The way people are sentimentalized and idealized after they're gone, this may apply to other things and places as well. One good example is the Twin Towers. Before 9/11 they were always considered an engineering marvel, but not a good looking building.
The WTC's mystique was enhanced by Philippe Petit's tightrope crossing in the upper stories. The ultimate "don't try this at home trick", Petit's feat gave the buildings a fanciful aspect.
Colum McCann's novel Let the Great World Spin isn't necessarily about the towers,, but it couldn't exist without them. A big book with multiple points of view, it's tied together by Petit's crossing, which takes the same spot in a lot of ways as the Bobby Thomson "shot heard round the world" of the '51 World Series did in DeLillo's Underworld.
The characters depicted include graffiti taggers and early computer hackers, as well as a doomed inner city monk. This last one also connects to what for me has been the most compelling chapter as of yet, an artist from an Edie Sedgwick-ish upper class rebel background.
The WTC's mystique was enhanced by Philippe Petit's tightrope crossing in the upper stories. The ultimate "don't try this at home trick", Petit's feat gave the buildings a fanciful aspect.
Colum McCann's novel Let the Great World Spin isn't necessarily about the towers,, but it couldn't exist without them. A big book with multiple points of view, it's tied together by Petit's crossing, which takes the same spot in a lot of ways as the Bobby Thomson "shot heard round the world" of the '51 World Series did in DeLillo's Underworld.
The characters depicted include graffiti taggers and early computer hackers, as well as a doomed inner city monk. This last one also connects to what for me has been the most compelling chapter as of yet, an artist from an Edie Sedgwick-ish upper class rebel background.
2 comments:
I hadn't heard of it before but now it's on my list as another of those books I have to thank you for recommending. It does sound very good. Did you ever see the documentary of Philippe Petit's walk between the towers? As one of those not good with heights at all (I have to sit down if Jer is playing a game that involves characters at extreme elevations as I get dizzy even when I know it's just graphics). The movie The Walk is extraordinary and just seeing their preparation is daunting enough by itself. The film also includes his walk between the bell towers of Notre Dame (and, yes, I did walk along the parapets when I was there - and stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower too. My acrophobia wasn't always so pronounced and I can climb - just not anything sheer.).
Now I'm here I wanted to share with you a video called The Deteriorata made by the National Lampoon back in the early 70s. We'd both forgotten it but when Jer found it yesterday I knew I had to send it to you in case you'd never seen it. At the time the Desiderata was very popular. Fads do come and go - even the current ones.
Thanks again for the book tip.
I've heard of the documentary about Petit but haven't seen it yet. Sounds like something I'd be into. I'm at least as freaked as you are about heights. If I'm on the upper floors of someplace like Providence Place mall I can get vertigo just knowing I'm that close to an unprotected drop like that. Especially if I see guys hoisting babies over their heads, even if those kids aren't standard babies.
The "Deteriorata" always made me laugh. Which ihs weird, because I didn't know what exactly they had paraphrased, who was behind it, who sang in it, etc. So that stuff I had to learn later on. The video is a new twist for me.
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