The narrator in this book seems to be objective and honest. I’m unsure of who is telling the story, but it reminds me of the driving voice in The Good Guy by Dean Koontz. The narrator feels like it’s someone who was not personally part of the story, but seems to know everything; it could even be the author. I also enjoy the switch narratives from Dessie to Jacob and to the killers. This reminds me of Falling Man in this aspect. I think it’s important to have these multiple focuses because as a reader we know they will all come together, which can be a really fulfilling feeling. These four characters are all in close proximity but just haven’t run into one another yet, which creates more suspense. The setting of the book takes place in Europe from Italy to Germany and to Paris. There’s a lot of ground for these characters tamper with and physically move on, which I like because the book doesn’t seem grounded in one place.
As readers we also learn a lot about each character. We can tell that Jacob is grieving over his murdered daughter and how close this case is for him based on the repetition of “Rome, Rome, Rome” and his large intake of alcohol (20-21). We can see how his mind goes in circles and how emotionally committed he is when he repeats words or phrases like, “what the hell, what the hell, what the hell” (22). I’m finding it really easy to latch onto how the characters feel and what type of personalities they have. One last thought: the use of postcards to relay murders and to secretly contact people is pretty damn creative!
I personally think that Falling Man should be taken off the syllabus. I enjoyed this book the least and I had a hard time identifying with it. I think that there is a better book out there about 9/11 somewhere; I’m just not sure what it is. The prose was great and the emotional states of the characters were pretty accurate, but it didn’t trigger a great deal of emotion for me. Perhaps this is because it’s fiction? I really wished I liked this book and got more meaning out of it like some people did, but it just was not my cup of tea. Yet, this makes me want to read more novels written about and around 9/11. I think if I were to teach this book I would have another book from post-9/11 so the class could do a cross comparison and see which they could relate to better, or feel the most compelled by. This would be the only way I could keep Falling Man on the syllabus because I feel that it this one book doesn’t entirely capture the moment in history.
