Twist

A Novel

De: Colum McCann

Narrado por: Colum McCann

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • An “urgent [and] ingenious” (The New York Times Book Review) novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean—from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin

“The spirit of Joseph Conrad hovers over the text, but here the heart of darkness lies at the bottom of the ocean.”—Salman Rushdie

“Everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken.”

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair?

Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times.

©2025 Colum McCann (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Enigmatic and urgent . . . ingenious . . . McCann, author of the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin, clearly knows what he’s up to.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Told with McCann’s incomparable prose, Twist opens a window into an obscure way people on earth are connected, told by a man who is himself fairly broken. . . . Gorgeously written and sad and inspiring.”—The Boston Globe

“Genuinely haunting and sometimes thrilling . . . There are also plenty of genuinely gorgeous passages about the way people are translated into dots of light in our information-based economy. As usual, McCann is sensitive to the fluid nature of oppression across history and countries.”—The Washington Post

Brilliant writing, great story

Poetic writing. Compelling story and pacing. Reminds one of Conrad. Perfect narrator - his soft Irish lilt brings the story to life.

So happy he’s still writing fiction

I laughed out loud when he inserted himself at the end. I met Colum at a reading in Idaho years ago and he was wearing that purple skinny linen scarf.

Such lush language and great characters

There was nothing about this novel I did not. Definitely for the literary minded. There is also a mystery, although it was the rich, layered writing that spoke to me! Highly recommend!

holy fn sht

this reading was incredible! beautifully written and read. I think I may listen to it again.

Beautiful Prose

Beautiful prose, exciting story, interesting commentary on modern and historical societies. And a unique cast of characters.

Undersea Cables as Metaphors for Love

Actual fiber optic cables are as vulnerable and as potent as human relationships, and they can both be repaired by humans.

Beautiful and twisted; just like life

I recently read "The Demon of Unrest", by Erik Larson. It is a recounting of the days leading up to The Civil War. In it, Larson mentions the the role of the transatlantic cable in communicating the events at Fort Sumtner. This got me thinkng about how such a cable could have existed at that time. I read about that first cable and others, the technology that was used and the challenges that were overcome. I became fascinated with the idea that much of our ability to communicate with each other takes place as a result of physically placing cables in a medium that is inhospitable. When I read the review for "Twist" I decided to take a chance. I generally read science fiction or non-fiction but I thought that the story would include enough information about repairing cables that I would enjoy it regardless of the strength of the plot. I did learn about cable repair in a general sense and the story was full of twists that kept my interest. The real payoff was the observations about life in general, and relationships specifically. For example, "A cable is just a cable until it is broken. Then it is like the rest of us; broken." These observations were always made in the context of the story yet they were...well I am going to use a word that I don't normally use...they were beautiful. I cannot stop thinking about this book. I will forget the plot in time but this is a book that is at once filled with sadness and hope. I hope you read it. Oh, some reviewers have commented on the reader. I speak American English and sometimes struggle when listening to speakers of British English or speakers with other accents. The reader does have, to me, an accent but I had no trouble understanding what was being said. This is probably partly due to the reader's, I think, deliberate decision to speak in a way that allows what is said to marinate. I thought the reader's performance was just right.

Absolutely love this book

As a rule, I struggle with Irish literature due to the unrelenting despair. However, somehow this author pulls it off and makes it interesting. I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction. I did not anticipate the twist at the end. I have done some diving and found the information accurate. I will read more of this author. Very rarely are authors good readers/performers but this author is a good one. This book sent me down the rabbit hole of researching under sea communication, cables, and how the locations of the breaks are found. I also looked up to see if anyone had ever been convicted of sabotaging the cables because I was almost sure this book had to be based on a real incident. It was not.

Honest emotion, not melodramatic.

I liked the narrative style. All of the characters, major and minor were treated equally.

What was left out

I have read several books by this author and once again he delivers a thoughtful immersive experience. I learned a lot about undersea cables, their importance and their vulnerability. Our inability to really understand, to make sense of things is represented by Conway. First he fixes then he breaks. Why?
Plus the writing is fantastic!