REVIEW - TWIST by Colum McCann

Colum McCann's 'Twist' is a tale of failed novelist Anthony Fennell who accepts an assignment in the hope it may restore meaning and direction in his life. His mission takes him to the coast of West Africa onboard a vessel purposed for the repair of broken undersea fibreoptic cables. Centre stage in the story is the leader of the repair team, John Conway, a mysterious free spirit, capable of freediving to great depths.

The story meanders along, interweaving the lives of Conway, his lover, and Fennell in a growing confusion.

The undersea cables connecting the world, their fractures and attempted repairs emerge as a metaphor for humanity's efforts to repair our brokenness - "everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken".

Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' and Beckett's 'Waiting for Godo' echo the struggle; the darkness within human nature, the absurdity and meaningless of life, the angst of 'knowing and not knowing.'

The theme spills over into a wider sphere with the crew's isolation at sea. It becomes a crucible for their battle to 'make meaning' and 'create connectedness', confronting core questions - love, absence belonging and ruptured relationships.

McCann's poetic descriptions give colour and life to the narrative. One example is Conway's skill in reading the sea; "... he gauged the depths at a glance" ... "the surges between sandbanks" ... "the art of the undertow."

For me, I wonder if the struggle to make sense of the gaps and confused lives of McCann's

 characters is intentional, to parallel their own torment from life's chaos and contradictions.

A great read that held me to the end. A treatise on truth from a master storyteller.