Colum McCann won the National Book Award in 2009 for Let the Great World Spin. This Side of Brightness is one of the Irishman's lesser-known works. It's 1916 and Nathan Walker works as a sandhog digging tunnels under New York City. His current project is a tunnel under the East River that will carry trains between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Under the ground, the sandhogs - black, Irish, white, and Italian - dig together in the darkness, making them all equal. Above ground, they couldn't be more different. Everything changes when a sandhog dies in an accident and Walker bonds with the two remaining sandhogs, a bond that will last for three generations.
The plot twists in this book are subtle and, if you aren't reading closely enough, you will miss crucial moments in the story. The author uses a minimum of words to convey plot details which leaves it up to the reader to interpret, and I prefer this style of writing.
Before I read this book, I was not familiar with tunnel digging. Now, I can tell you all about the methods and health hazards that accompanied it at the time. I was never interested in tunnel digging before, but the way the author describes it is genuinely intriguing. However, the most important thing I learned from this book was about the extreme racism that existed. As an African-American, Nathan Walker was treated disgustingly in New York City. He couldn't walk into certain shops and was constantly called names on the streets. I felt uncomfortable and sad when reading this but I'm glad I did.
The story takes place in New York City over the course of 75 years. McCann is very talented at aging the city and the characters. The descriptions of the city are accurate and detailed and this added a sense of genuineness to the novel.
I really enjoyed this story. It was interesting and different. Five out of five stars.
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