Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bridge of Sighs
Book Review: Wow, this is not good
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is slow, very slow, husbands are dumb, characters are stale and boring. I really liked Nobody's Fool (my Favorite), and Empire Falls is good, but this is just a terrible book. Where is the editor when you need them? This does not feel like New York, I'm just not buying it. What a waste of Money.Book Review: Yes, it's too long, but it's Immersive anyway...
Summary: 4 Stars
I was hesitant to pick up this book, mostly because of its length, and also because I'd read some of the negative reviews here. But I greatly enjoyed Empire..., and finally decided to give it a chance.
I'm awfully glad I did. I'll agree with other reviewers that this book didn't need to be anywhere near as long. There were a couple of subplots that seemed tacked on for no good reason, and some of the backstory of Lucy's childhood felt superfluous. This is one reason for my giving the book only 4 stars, as well as the somewhat two-dimensional way Russo drew Lucy and his father. But the book really drew me in regardless, the town and townspeople felt incredibly real, and I looked forward to picking up the book each morning, reentering Lucy and Bobby's life. (Note that the story of Bobby's adult life in Italy wasn't quite as interesting to me as his childhood, so I have to admit that I did skip quickly through those pages.) The parallels between the lives of the children and adults are incredibly well depicted, just subtle enough not to be glaring. This really shows what a talented writer Russo is.
Book Review: deadly dull
Summary: 1 Stars
this novel is overstuffed with b.s.....any plot which is less interesting than 99% of the average person's lives deserves to stay in the desk drawer....dull, dull, dullBook Review: ugh sigh
Summary: 1 Stars
I totally agree with horrible depiction of women in this novel. I know the author is a man and therefore has no insight... but the only woman in that book who was real and intelligent was his mother, whom he loathed and tried to get the reader to loathe as well... I have a problem... when I begin a book, I have to finish it... I struggled through this book 'sighed' everytime i picked it up... This was my first Russo book and my last...Book Review: well worth the long read
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard to say that one novel by Richard Russo is markedly better than another: he is an excellent, sympathetic, genial, observant - and consistent - writer. And so "Bridge of Sighs" again depicts the lives and times of a group of folk in small-town upstate New York, his preferred locale. Russo is kind to his characters, seeing the good where possible (not unlike Lucy) and his gentle wit is never too far from the action. While Lucy (and his father) lead lives which could appear largely uneventful, Bobby undergoes a dramatic transformation which I found a little forced. Others have commented that the Venice pages are not totally in character with the rest of this long book, and I agree. This splendid novel is not without its faults (I thought New York's "SoHo" was thus spelt) but no matter - Russo is up there with John Cheever, but on a bigger scale, a broader canvas. So how come he is not better known?