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litdoes 's review for:
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
This slim classic novel starts with tragedy involving five characters, but delivered in such unemotional and spare prose that it strikes the reader harder than if more harrowing details were given. Instead of the scene of tragedy, what Wilder and witness Brother Juniper are interested in are the truncated lives of each of these victims, and for Brother Juniper, proof of some divine providence at work, and a sovereign and benevolent God behind the tragedy.
What follows is a chapter devoted to each of these victims, or if closely related, two characters share a chapter, and what we find out is the grandeur of life, of the way humans as social beings make an impact on others no matter how small their circle may be, the love, pain and grief of living; in other words the unmeasurable meaning of private lives. Was there a discernible design to their fates? Did the pattern of their lives in any way signal this ghastly end? Did any of them deserve to be on that bridge when it collapsed?
The book addresses these questions and more, but whether or not it answers them is something each reader has to decide for himself. This is one of those books that bears reflection and speaks to the individual reader on his own terms, which I find is what makes it a significant work.
What follows is a chapter devoted to each of these victims, or if closely related, two characters share a chapter, and what we find out is the grandeur of life, of the way humans as social beings make an impact on others no matter how small their circle may be, the love, pain and grief of living; in other words the unmeasurable meaning of private lives. Was there a discernible design to their fates? Did the pattern of their lives in any way signal this ghastly end? Did any of them deserve to be on that bridge when it collapsed?
The book addresses these questions and more, but whether or not it answers them is something each reader has to decide for himself. This is one of those books that bears reflection and speaks to the individual reader on his own terms, which I find is what makes it a significant work.