Whole greater than the sum of its parts in Thirteen Ways

Finished Colum McCann's Thirteen Ways of Looking and yes, he does note at the end that he wrote these stories before and just after he was attacked on a New Haven street and later hospitalized, so I'm sure that terrifying and sad event colored his thinking in writing these stories - variously about senseless violence, loss, revenge, and (Partial) reconciliation. It's much darker material than I'd expected from McCann, and some of it still feels like a raw wound probed, with the issues left tentative and unsettled at the end - maybe that's good, rather than resorting to pat conclusions, but on the other hand it does leave us a little in the dark as well. I think he's a really fine writer and is brave to complete these stories and gather them together; none is a great story, but each is good enough and they add to one another for a stronger and thematically developed unified vision that is greater than the sum of its parts - and I hope he continues to write and can take on the mountain-climb of writing a novel once gain.

Tomorrow I will begin a series of posts on my favorite (and least favorite) books and stories of the year.