This week's paperbacks
Let the Great World Spin
Colum McCann
Bloomsbury, £7.99
At first people thought it a trick of the light. But it was a human being, perched on top of the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York at 7.30am. As the figure stepped out into empty space the city held its breath. McCann takes the story of the real-life 1974 incident, in which a man walked a high wire between the Twin Towers, as his starting point for a voyage into a number of interwoven New York stories. There's a radical Irish monk who lives and works among prostitutes in the Bronx; an Upper East Side matron whose life has been derailed by the death of her son in Vietnam; a drug-addled young artist. Let the Great World Spin has been hailed as one of the greatest New York novels, but it's really about families, communities and the possibility of beauty in a shoddy society. It would be hard to overstate its power, technical skill and sheer humanity. If you haven't read it, please do. If you have, read it again. It's time well spent. Arminta Wallace
My Father’s Places
Aeronwy Thomas
Constable, £7.99
Aeronwy Thomas was the daughter of Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin, and her troubled parents seem to have dominated her life right up until her own death, last year. In this tender, lyrical memoir she recalls her childhood in the small Welsh village of Laugharne and gives a unique and fascinating glimpse into her father's writing life. With clarity and a complete lack of sentimentality she vividly re-creates life in a tiny but lively seaside town, surrounded by Welsh-speaking grandparents, eccentric servants, cousins and friends. Although a fine writer, Aeronwy was not a natural storyteller, and the narrative is sometimes rambling, with abrupt and confusing jumps from one incident or group of people to another. And it's hard not to feel slightly sad that this intelligent, talented woman never really seemed to escape the long shadow cast by her parents. Anna Carey
The Norman Invasion of Ireland
Richard Roche
Mercier, €16.99
It is probably not exaggerating the importance of the Normans’ arrival in Ireland to compare it with the coming of Christianity to the country. Nothing was ever the same again, as Roche asserts. A big advantage this book has over more scholarly treatments of its subject is that it concentrates on the individuals involved, on the basis that “the men who make history are surely more fascinating than the history itself”. The first invaders, FitzStephen, FitzHenry, FitzGerald, de Barri, de Prendergast, le Gros and FitzGilbert
de Clare (Strongbow), were hardened warriors in search of land and influence, both of which were available in Ireland. They landed on the southeast coast in 1169, and by 1200 they controlled all of Ireland except Connacht and part of west Munster. A separate Norman- Irish state might have evolved – and Roche regrets that it did not – but Henry II stopped such a prospect, and the long and painful English conquest of Ireland had begun. Brian Maye
What Becomes
AL Kennedy
Vintage, £7.99
AL Kennedy's Twitter feed recently read: "Novel and dentist today, truly pleasure on all sides. But better than being dead, I feel." She's funny, commenting on her books' bad reviews, which she lists on her website, writing self-deprecating newspaper columns and performing stand-up comedy at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In her latest collection she delivers her deadpan humour in stories that are often very dark, sad and even angry. Though she's sometimes criticised for her unrelenting bleakness, her prose is remarkable for the quality of its emotional detail. Yes, her characters cope with unfaithful husbands, dead children, lost money and marital unhappiness, but they cope with a raw authenticity that allows for sympathy. Many of these stories rely on idiosyncratic perspectives, which Kennedy pulls off incredibly well: a woman's thoughts as she tries to relax in a flotation tank, or a story of strangers meeting for sex told entirely in dialogue. Certainly grim, frequently funny too, this collection is, ironically, a joy to read. Emily Firetog
Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity
Sam Miller
Vintage, £8.99
Sam Miller's engaging and frequently hilarious adventures in Delhi are compelling because the author has an indefatigable curiosity, not only about Delhi but about life itself. His complicated relationship with the city began when he was a boy, when an incorrect answer in a quiz left him with the desire to find out more. Some of his adventures would make Jon Ronson proud: "Chapter Ten: In which the Author tries to break into jail, falls down a manhole and encounters several tiny terrorists" reads like an alternative Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In part this is accurate, because Miller is the adventurous outsider, the Londoner residing in Delhi. This tension richly infuses his writing on one of the world's fastest-growing cities, as he walks the streets "like a man possessed". At times his book seems like a personal diary, with scratchily drawn maps and oddities scattered throughout, making this the most vital kind of travel writing. Siobhan Kane
