Twist by Colum McCann
Published by Random House
Publication date: March 6, 2025
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary
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Anthony is a burned-out journalist whose personal life has cratered as well. In an effort to escape his personal problems and resuscitate his professional life he takes an unusual assignment. Twist is his months-long foray on a boat that’s responsible for repairing the deep-sea cables through which 95% of the world’s data travels. I googled that because I didn’t think it could possibly be true and it is. In fact, it may be as high as 99% which is mindboggling (at least this mind). But this is not a report, rather a novel about his experiences far off the coast of Africa with a highly skilled group of technicians and a captain who seems to have as many secrets as the waters they traverse.
Author Colum McCann’s ability to evoke atmosphere is the highlight of Twist. There’s the claustrophobic feel of weeks spent living in cramped quarters juxtaposed against the vastness of the ocean, a landscape of nothing but water. With little to no communication with the outside world this vastness becomes boredom as one boat drags the ocean floor in quadrants of minute precision to find a broken cable at depths no man can dive. A cable responsible for most of the data and information needed to keep the internet, financial, commercial, and news systems of multiple countries running.
The technical details of how deep-sea data cables work, what exactly is moving through them at a rate of 200 terabits per second, and how incredibly difficult they are to fix is fascinating, but could get dry for those who don’t care how the sausage is made. McCann circumvents this by intermingling the story of Anthony, the journalist, and Conway, the boat’s engineer. One man whose job is to get information pitted against another whose life provokes questions.
Anthony’s observations and reflections, amidst the tedium of weeks with nothing to do and no possibility of escape, give Twist an eerie and introspective feel I appreciated. What did not work so well was McCann’s numerous, repeated references about and comparisons to the making of the movie Apocalypse Now. I got it, but having it hammered into the narrative muddied his broader message. This, plus his writing style, kept me from loving this story. I was reminded of Hemingway, which is great if you like his writing, but I don’t. It’s a bit too testosterone forward with the emphasis on man-the-warrior, able to overcome anything be it nature or his own demons.
While I enjoyed the overall feel McCann imbued into the story, these factors made the book feel like a bit of a slog. But if you’re looking for a slower paced, male-centric character study that kicks into action towards the end Twist is rewarding reading.
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*I received a free copy of this book from Random House in exchange for an honest review.*
I have read this one. I appreciated the subject matter and it’s interesting to note that the cables under the sea these days are being destroyed on purpose by rogue entities doing this. And I liked that the story is kept a bit mysterious and that the journalist is writing a story about it and the captain is an enigma … but the twisted ending went a bit too far for me. I was wishing for a nicer ending?
I loved the technology/cable aspect but I didn’t care for some of his writing style. Too macho.
When I look at the book’s cover it looks like an x-ray of a woman’s torso. Did you notice that or is this one more sign my sanity is slipping away?
Funny about the x-ray you see in the cover …. I didn’t think of that but now that you mention it — the cover is a bit odd. At first I thought it was meant like the ocean floor but now it could be an x-ray, eeks.
I’m weird. I think it is the ocean, but modified a bit to give the impression of a woman.