Encircling the Globe and the Century

Title: The Great Circle

Author: Maggie Shipstead

 

From the Publisher

"After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula, Montana. There--after encountering a pair of barnstorming pilots passing through town in beat-up biplanes--Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. At fourteen she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy bootlegger who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessons, an arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her life, even as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles.

A century later, Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian's disappearance in Antarctica. Vibrant, canny, disgusted with the claustrophobia of Hollywood, Hadley is eager to redefine herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity. Her immersion into the character of Marian unfolds, thrillingly, alongside Marian's own story, as the two women's fates--and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times--collide." 

 

Insights and Opinions

A small but mighty group of book nerds assembled at Blanche's beautiful lakeside home to take our monthly stab at literary criticism. Opening comments took a surprising turn, centering on the size of Shipstead's work and the sensory experiences of our readers that resulted from its sheer mass. 

This is a big book, running to 673 pages in hardbound. Shirley and Steve both read hard copies, a typical preference of book lovers. But the small typeface makes it a hard slog, even with the aid of a magnifying glass. Big books are heavy, Blanche noted, and can hurt when they fall on your face if you are reading in bed. Listening on audio is painless and pleasant and can be combined with a stroll outside. Those who read it via e-reader had no complaints.  (None of this would have even come up in an 1850s conversation about a book, but I digress. Just think about it).

But We Aren't Complaining About the Length

+ Clearly, this work is a labor of love. This is one of those books you love to read because it holds a long story arc, includes fascinating details about a whole panoply of fields, including aviation, art-making and collection, the film industry, bootlegging, and shipping, and brings the reader into the minds and motives of a host of fascinating characters.

+ As Margy pointed out, "It has to be long. It covers the entire 20th century." Liz agreed, but also felt that a good editor might have been able to convince Shipstead to let some things go. As Steve pointed out in reference to the mushroom scene, "just because you can write when you're high doesn't mean you should."

+ The characters in this book are rich, varied, and well-developed. So much so that there is much fodder here for a set of sequels or prequels, a la Kate Atkinson. Did we really get to spend enough time with movie star Hadley to make us care about her? Not really. Would we have benefited from greater insight into Addison Graves' reasons for abandoning his children after ruining his own life to save theirs? Absolutely.

+ The circle is the metaphor that ties together all of the threads of this story -- Marian's dream of circumnavigating the globe is the most obvious. But all of the disparate stories of the characters in this story, and their effects on the subsequent generation, form great circles of their own, starting in one place, looping forward, and connecting in satisfying ways at the end.

Passion in the Details

+ Shirley noted Shipstead's facility at writing about passion and what it's like to be passionate about something. Jamie's experience as a military artist, sent to capture the essence of war, shows perhaps the most compelling example. In the midst of a fire fight, he sketches furiously, intending to capture the moment. Then, when he later looks at what he had created, he sees it's nothing but slashes and furious lines, shapes and shadows. There is nothing, but at the same time, everything to see.

+ When asked if we felt that some parts of this story could have been eliminated to make room for the rest, we all said yes. But we also disagreed on what could have been eliminated. So that's the best indication that everything on these pages should stay right where it is. 

+ Astonishing to all of us is the amount of research Shipstead would have had to have completed to write what she has written. We've all experienced how great writers dive in to a topic -- be it a period of time or a type of work or a cultural system -- and teach us while they are entertaining us. But, Shipstead has written deeply and convincingly about aviation, World War II, painting, bootlegging, ocean navigation, and the film industry with staggering knowledge and a truly deft hand.

+ Ultimately, this book hits you on the head in more ways than one, and is well worth the read. Also worthwhile will be seeking out Shipstead's other novels, knowing this is a writer we admire.

Book nerds at lunch

 

Next Up

After some discussion about the desire to read a classic and then a somewhat failed chat about how to define a classic, we decided that for our next meeting, we will discuss So Big by Edna Ferber.