Bridge of Sighs: Oprah's Book Club

By: Richard Russo

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls comes “a magnificent, bighearted” novel (The Boston Globe) about small-town America that follows Louis Charles Lynch (“Lucy”) and his wife of forty years as they prepare to embark on a vacation to Italy.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor

Louis Charles Lynch is sixty years old and has spent his entire life in Thomaston, New York, married to the same woman, Sarah, for forty of them, their son now a grown man. Like his late, beloved father, “Lucy” is an optimist, though he’s had plenty of reasons not to be—chief among them his mother, still indomitably alive. Yet it was her shrewdness, combined with that Lynch optimism, that had propelled them years ago to the right side of the tracks and created an “empire” of convenience stores about to be passed on to the next generation.

Lucy and Sarah are also preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy, where his oldest friend, a renowned painter, has exiled himself. Once a rival for Sarah’s affection, Noonan leads a life in Venice far removed from Thomaston. In fact, the exact nature of their friendship is one of the many mysteries Lucy hopes to untangle in the “history” he’s writing of his hometown and family. And with his story interspersed with that of Noonan, the native son who’d fled so long ago, the destinies building up around both of them (and Sarah, too) are relentless, constantly surprising, and utterly revealing.

Engrossing

I loved this book ...even though the beginning was slow, I really got into the characters and their world and just didn't want it to end.
I too wanted to be in Ikey Rubin's shop, being spoilt by Big Lou and his wife; I too fell in love with Bobby...oh Bobby.
The narrator did a fine job with the different characters' voices. At first I found his pace slow; but I came to realize that this pace fitted in perfectly with the main "teller" of the story, Lucy (Lou C. Lynch)who himself was rather slow and ponderous in everything he did.
If you're a fan of fast paced dramas with a gripping, detailed storyline then this probably isn't the right book for you. But if you like a novel with excellent characterizations that makes you think about life and love and engrosses you in an imaginary world and it's people, then you should thoroughly enjoy this.

Bridge of Sighs

Richard Russo immediately takes you into the small town of Thomaston, making you part of the lives of many of the cahracters. The interplay of the past/present thinking of the characters is interesting (although sometimes confusing). The lives of Lucy(Lou), Sarah and Bobby become intertwined and forever change each other. The story has elements of betrayal and coming of age that resonate with most people. Russos ability to use description is wonderful and really allows you to become involved. It was a worthwhile read, though could have been a bit shorter with the same impact.

Russo is a great storyteller.

The characters are so well developed and come to life generation after generation. I plan to read all of his books.

Good story, but just way too long

Too long.
Too much repetition. Could have cut the length of the book by a third

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Like the condemned Venetians who sighed as they crossed the bridge from condemnation to execution, this novel portends ill for each of its characters. The story revolves around three children coming of age together in a small town that is oblivious of it's own fate. The river has been polluted by the tannery and the community is crossing over from a well-oiled manufacturing town to the rust belt. The characters, like the town, make wrong decisions, but they muddle on in their myopic hope that things will get better.
I fell in love with the people because they had roots in the town and in their family. I rooted for them to find happiness and they did. None of them got exactly what they wanted, but they lived interesting and rewarding lives and made the best of what what life gave.

The story captures real people who were judged unworthy by fate to live out their dreams, but unlike the hopeless Venetians, their sighs were more of exasperation than hopelessness.

This book will keep you involved to the end.