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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Much to appreciate and admire in this book. The structure is rock solid. The attention to detail is amazing and never feels gratutious. The characters are unusual and interesting. The way the author examines how different people deal (or don't) with personal tragedy and how this relates to the larger theme of fate and a philosophy for living still seem fresh because of the uniqueness of how they're presented here. I just never got fully into the story. It was like seeing a painting by an old master at a museum. I could appreciate it for what it was, how the author put it together and what his aims were. I got it. I just had trouble engaging with it other than on an intellectual level.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ნუ აი სიტყვები არ მყოფნის რა, ისე ზუსტად დაემთხვა დროსაც, განწყობასაც, და ზოგადად, ობიექტურ მდგომარეობას, რომ აღარაფერი ვთქვა თვითონ ამ არაჩვეულებრივ წიგნზე და თანაც სრულიად შემთხვევით (ისე, შეიძლება არც შემთხვევითობაა).. გმადლობთ ყველას!:)
I'm not very familiar with this author's work, though I know he is popular in classic literature. I enjoyed the story more as each set of characters was revealed. It's so clever how he weaves together their connections and smoothly navigates forward and back in the timeline. The backdrop of the bridge collapse is surprisingly not the biggest element - each character's backstory is what hooked me. I recommend this as an easy, engaging read.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A bridge collapses in Peru and five people die. This book explores their lives and times in an effort to discover why they were chosen to die that day on that bridge. It's a quick read, but interesting and thought provoking.
What a fantastic little book! I actually think it must have been a pretty revolutionary literary piece in its day. The premise is intriguing, the writing is superb, the characters are fascinating and complex. I would have given it a 5-star ranking but for one little thing: he refers to people from Lima, Peru, as Limeans! How does one even pronounce that?!? The Spanish Limeños just sounds so much better. Anyway, the theme of trying to explain the inexplicable about why tragedy strikes some people and not others, whether a chance occurrence is just a chance occurrence or divine justice, is handled superbly. I loved this book and all the characters in it. Very worthy of the Pulitzer.
This classic, dug out of basement storage in our central library at my request, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1928. The copy I read was actually printed then, so was quite fragile.
The setting of this book is Lima Peru 250 years ago. One fateful day a bridge made of willows which for ages has spanned a deep gorge near the city, breaks, and five people plunge to their deaths. Brother Juniper, a monk, witnesses the accident and determines to trace the life stories of the five to prove his belief that each of them in some way deserved this fate, and that such a catastrophe was God’s will.
Thankfully, I found that Brother Juniper’s purpose in researching the characters paled to the characters themselves and their intersecting lives. Not only a study of Peruvian society of the 18th century, but also an unmasking of societal attitudes of the 1920s.
As an aside: A new biography, Thornton Wilder: A Life by Penelope Niven was released October 30th, 2012.
Read this if: you love to see how lives intersect & the part circumstance plays in one’s destiny; or if you’re looking for a fairly short & not difficult-to-read classic to complete a reading challenge. 3½ stars
The setting of this book is Lima Peru 250 years ago. One fateful day a bridge made of willows which for ages has spanned a deep gorge near the city, breaks, and five people plunge to their deaths. Brother Juniper, a monk, witnesses the accident and determines to trace the life stories of the five to prove his belief that each of them in some way deserved this fate, and that such a catastrophe was God’s will.
Thankfully, I found that Brother Juniper’s purpose in researching the characters paled to the characters themselves and their intersecting lives. Not only a study of Peruvian society of the 18th century, but also an unmasking of societal attitudes of the 1920s.
As an aside: A new biography, Thornton Wilder: A Life by Penelope Niven was released October 30th, 2012.
Read this if: you love to see how lives intersect & the part circumstance plays in one’s destiny; or if you’re looking for a fairly short & not difficult-to-read classic to complete a reading challenge. 3½ stars