Barack Obama got elected I thought that the story had to go in a different direction, and so I tried to push it that way, toward a point of recovery."
Did I enjoy the book? Not really. Would I recommend it? Unlikely. And will it make me seek out other books by this same author? Probably not. For me, those three strikes equal two stars. It's not necessarily a book that is badly written, it is simply a book that I really did not like.
This is a book about human depravity laid bare, and it offers very little hope to balance the scales. The characters were well drawn and emotionally compelling enough, but that doesn't mean that I enjoyed their stories.
There was something else about this book that frustrated me, something that I could never quite put my finger on. I had this sense that the author's personal agenda was peeking around the corner of every page, and one line in the author's note finally summed things up for me: "Originally, I wanted my tight rope walker to fall, as the Bush years seemed to imply that he must ... When Barack Obama got elected I thought that the story had to go in a different direction, and so I tried to push it that way, toward a point of recovery."
Did I enjoy the book? Not really. Would I recommend it? Unlikely. And will it make me seek out other books by this same author? Probably not. For me, those three strikes equal two stars. It's not necessarily a book that is badly written, it is simply a book that I really did not like.
