Bloomsbury

Twist - Colum McCann

Twist - Colum McCann A darkly epic novel about connection, disconnection and destruction - from the New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Let the Great World Spin Anthony Fennell, a journalist, is in pursuit of a story buried at the bottom of the sea: the network of tiny fibre-optic tubes that carry the world's information across the ocean floor - and what happens when they break. So he has travelled to Cape Town to board the George Lecointe, a cable repair vessel captained by Chief of Mission John Conway. Conway is a talented engineer and fearless freediver - and Fennell is quickly captivated by this mysterious, unnerving man and his beautiful partner, Zanele. As the boat embarks along the west coast of Africa, Fennell learns the rhythms of life at sea. But as the mission falters, tensions simmer - and Conway is thrown into crisis by a terrible, violent tragedy unfolding in the life he has left behind on land. Then Conway disappears; and Fennell must set out to find him. As taut and propulsive as a thriller, and a timeless exploration of narrative and truth, Twist is the work of a master storyteller at the height of his powers. Review McCann's close-focus descriptive prose - taut, compressed, image-rich - flashes like sunken treasure . Few novelists pay such close, visionary, heed to the "true stories of our times" ― FINANCIAL TIMESMcCann gives his tale the sense of a held breath . Part thriller, part existential mediation on self ― NEW STATESMANMcCann may follow Coppola upriver and Conrad to the heart of darkness but the concerns of his novel are contemporary and urgent and utterly compelling. This is an ambitious novel, note perfect, wild but controlled, with its deft apparatus mapping our most mysterious 21st century malaise - the great loneliness of the connected world -- KEVIN BARRY Full of wonder at the scale and beauty of the natural world - and full of anger at humanity's capacity to wreck it . There are passages of extraordinary vividness, evoked with a power that seems to persuade you that you're either a participant or a witness ... Builds to a bravura climactic escapade ... I loved the thoughtful, essayistic inquiries into nature and the environment, and the consciousness-raising voyage towards the broken cable . Like Heart of Darkness, Twist lingers after you've put it down ― GUARDIANAn exhilarating adventure reminiscent of Joseph Conrad, with just a hint of Graham Greene ― MAIL ON SUNDAYMasterful, a surprising, electric book ... A wired up story of what it means to be bend yourself into new shapes, and be broken ― IRISH TIMESDazzling ... a plot that uncoils with page-turning urgency ... McCann's prose has a power and lyrical propulsion that can be quite dazzling . an unexpected denouement that uncoils with page-turning urgency ― ESQUIRENot unlike a thriller . There's still the same relish of language, character and empathy that's twice seen McCann make the Booker Prize longlist ― RADIO TIMES, Book of the monthA Graham Greene-ish thriller . Dark, moving and very entertaining -- Alex Preston ― OBSERVER, Fiction to look out for in 2025A thrilling tale of a man all at sea ― FINANCIAL TIMES, What to read in 2025An expert storyteller ... An utterly modern novel ― THE GLOSSMcCann explores the mystery of what it is to be human, and what holds us all together. For this he has picked the ultimate metaphor - the way our connections and the mass of information vital to our lives thrums through glass fibres smaller than a hair deep under the ocean. The cables, both vulnerable and essential, reflect the strength and fragility of our bonds, and of our selves. This is a Gatsby story for the information age. In the end no amount of information, and possibly not love either, can solve the essential mystery of another person -- ANNA FUNDERMasterfully woven and delicately layered, and told with such calm wisdom that it will take your breath away. Engrossing, deeply moving and consistently honest, Colum McCann is one of our greatest storytellers -- ELIF SHAFAKBeautifully written ... An immense talent ... Possessed of enough heart and empathy to make most writers pale into McCann's formidable shadow ― BUSINESS POSTElectrifying, propulsive ... a masterful exploration of the elemental forces at work just below the surface of all our lives -- COLIN WALSHWith echoes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness,Twist by Colum McCann, his follow-up to the acclaimed Apeirogon, follows two Irishmen off Africa as vital underwater cables are repaired, and sabotaged ― IRISH TIMES, Fiction to look out for in 2025Colum McCann gives us a powerfully realist novel of men at sea, literally, emotionally, and metaphorically. It speaks of the brokenness of our time, the successful and unsuccessful attempts at repairs, and the vulnerability of our world. The spirit of Joseph Conrad hovers over the text, but here the heart of darkness lies at the bottom of the ocean -- SALMAN RUSHDIE About the Author Colum McCann's seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world's most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents. colummccann.com

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