Windows on the World (novel)
Encyclopedia
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Frédéric Beigbeder
Frédéric Beigbeder
Frédéric Beigbeder is a French writer and literary critic. He won the Prix Interallié in 2003 for his novel Windows on the World and the Prix Renaudot in 2009 for his book Un roman français...
was first published in France in 2003. The English translation by Frank Wynne
Frank Wynne
Frank Wynne is an Irish literary translator and writer.Born in Co. Sligo, Ireland, he worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at Deadline magazine . He worked for a time at AOL before becoming a literary translator...
was released March 30, 2005 by Miramax Books.
Plot summary
The novel alternates between two voices: the first Carthew Yorsten, a Texan realtor accompanied by his two sons (ages 7 and 9) who are having a tourist-style breakfast at Windows on the WorldWindows on the World
Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant, Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, and a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, as well as rooms for private functions...
restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
on the morning of September 11, 2001; the second, the voice of the author writing the story while having breakfast at a restaurant atop a Paris skyscraper (Tour Montparnasse
Tour Montparnasse
Tour Maine-Montparnasse , also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a tall office skyscraper located in Paris, France, in the area of Montparnasse. Constructed from 1969 to 1972, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011, when it was surpassed in height by the Tour First...
). Each chapter, averaging three pages a piece, represents one minute from 8.30 am - just before the time the building is hit at 8:46am - to 10.29, just after its collapse at 10:28am.
Film adaptation
Max PughMax Pugh
Max Pugh is a French-English filmmaker who divides his time between London, England and France. He was born in the North of England and studied at Durham School and the University of Leeds....
a dual nationality French / English filmmaker is working on an "animated feature drama/documentary adaptation".
Prizes
The novel debuted at No 2 on the French best seller list and won the prestigious Prix InteralliéPrix Interallié
The prix Interallié , also known simply as l’Interallié, is an annual French literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist.- History :...
in 2003.
It won the 2005 Independent Prize for Foreign Fiction awarded by the British newspaper.
Independent literary editor and judge Boyd Tonkin said: "Frederic Beigbeder's winning novel pulls off the impossible - it creates fiction about the tragedy of 11 September and our responses to it,"
External links
- Review from complete reviewComplete reviewcomplete review is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry...
- Review from 3:AM Magazine3:AM Magazine3:AM Magazine is a literary magazine, which was set up as 3ammagazine.com in April 2000 and is edited from Paris. Its editor-in-chief since inception has been Andrew Gallix, a lecturer at the Sorbonne ....