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Colum McCann has once again written a beautiful, moving narrative about repair �� or the impossibility thereof �� from broken technology to broken human relationships.
It took McCann to educate me about the myriad of undersea fiber optic cables that carry the majority of the world’s communication data �� all through pulses of light. The narrator, Anthony Fennel is an Irish playwright and journalist, who is at a low point in his life and career. He takes an assignment which will involve writing an article about his experiences on a ship that fixes broken undersea cables. Anthony travels to South Africa, where he meets John Conway, the head of the crew of repair specialists. Anthony spends time with Conway in South Africa (where the ship is docked, waiting for a cable break), where he sees Conway’s superlative ability to deep free dive and also meets Conway’s significant other, Zanele, an actress. While Anthony is a writer at the end of his rope with many broken relationships (and a love of alcohol), he is a straightforward person. Conway is terse, confusing and mysterious. The background is set, a cable breaks, the ship sails, Zanele leaves for London and the repairs of the technology and personalities become intertwined. The story moves quickly and intricately to a perfect conclusion. A note - at 250 pages, this is more of a wonderful novella than a saga like Aperigon (just to set proper expectations).
It is hard for me to name a writer who captures both physical scenes and complicated human emotions better than McCann. Fennel and Conway play off each other, and both men are viewed in light of brokenness and repair. Since the author is McCann, the novel is full of interesting facts and places: South Africa, free diving, deepsea repair and acting to name a few. As expected, some current topics are covered, such as pollution of the ocean, our complete dependence on technology and obsession with famous people. Alcohol addiction is also a subtle theme, as it is one of the broken things Anthony hopes to fix. I loved the line “One drink is too much and a million is not enough��.
Long after finishing this novel, I will be pondering brokenness and repair of our individual human lives �� what we want to fix, what we actually try to fix, what we chose not to fix, and what we cannot fix even when we try.