‘Twist’ by Colum McCann (2025) – 239 pages
“It still astounded me that nearly all our information travels through tiny tubes at the bottom of the ocean. Billions of pulses of light carrying words and images and voices and texts and diagrams and formulas, a flow of pulsating light. In tubes made from glass.”
Fiber-optics is a fascinating little-discussed subject, the glass cables which span the world’s oceans and make the vast transfers of data on the internet possible. Satellites get all the publicity, but transmitting information via satellite is expensive and slow. Nearly all internet communication is done via fiber-optic glass cables on the bottom of the seas.
“The tubes are tiny. They are hollow. They weigh nothing. All they carry is light. I can’t presume to explain this.”
Most of the novel ‘Twist’ takes place on a ship that is sent out to repair these vital glass cables.
An underwater mudslide on the Congo River gains all kinds of debris as it moves along. This debris has damaged some of these underwater glass cables. Where the Congo meets the Atlantic, the power of the river current has created a canyon so deep in the Atlantic that divers cannot go to the bottom of the ocean where the cables lay, so they must use remote devices and grappling hooks to reach the cables.
Our narrator, Anthony Fennell, is a journalist who wants to do a story about the repair of these communication cables. John Conway, the captain of this cable repair ship, allows our narrator to stay aboard the ship on this repair mission.
But just how much of this internet traffic is helpful or valuable? Much of the traffic on the world-wide web is worthless and in many cases even harmful. Gossip, lies, conspiracy theories, character assassinations. Some sources suggest that as much as 30% to 40% of all data transferred across the internet is pornography.
“In my cabin, I allowed myself to descend again into the rabbit hole of the web, a tumble into the worst part of ourselves.”
“It was filthy and it was wrong and, like everyone else, I was consuming it willingly.”
Even the captain of the repair ship has very mixed opinions about the internet.
“And we’re just putting the ends together so people can ruin one another… Everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken.”
Later we find out just how conflicted the captain is.
This is a fascinating subject. However the main characters in this novel, who are the repair ship captain snd the captain’s actress girlfriend Zanele and the journalist narrator, did not really come alive for this reader.
Grade: B
Tony's Book World 
Posted by kimbofo on April 29, 2025 at 5:29 PM
I bought a copy of this on a recent trip to Melbourne (I always splurge in the bookshops there) so have only skimmed your review. I’ll come back and comment properly once I’ve read the book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Anokatony on April 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Hi Kim,
I felt bad about posting so soon after you posted, but I was already later than I intended originally. Sorry about that.
I read your ‘The Lonely Girl’ post, and hit the “Like” button, but it wouldn’t register.
LikeLike
Posted by kimbofo on April 30, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Oh don’t worry about that. I don’t have exclusive rights of time slots. 😆 I don’t normally post on a Tuesday night AWST but I was two days late posting my Edna O’Brien review so needed to get it done.
LikeLike
Posted by Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead on April 29, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Hi Tony! I must admit, this book (I’ve read several professional reviews) didn’t appeal to me; guess I just one of those people who’ll never really appreciate fiber optic cables. I might actually give it a try, if it weren’t for the flat characters . . . .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Anokatony on April 29, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Hi Janakay,
I was fascinated by the fiber optics of which I knew next to nothing, and agree with the point of view that most of the stuff transferred on the internet is worthless or worse than worthless. Why else would we wind up with our current President?
However the characters here just didn’t capture my interest.
LikeLike
Posted by Cathy746books on April 29, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I’m a big fan of Colum McCann so keen to check this one out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Anokatony on April 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Hi Cathy,
Colum McCann does sound almost Irish.
LikeLike
Posted by Cathy746books on April 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
He is! He lives in New York but is originally from Ireland.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Lisa Hill on April 30, 2025 at 5:11 AM
How very topical! The press here is Making a Big Deal of a new Chinese ship that does things with undersea cables!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Anokatony on April 30, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Hi Lisa,
Yes, I suppose if somebody cut the glass cables, Australia could be cut off from the world-wide web. Some might consider that lucky. :)
LikeLiked by 1 person