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The Invisible Bridge

by Julie Orringer (Goodreads Author), Arthur Morey (Reading)

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 16,195 ratings · 2,678 reviews

A grand love story and an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are torn apart by war.

Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné. As he becomes involved with the letter’s recipient, his elder broth...more

Audiobook, 602 pages

Published May 4th 2010 by Random House Audio

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Jul 19, 2011 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4 and 1/2 stars

This is an old-fashioned novel, even an epic, in the tradition of "War and Peace": great storytelling (set in a tumultuous time), developed characters and good writing. It's obvious that Orringer did a lot of research and the time period and the places are alive with details that fill all the senses. I found it hard to ever put the book down.

The writing is elegant: "... two tiny rabbits browsed the clover. The first light of day came through the delicate endive leaves of their ea...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Carlin Hauck rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm trying to remember if a book has ever made me cry this hard. The Book Thief, maybe.

As I assured my little brother when he crawled out of bed to make sure I was okay, I wouldn't be so upset if I didn't like the book. I only cry for characters that I love. My dog, who actually came to my aid before my brother, didn't seem to care what I was reading. He just climbed up onto my bed and snuggled up next to me and licked my tears away.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer begins in 1937 with 22-y...more I'm trying to remember if a book has ever made me cry this hard. The Book Thief, maybe.

As I assured my little brother when he crawled out of bed to make sure I was okay, I wouldn't be so upset if I didn't like the book. I only cry for characters that I love. My dog, who actually came to my aid before my brother, didn't seem to care what I was reading. He just climbed up onto my bed and snuggled up next to me and licked my tears away.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer begins in 1937 with 22-year-old Andras Levi departing Hungary for Paris to study architecture after securing a scholarship at the Ecoles Speciale. By chance, he is asked to carry a letter with him to France, addressed to C. Morgenstern, with whom he begins a rather complicated relationship as everything in Europe begins to disintegrate.

Okay, I'll admit this first: I have never heard anything about the Hungarian Holocaust before. I don't think I ever even realized that Hungary was involved in World War II. In school, you hear a lot about the French occupation and the Warsaw ghetto, but not a word about the devastation that was brought on Hungary too. Hungary, whose leaders allied themselves with Germany, and then enslaved their Jewish men and forced them to fight for the Nazi army while their wives and children back home were murdered.

Back to the story. The Invisible Bridge pulled me in to Andras's life in Paris. His mentors and friends and loves and enemies. The entire first half of this 600 page tome was hardly a light story, but it wasn't yet a description of the indescribable horrors that would come later. It reminded me almost of Anna Karenina, the way that the every day life of the characters was so fleshed out. They became real. You could understand the souls of these fictional characters.

By the time the events of second half of the story were unfolding in their horrifying detail, I was too invested in the lives of the characters to stop reading. I did, I admit, put the book down for hours at a time, too afraid to keep reading for what might happen, but I always went back and pressed onwards.(less)

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Jul 04, 2010 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010_release_read, review_fbc, mainstream, read_2010, top_25_2010_novels, aq_more_favorites

I will just copy my FBC Review here:

INTRODUCTION

As I mentioned in a recent review, sometimes books come out of nowhere, hijack my reading schedule and it takes a while until I can un-weave the magical spell they had exerted on me and leave their universe, usually needing at least one complete reread as well as an immediate review.

The novelistic debut of the author, The Invisible Bridge attracted my attention by its fascinating cover in a Borders bookstore several days ago and the blurb below mad...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Gaeta1 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, hobby-horse-riding, mary-sue-alert, read-2011, soak-up-the-atmosphere, unreliable-author

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This review contains spoilers. Or maybe it doesn't contain spoilers for other readers; I don't know.

To start off with, a novel addressing the plight of Hungarian Jews is a reasonably unusual subject for a young American writer (though I don't think Americans are particularly provincial in the topics they choose) that it is obvious the author must have a personal connection with the source material. Right from the beginning it's pretty clear that the author is writing about her grandparents. Thus...more This review contains spoilers. Or maybe it doesn't contain spoilers for other readers; I don't know.

