Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bridge of Sighs
Book Review: Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book for my wife for Christmas after reading countless positive reviews. She is a well educated, avid reader of both classic and modern literature. She has been raving about the quality of this book and the marvelous writing style of Richard Russo, whom she had never read before. At one point she came to me in tears, having to express her intense pleasure from the beauty and emotional expressiveness of his story. I can hardly wait to get my hands on that book.Book Review: Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 1 Stars
This book started well enough and while I was compelled to finish it, the longer it went on the more it deteriorated--and it went on for a long time; I didn't have a problem with him being wordy as much as being repetitious. The shifting time sequences and perspectives was annoying. The main character was vapid; the supporting cast, caricatures. Rarely does a book contain so many stereotypes and cliches. Was this really written by Richard Russo; where was his editor?Book Review: Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 2 Stars
This book was a great disappointment. I really liked previous Russo books, Nobody's Fool, Straight Man, and Empire Falls. This one is extremely wordy, and, unlike previous books, lacks any characters that I liked or found interesting. It also jumps frequently between narrators and time periods, which makes it confusing at times. The primary character and narrator is Lou(Lucy)Lynch, an amiable but extremely dull person, who has inherited what amounts convenience store, and lives in an equally dull fictional upper New York town, Thomaston. His narration jumps around between being bullied as a kid to his inheritance of the store, his marriage, and his family. The most interesting character is Bobby Marconi who, for some reason, changed his name to Noonan. He was a childhood neighbor of Lucy and has become a famous artist living abroad. Lucy's wife, Sarah, has tried to keep in touch with Bobby, but never gets a response to any of her letters. Sarah, who is also an artist, and Bobby were once greatly attracted to one another, and regret the fact that Sarah chose to marry Lucy rather than Bobby. One of Sarah's painting is of a Stone Bridge in Venice, called the Bridge of Sighs, so named because the prisoners who crossed this bridge realized that all hope was lost and their sighs would echo to the neighboring canals.
Bobby eventually decides to return to Thomaston, but never quite gets there. Various members of the Lynch family wander in and out of scences in the book, and there are several dramatic events including a fire and several fights, one of which is between Bobby and his thoroughly rotten father just before Bobby leaves Thomaston. There are several African American characters who Russo treats sympathetically but gives dialog that sounds as if it was borrowed from an early twentieth century minstral show.
If this sounds a bit jumbled, that's the way the book is.
Book Review: Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 4 Stars
Flows smoothly. Insightful and warm. Unfolding story moves gradually to resolving an undercurrent of suspense. Delves into the various individual personalities and into their interrelationships. A classic Richard Russo novel.Book Review: Bridge of Sighs
Summary: 5 Stars
Russo re-establishes his place as the best American novelist writing today. Perhaps not quite as great as Empire Falls.