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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Read for book club. At times I was laughing out loud-shaking my head. Not uplifting but the writing was brilliant. I have thought about it a lot after reading.. Look forward to discussing
I just reread this book; the first time was 58 years ago as 19-year old freshman in my English Composition 102 class at Wilkes College in spring 1966. I vaguely recall the book being something about the eternal meaning of lives being snuffed out unexpectedly. Five people of varying ages die when a rope bridge collapses in Peru in 1714. Brother Juniper is a witness of the tragedy. He searches for reasons why God would allow for such premature deaths. The book is surprisingly short, but Thornton Wilder takes the reader into the lives of each of the victims and their interactions with others. My first read in a college dormitory room was just as an assignment like my differential calculus worksheets or my German vocabularies. However, I knew I had missed a great deal. So, I read it again still straining from what I thought was just the author's flamboyant writing only to realize that the conclusion was meaningful and transforming.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is a little surprising that I had never read The Bridge of San Luis Rey: I have been intentionally making my way through the Pulitzer winners for fiction, and I traveled to Peru about 10 years ago and always seek out novels that are set in the place of my travels. Plus, even though I am ambivalent about the concept of "canon," I do love classics so this book ticked all of those boxes. But what got me to finally pick up this book is that Ann Patchett, in the afterword of Tom Lake, urges her readers to seek it out, and if Ann Patchett tells me to read something, best believe I am going to follow her lead.
The conceit of the novel is this: 5 people die in the collapse of a rope bridge over a gorge in Peru. A Franciscan priest, Brother Juniper, decides to figure out exactly why these 5 people were fated to die on this bridge, so he endeavors to study each one, and somehow divine the reason that they fell. Thus begins the story of these interconnected characters and an exploration of fate, faith, loyalty, and what the nature of love is.
This is not a book to skim - the language is poetic but requires focus. It's philosophical and rich. You won't want to miss a word. That said, its short length, dramatic plot and fascinating, colorful characters keep you turning the pages. Thornton Wilder is a master at endings; each section gradually builds up to and then ends with the moment that the character arrives at the bridge. The novel's final paragraphs brought me to weeping.
** I am participating in Footnotes & Tangent's year-long slow-read of Tolstoy's War and Peace so I am finding novellas are scratching the itch I have to finish things, so I have declared 2024 the Year of the Novella. Recommend your favorites!
The conceit of the novel is this: 5 people die in the collapse of a rope bridge over a gorge in Peru. A Franciscan priest, Brother Juniper, decides to figure out exactly why these 5 people were fated to die on this bridge, so he endeavors to study each one, and somehow divine the reason that they fell. Thus begins the story of these interconnected characters and an exploration of fate, faith, loyalty, and what the nature of love is.
This is not a book to skim - the language is poetic but requires focus. It's philosophical and rich. You won't want to miss a word. That said, its short length, dramatic plot and fascinating, colorful characters keep you turning the pages. Thornton Wilder is a master at endings; each section gradually builds up to and then ends with the moment that the character arrives at the bridge. The novel's final paragraphs brought me to weeping.
** I am participating in Footnotes & Tangent's year-long slow-read of Tolstoy's War and Peace so I am finding novellas are scratching the itch I have to finish things, so I have declared 2024 the Year of the Novella. Recommend your favorites!
the beginning was a little boring but by the end the writing style and the characters and the way everything fell together rly grew on me
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Bridge of San Luis Rey would be a lot better if it was about 100 pages longer. At the center of the story is a bridge collapse in 1714 in colonial Peru. Five people died when the bridge collapsed, and about twenty pages of the book are dedicated to telling each of their stories. All of the stories end with them being on the bridge and it failing.
The themes of impermanence and free will and “gods plan for us” run throughout the book. It seems like something kids should read in school to learn to look deeper than the prose when reading to see if there is a deeper meaning than a book worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. When I say it would be better if it was 100 pages longer, I mean that the stories of each person would be better developed and more rich. When you just learn about a character in 15-25 pages and then just move on to someone else, it’s difficult to care about them.
And that’s pretty much what I took away from this. A bridge collapsed, people died, and I didn’t care about any of their deaths.
The themes of impermanence and free will and “gods plan for us” run throughout the book. It seems like something kids should read in school to learn to look deeper than the prose when reading to see if there is a deeper meaning than a book worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. When I say it would be better if it was 100 pages longer, I mean that the stories of each person would be better developed and more rich. When you just learn about a character in 15-25 pages and then just move on to someone else, it’s difficult to care about them.
And that’s pretty much what I took away from this. A bridge collapsed, people died, and I didn’t care about any of their deaths.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No