To start off with, a novel addressing the plight of Hungarian Jews is a reasonably unusual subject for a young American writer (though I don't think Americans are particularly provincial in the topics they choose) that it is obvious the author must have a personal connection with the source material. Right from the beginning it's pretty clear that the author is writing about her grandparents. Thus, all tension is eliminated; you know that the main characters are going to survive, though peripheral characters may perish and all will suffer horribly. There's another problem. Could you write a novel about people you love and admire, people that you knew had lived through one of the greatest tragedies in world history, and write about them objectively? Could you show them as petty or cowardly? Could you write about their sex lives? I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Alas, Julie Orringer can't do it, either. I don't know if you can fault her for that; she tries gamely in an effort that I believe is doomed to fail--somewhat--from the beginning.

In 1937, young Andras Levi leaves Budapest to attend architecture school in Paris. Through mutal friends in the theater, he meets an older woman, a ballet teacher with an-out-of-wedlock daughter, Klara Morgenstern, and they fall in love. This first part of the novel, full of school exams, ballet and theatrical performances, and Sunday dinners--as well as the anti-Semiticism and the growing German menace--might be a bit slow for some readers. It is beautifully written with many arresting images--the little girls in their white tulle clusered blizzard-like around the coffee cake served backstage--a woman's shoe peeking out slyly under the fabric wall during the segregated dancing of an Orthodox wedding--as Ms Orringer paints a portrait of a world that is about to come crashing down. During this part of the book, Andras and Klara have some individuality; they sometimes argue; they even separate for s short time.

Unfortunately, during the second half of the book, after Andras feels compelled to return to Hungary after his student visa expires, the characters start losing their individuality. They suffer; they become icons. Klara in particular slowly recedes into a pasteboard image of the suffering and noble wife, until the vital woman of Paris is nothing more than a Jewish Madonna with a baby's starfish hand at her breast. They become, in short, more symbols that characters that the reader cares about--or at least I cared about--and the novel suffers.

Look, I'm not blaming Ms Orringer. I don't know if it would have been possible for her to portray her beloved grandparents otherwise. And I yearn for a grand and sweeping novel, filled with sensory details and thought-provoking action, which she certainly provides. I'd be glad to read another one of her novels--especially one in which she doesn't stack the deck against herself from the start.(less)

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Apr 23, 2013 Genia Lukin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 20, 2012 Daisy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Daisy by: LA Times, Chrissie

Shelves: france, hungary, italy, dance, favorites

While I was reading this, I never once thought ahead to what I'd read next, so engrossing was this novel. It's so readable and enlightening and luxurious and terrifying. Now that I'm finished, I feel kind of lost. (What do I read now? What should follow this?)

At first I thought this was almost too good because it was so pleasurable. But then in the second half of the book (the first takes place in Paris, the second in Hungary), you think back to the characters you met at the beginning, who and w...more While I was reading this, I never once thought ahead to what I'd read next, so engrossing was this novel. It's so readable and enlightening and luxurious and terrifying. Now that I'm finished, I feel kind of lost. (What do I read now? What should follow this?)

At first I thought this was almost too good because it was so pleasurable. But then in the second half of the book (the first takes place in Paris, the second in Hungary), you think back to the characters you met at the beginning, who and where they were, and you are broken by what they've become and what's happened to them. For instance, the character József: compare how you meet him with what he becomes, and he's a secondary character. And more than any book I've read lately, you are very present with the characters. Corny maybe to say this but you live with them and fear with them and wonder and well, everything.

Outside, three pygmy goats stepped out of the gorse and ate all the clipped flowers and a good many half-grown lettuces and an empty cardboard matchbook and Klara's forgotten handkerchief. p. 188

I wouldn't trade your complication for anyone else's simplicity. p. 225 (Andras to Klara)

as of p. 231: There's a real feeling here of people on the verge of war and how it must have felt to not know what was going to happen. You don't get that sense very clearly, very often, because we can only read such stories from our position of knowledge and hindsight.

as of p. 434: It's slow-paced in a satisfying way, letting you get deep into the times, characters, details enough that you, well, feel like you're there with them, in their present. It's comprehensive and thorough.

