When we think of “cloud storage,” we envisage all our data, all our dreams, images and mental lucubrations floating around in the sky over a soft pillowy cloud—or something along those lines. But reality is much more complex than that, and certainly less ethereal.
Computer data, even though intangible, resides in a very physical tangible space. When not stored in gigantic, brightly lit energy-consuming data centres in the middle of a desert, it might be travelling in a train much like the one that links the UK to the European mainland. That train, together with cars and other vehicles on wheels, uses the underwater Chunnel to cross from one side of the Channel to the other.
The internet uses the same principle to cross over from one continent to another or to simply avoid the rugged topography of dry land or the vagaries of satellite communications. That train is a concatenation of underwater fibre-optic cables that sometimes snap, causing untold inconvenience to netizens all over the world.
Optic fibres are as thin as the hair of a human baby but if twisted into thick bundles, they can be very resilient. Resilient, yes, but not unbreakable. Marine life, careless trawlers, earthquakes, human error or deliberate sabotage, as well as bad weather and other phenomena beyond human control, can wreak havoc and break these communications lines so vital for modern life.
Twist is the story of how such contingencies can dramatically change the course of current events or human lives.
Twist is the story of how such contingencies can dramatically change the course of current events or human lives. It is also a reminder that the ocean floor can be as deep as the highest of mountains, and hence how cable repair operations pose serious dangers to the lives of repair crews.
John A. Conway, the main protagonist of Twist, is the mysterious chief engineer of the Georges Lecointe, the rescue vessel charged with conveying miles of cable to accident sites. Anthony Fennell is a journalist on a mission to write an in-depth article on this fascinating operation, as well as to beat his alcoholism on a strictly dry ship. Both these men are Irish, but are leery of each other because of the Troubles back home.
Zanele is a South African theatre actress who is trying to extricate herself from her complicated relationship with the ever-mobile Conway. Her children are the litmus test of interracial relations. Fennell also has an unacknowledged child who weighs heavily on his conscience. The motley crew from different parts of Africa simply do their job while on board and drink their woes away offshore. Their lives are a microcosm of how those who control the world from the top affect those who toil at the bottom.
Such is the plot of this fascinating story written by a consummate storyteller who makes readers think, feel, question and learn. Its many revelations and twists will tempt you to neglect your humdrum life for a few hopefully unbroken hours of pure wonderment. I, for one, had almost given up on fiction during these turbulent times. McCann’s tour de force has reminded me that solid fiction is the most vivid enactment of life.
