Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Hi Everyone and thank you for such a great turn out this month, its so nice to have such a large crowd of avid readers. This months book was the Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. It was a lengthy, slow read which I have been told you either Love or Hate! I actually really liked the slow plodding pace that he set, I felt it suited the characters and also the town. What I didn't like so much was the fact that it all felt a little crammed in at the end. I wonder if Russo felt he had to wrap things up quickly before the book became a tome !
Its always difficult to follow an award winning novel (Empire falls) but as most of the group hadn't read anything else by him the pressure seemed to be released. The general opinion of the group was that it was a good story about not very much with interesting but not very likable characters. That being said Russo was masterful in setting the scene, describing the place and making the characters stand out as individuals. What was great about this book is that all the characters were well developed and the little story lines/threads that some times get lost in an average story continued to the end and were rounded off. One of the interesting things that came up in the group was that they enjoyed it more if read over a weekend or listened to it in the car in one several large chunks. I have added a link to the Ny times review of this book, if you would like more information
NY Times Review
Happy Reading
Ellie
Its always difficult to follow an award winning novel (Empire falls) but as most of the group hadn't read anything else by him the pressure seemed to be released. The general opinion of the group was that it was a good story about not very much with interesting but not very likable characters. That being said Russo was masterful in setting the scene, describing the place and making the characters stand out as individuals. What was great about this book is that all the characters were well developed and the little story lines/threads that some times get lost in an average story continued to the end and were rounded off. One of the interesting things that came up in the group was that they enjoyed it more if read over a weekend or listened to it in the car in one several large chunks. I have added a link to the Ny times review of this book, if you would like more information
NY Times Review
Happy Reading
Ellie
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