Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bridge of Sighs
Book Review: A Big Disappointment
Summary: 1 Stars
I see no purpose for this book having been published other than the author is famous. Slow moving,
wordy, convoluted yet simple. Wives who are smarter than their husbands seem to be very popular
in current fiction. Although I am somewhat familiar with the Capitol district of New York state, I
couldn't relate to his descriptions as in his previous books.
Ellie
Book Review: A Bridge Too Short
Summary: 3 Stars
Russo's latest novel about life in the rural Northeast promises much with its romantic title and cover art showing a country bridge merging into the famous bridge in Venice. Russo delivers a charming narrative on growing up in upstate New York, but little else in a well-written but ultimately disappointing effort.
As the story starts, protagonist Louis "Lucy" (Lou C. - get it?) Lynch and his wife Sarah are planning a trip to Venice to reconnect with childhood friend Robert "Bobby" Noonan, who has escaped rural New York to become a world-famous artist. Quickly the story flashes back to Lou's childhood--an almost year-by-year account of life in a small New York company town from age six to high school that will resonate with readers who grew up in similar circumstances. Interspersed are "look-ins" at Noonan's life in Venice and the Lynches' life in present-day Thomaston, New York. Eventually the stories intertwine, but they lost me in the figurative and literal trip across the Bridge of Sighs and in a denouement that depends on the appearance of a completely new character to bring the tale to a close.
In spite of Russo's obvious skill in recreating the feel of a boy's life in a small town, I can only give his book three stars for an ultimately unsatisfying trip across its metaphorical bridge. Still it's possible that other readers will get more out of the journey across the Bridge of Sighs.
Book Review: A Carefully Carved Gem
Summary: 5 Stars
Russo does two things better than almost all other American novelists. And in this novel he exceeds his own standards on both points.
1. He does ordinary people in realistic situations. He does them without condescending because he plainly and simply cares for his characters and understands them with the kind of honest love that the mother and wife in this book show.
2. He is a master at structuring. He will set up a situation and 200 pages later deliver the punchline seamlessly. John Irving can do this as well, but the list grows short after that.
Bridge of Sighs delivers a good slice of human truth, presented by characters who are unforgettable - unforgettable because at some level we have known them all our lives.
This is a beautiful book. Worth a second read.
Book Review: A Deep Sigh for Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 2 Stars
This novel is problematic on several levels, the most obvious perhaps being how difficult it is for a reader to care even a smidgen about the characters. The reason is straightforward, based on violation of a fundamental principle of fiction writing: The author failed to make them real. Most of the story relates the experiences the characters have as children and adolescents, but few of those experiences ring true. Yes, as junior high kids, the characters go to dances, but Russo never once mentions the kind of music that they listen to, even though there are hints that the period in question is the late 1950s through the 1960s, when rock-n-roll was at its peak. Not even a town as small as Thomaston, NY, would have been so isolated that its young people would not be immersed in the music of those years.
The main characters--Lucy Lynch, Bobby Marconi, and Sara Berg--are all damaged in one way or another, but it will strike readers as being unrealistic that, given the times, they each seek solace in the Lynch family and the run-down convenience store, Ikey Lubin's. Just as Russo never mentioned rock-n-roll, he never wrote a word about the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, or the Anti-war Movement, as though the residents of Thomaston were living on a different planet from the rest of us growing up during those years. A minor character, Three Mock, is sent to Vietnam, where he is killed, but neither his conscription nor his death resonates with any of the cultural or counter-cultural currents of the time.
The character of Lucy (Louis C.) Lynch is especially problematic. Although he manages to get good grades in school, he is, like his father, slow witted, one might even say stupid, at least outside the classroom. His insight into others and himself is less than a micron deep. Nevertheless, this dullard somehow manages when writing his memoirs to produce remarkable understanding of the human condition, what Faulkner once characterized as the "eternal verities." This aspect of the story is about as believable as what we would expect had Russo put these words of wisdom in the barking of a dog.
Although many readers pay little attention to narrative structure, this important feature of any novel is so mishandled in Bridge of Sighs as to make one wonder whether Russo really spent four or five years on this work. The bulk of the novel is told as a first-person narrative as Lucy writes (and one must suppose reads) his memoirs. It then shifts perspective repeatedly from first-person to limited-omniscient and omniscient points of view. As a result, readers are constantly aware of the author, which further diminishes the reality of the characters.
In sum, this is a flawed book, one that I find difficult to recommend.
Book Review: A Fabulous Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book! My first exposure to Russo was Straight Man, which I thoroughly enjoyed and found laugh-out-loud funny. I also read Empire Falls, and although I enjoyed it, I didn't as much as Straight Man. I was hesitant to pick up Bridge of Sighs, but I am so glad I did. It is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
A lot of the criticism of this book is that the plot is slow. This book is about characters, not about plot. If you want to read a plot-driven book, pick up something by Grisham. If you enjoy character study, this book is a treasure!