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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I loved reading The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Wilder's prose is beautiful without being precious. He totally lacks that "Look at me, Ma! I'm writing!" quality that I find so grating and that so many writers indulge in. In fact, the narrator does sound detached, and that's part of what's so appealing in this emotionally charged narrative. While none of the initial questions posed about God are even remotely answered, the depths of love in all of its permutations are explored through the 5 lives ended on the bridge.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting short book. Very well-received in its day, even won the Pulitzer in 1928. It poses a philosophical question: Why do some people die in a freak accident? It examines the lives of those who died in a bridge collapse to try to answer this question. But of course nothing is definitive and all the reader gets is a fairly in-depth recounting of the lives of the five deceased. It is interesting in its own way although it feels very old-fashioned, in some ways not a novel at all but a moral fable. The modern twist is that there is no answer.
Leave it to a writer to focus a novel around the “why” behind a freak accident. While there wasn’t a neat conclusion to the investigation (gross understatement), it worked for me. The writing is beautiful, especially the dialogue, but still readable.
Seeing as I study spanish, I loved the hispanic undertones to this book and enjoyed translating snippets from Castilian into English. Not only this, but there was a strong Catholic undercurrent in the novel, no doubt a consequence of the denomination's popularity in the hispanic world, and this made for enjoyable analysing. The novel is told by means of three separate stories, each one sending with the same event: the bridge. It's a beautiful representation of human community and the connections which exist between us. Oh, even if you don't want to read the whole thing, I urge you to find the book and READ THE LAST PAGE!
Felt kind of weird about this one - really enjoyed the beginning and ending but everything in the middle I could haven taken or left.
I kept waiting for a conclusion. All of a sudden the book ended.
I read this book first over fifty years ago. The basics of the story are still remembered. I think it may have been the first truly adult book I ever read. The lesson being that life is fleeting and can end at any time, no matter your age, your dreams or you life's station. Though it takes place my centuries ago in the mountains of Peru, the main characters are ageless. I recognize myself, and others I have known, in them. Certainly a classic I am glad to have rediscovered.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes