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pranavmutatkar 's review for:
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
4 1/2 stars.
The premise is interesting and ambitious. A religious man, named Brother Juniper, tries to examine the lives of 5 people who just passed away in an act of God (a bridge collapsing). Brother Juniper's faith leads him to believe that there is some reason that these 5 were chosen to die. Maybe there is something about them that is evil, something that goes against God, or maybe it is clear from their stories that they sinned in a way where they deserved to die.
As we delve into the stories of these people, we (along with brother Juniper) realize that is this far from the truth. All of them are human with all the good and bad that includes.
I did think that Wilder could have used a different structure or way of presenting the novel. It was good, but there were certain parts of certain stories that were less interesting to me and I wanted to see Brother Juniper's examination of these people. Instead, we are served with stories of them which works, but I don't think is as effective as it could have been.
It was a 4 star book until I reached the last line, which I absolutely loved. It refers to an existential issue all humans face. How long will we live? How will we be remembered? I think I will be going back to it time and time again as I face all the things life has and will continue to deal me.
“We ourselves shall be loved for awhile and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”
The premise is interesting and ambitious. A religious man, named Brother Juniper, tries to examine the lives of 5 people who just passed away in an act of God (a bridge collapsing). Brother Juniper's faith leads him to believe that there is some reason that these 5 were chosen to die. Maybe there is something about them that is evil, something that goes against God, or maybe it is clear from their stories that they sinned in a way where they deserved to die.
As we delve into the stories of these people, we (along with brother Juniper) realize that is this far from the truth. All of them are human with all the good and bad that includes.
I did think that Wilder could have used a different structure or way of presenting the novel. It was good, but there were certain parts of certain stories that were less interesting to me and I wanted to see Brother Juniper's examination of these people. Instead, we are served with stories of them which works, but I don't think is as effective as it could have been.
It was a 4 star book until I reached the last line, which I absolutely loved. It refers to an existential issue all humans face. How long will we live? How will we be remembered? I think I will be going back to it time and time again as I face all the things life has and will continue to deal me.
“We ourselves shall be loved for awhile and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”