Bridge of Sighs | Richard Russo

Bridge of Sighs | Richard Russo | Great Characters

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Bridge of Sighs

	Bridge of Sighs Richard Russo Knopf, 2007 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 132 reviews view larger image
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A Fabulous Book

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!

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Great Characters

I love Richard Russo's writing, so I wanted to read Bridge of Sighs. It is a nice, satisfying, long read and I enjoyed all the characters and learned to care about them. It is a story of family, love, loyalty, betrayal and all the good stuff that make up a good novel. I enjoyed Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool a bit more, but still a very enjoyable read. I'm always ready to pick up any book written by Russo. Give this one a try ! It will take you back to simpler times when the corner store was a mainstay in every neighborhood.

Yes, it's too long, but it's Immersive anyway...

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.

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Maudlin, Gnawing, And Yes, Endearing -- Book of Sighs.....

In many ways this book is a mess. Russo is very wordy. He can't resist telling us what he then proceeds to show us. A couple of hundred pages could have been cut without compromising his story or the characters.
"People don't change" is a common theme throughout the book. Would that Russo didn't keep repeating that, and then showing evidence to support himself. But then again, perhaps writers don't change either.
Russo writes about people who live in small towns who have small dreams, which can be very fulfilling. His characters are deeply affected, and oftentimes profoundly scarred, by events that took place forty or fifty years ago. Events that will be repeated, ad nauseam.
The main character in "Bridge Of Sighs" is actually a family. The Lynch family to be precise. Its patriarch is a kind-hearted, man who never met a verb he could conjugate properly. He saw the good in everything, while his wife saw what was. Try as she might, she knew people wouldn't change, and.....
Lou jr., or Lucy as he's called, is writing an autobiography. His life couldn't be duller, and yet it is fulfilling. He loves his family, job and town. Many people would be very happy with his existence. But it isn't interesting literature. Lucy was picked on in school, save when he was with his friend Bobby Marconi, who was really a friend to his family, and only after Lucy had a girlfriend Marconi would have stolen in a heartbeat. Marconi is interesting, and his absences are felt just as strongly as his presence in the unraveling of this story. But as a protagonist, Lucy is too needy, dull, and cloying to help propel a great story.
What didn't happen in this novel is more interesting than what did (for the most part).
You really feel as if you intimately know all the characters, and charachatures Russo creates. But the ones you know most intimately, might be people you'd avoid knowing well in your own life. These are people you'd wish well, but not want to have at a dinner party.

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