Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bridge of Sighs
Book Review: A most satisfying read
Summary: 5 Stars
What a wonderful family study. In this time where the focus is on the dysfuntional family, Russo shows us that families, regardless of their individual dynamics, truly do function. This is a warm, painful, soft, harsh treatment of the lives of individuals trying to do their best under difficult circumstances; a genre that Russo seems to understand very well. Allow time to read enough at a sitting to get involved with the characters and you will find this a most satisfying read.Book Review: A quietly astounding novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Readers of Pulitzer-Prize winning author Richard Russo (EMPIRE FALLS) might do a double take when they see the title of his latest work, BRIDGE OF SIGHS. After all, Russo has earned his acclaim writing about contemporary life in small-town upstate New York. The Bridge of Sighs, located in Venice, Italy, is several thousand miles from his favorite haunts.
Constructed in the 16th century, the Bridge of Sighs crossed the Rio di Palazzo and connected the interrogation rooms of Venetian police with the prisons. In the 19th century Lord Byron gave the bridge its famous name by suggesting that inmates walking across the pathway to imprisonment would sigh as they had their final view of beautiful Venice before being taken to their cells. Legend also suggests that eternal love awaits those who kiss at sunset in a gondola under the bridge.
The title of the novel refers to a painting of the famous bridge crafted by one of the main characters, Bobby Marconi, who is now an accomplished artist residing in Venice. BRIDGE OF SIGHS is the story of Marconi, Louis C. Lynch (whose middle initial creates the unfortunate moniker of Lucy that will follow Lynch throughout his life) and Sarah Berg, who becomes his wife while retaining a long-distance connection with Bobby.
Russo was raised in Gloversville, New York, a town named for the primary product manufactured in the community. His novels often have focused on the post-World War II communities of the northeast that thrived in a booming economy and then began to suffer a slow death as the trades and industries that supported them moved to other locales in the United States and the world. In BRIDGE OF SIGHS, the town portrayed is Thomaston, New York, where a highly successful tannery once provided jobs and livelihoods for the town's residents. But the business came with costs. The tannery poured toxic chemicals into Thomaston's water supply, ultimately bringing disease and death to its residents. When the tannery was forced to close its doors, the resulting economic depression made the once-thriving community a hollowed-out shell of a town.
The story is told primarily through the lives of the Lynch, Berg and Marconi families, with Lynch serving as the primary narrator. Through his eyes we watch his father struggle as technology and big business make obsolescent his job as the community milkman. The family opens a small neighborhood grocery store that will serve as the backdrop and foundation for their lives for nearly one-half century. Through the corner store comes the individuals who populate the pages of BRIDGE OF SIGHS and make it an endearing and poignant story. The events, so expertly chronicled by Russo, cannot help but remind readers of similar experiences and travails in their own lives.
It is ironic that a major theme of BRIDGE OF SIGHS is painting. Bobby Marconi and Sarah Berg are accomplished artists. While Russo works in an altogether different medium, the characters he portrays and the events he depicts are as vivid and beautiful as any great work of art. His heartbreaking narrative of the calamities of life that all of us confront is touching without being maudlin, and his characters are sympathetic and unforgettable. As you reach the end, you want to turn back to the opening pages and start once again. Russo's ability to present individuals with dignity and grace make this a quietly astounding novel that should be on everyone's fall reading list.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
Book Review: A splendid effort and I wonderful read
Summary: 4 Stars
When one starts to read and review modern Literature, one has to take many things into account. In Russo's latest he delivers a really smashing story in a most delightful, if not quirky and cumbersome, way. Without resorting to plot, for one should read this book if one has any affection for Russo, this novel is ripe for adapation to the screen. (With Paul Newman now gone, it will have to be determined how this process will evolve, but it will surely be made into a film soon.) Don't wait for that, for there are nuances and elements in this book that will never transfer to screen, and it is these that are som absorbing.
Russo delivers far better on his depiction of small town mentalities and minds than any film can communicate. He has this wonderful "Winesburg, Ohio" ability to see through the pretense of small town life, yet he creates a certain universal quality in all of his characters with the use of this venue. I once read in an interview witht he Author that he describes his style as "identify theory". I.T explains how the characters become who they become, or in some cases, how they don't become anything else than what they are destined to be. This quality is in this text, more so than in "Empire Falls".
When I read "Empire Falls", a book by the way I adore, I was quick to note that there was a certain Dickensesque way of his story telling. I couldn't help but notice in this current novel that he was more like Lee in her "Mockingbird..." method. We meet our main characters, and we confront the demons of adolsecence and small town life only to find how it has affected their adult lives.
There is no urge to burn through this book to see what happens next. In fact, the reader often is left quite at ease with the path they and the characters are beset upon to follow, or look back upon. As you near the end of the book you become acutely aware that the story is coming to an end. As such, you read on with curiousity for the characters, for they have become your friends. Moreover, you re aware of the mortality of Russo's small up state town, his characters, child hood, blind faith, family loyalty, and life itself.
Not a great many books deal with that aforementioned. It is truly worth your time.
Book Review: A very beautiful novel
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read other books by Richard Russo and loved them, but this one is my favorite. It is admittedly written at a pace that can bother some people, but it has the most believable and real characters I've ever read in a book.
The tone of the book and his treatment of the characters is what struck me the most, you see their flaws and Russo allows you to relate to them, pity them, feel above them and basically feel the way one might to real people. Often authors rever or mock their characters and Russo presents how these people fell into their lives and their destinies while allowing for both.
I can understand why people might like his other books more, since they are faster and easier, but this one is very, very rewarding.
Book Review: All over the map
Summary: 1 Stars
I did not enjoy this book. The initial 3 chapters were ok, not great, the cast of characters were promising. Still, it fell down somewhere. The plot had a number of holes that were too easily filled It seemed that the story was rushed to a conclusion in most of the story lines, without any sense of permanence in the characters. The small town play was mostly a stereotypical setting filled with characters that over time never really evolved, but in the end had these crashing metamorphoses. Why, who knows?
I like Russo's books. Just not this one. I was skimming at the end, knowing where it was going.