The fact that he'd had a happy childhood in Konyár, had gone to school, learned to draw, gone to Paris, fallen in love, studied, worked, had a son--none of it was predictive of what might happen in the future; it was largely a matter of luck. None of it was a reward, no more than the Munkaszolgálat was a punishment; none of it entitled him to future happiness or comfort. Men and women suffered all over the world. p. 484

Why would a man not argue his own shameful culpability, why would he not crave responsibility for disaster, when the alternative was to feel himself to be nothing more than a speck of human dust? p. 489

Strange, Andras thought, that war could lead you involuntarily to forgive a person who didn't deserve forgiveness, just as it might make you kill a man you didn't hate. p. 516(less)

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Jul 25, 2012 Karen Mundo rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are some books that you read and forget about. I enjoy reading author Janet Evanovich for one and have read every new Stephanie Plum but can't recall the plot a week later. Then there are some, like The Invisible Bridge, that linger and linger.

IMHO, the book makes me think about "what if everything were to suddenly change?" What if I were ripped from my comfortable, everyday life and put into a situation of escalating deprivation? What if I were a Hungarian Jew in 1944/45?

How could I maint...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Jennifer Hu rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm a book snob. This fulfills my endless craving for beautiful prose and the kind of original romance that offers a much-needed respite from irony, self-deprecation, i.e. shelves of typical American workshop fare. Yes, she did graduate from Iowa Writer's workshop,taught at Stanford, but the novel gave me the feeling of European writing without having to endure some of the more intolerable self-indulgences and idiosyncrasies of that category. I enjoyed Invisible Bridge as much as Hemon's The Que...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Miss GP rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me by a fellow Hungarian and friend of my mother's, and at first I was a bit disappointed by it. It was rapidly falling into the category of chick-lit for me -- lots of relationship buildup, budding romance, young handsome talented man, mysterious woman, etc., light on the "historical." At one point I feared it was devolving into melodrama. At about the halfway point of the novel, though, the tone shifted, and it became a much better book with real depth. I've read a...more

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May 13, 2013 Shelley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of historical fiction

Recommended to Shelley by: Marianne

Shelves: historical-fiction, intense-read, awards, henry-cavill-is-my-muse, i-cried

I picked up this book because I wanted an epic love story, with a huge historical backdrop. The book turned out to be an excellent historical fiction and coming-of-age story about a young Hungarian Jewish boy (22yrs old). There is a love story, but it is a complicated one. There is great sexual tension and budding romance, as well as confused feelings and worries of heartbreak. However, the story goes so far beyond a romantic love story and decidedly turns deep into the trenches of a wartime his...more I picked up this book because I wanted an epic love story, with a huge historical backdrop. The book turned out to be an excellent historical fiction and coming-of-age story about a young Hungarian Jewish boy (22yrs old). There is a love story, but it is a complicated one. There is great sexual tension and budding romance, as well as confused feelings and worries of heartbreak. However, the story goes so far beyond a romantic love story and decidedly turns deep into the trenches of a wartime historical fiction.

Through it all, Julie Orringer writes so beautifully.

September was sending its first cool streamers into Paris, its red tinge of burning. The scent of it blew through the channel of the Seine like the perfume of a girl on the threshold of a party. Her foot in its satin shoe had not yet crossed the sill, but everyone knew she was there. In another moment she would enter. All of Paris seemed to hold its breath, waiting.

At first we experience our main character, Andras, heading off to Paris to study architecture, watching how he adjusts into a new life with great hopes and great insecurities, experiencing the growing anti-Semitism among his colleagues and the various institutions in his life. In his coming-of-age story, we become a witness to a changing Europe, Hungary losing its identity and trying to control its fate, families trying to feel some sense of control in a world that seems to have lost all sense of reason.

Of course, Andras thought. Of course. Why would a man not argue his own shameful culpability, why would he not crave responsibility for disaster, when the alternative was to feel himself to be nothing more than a speck of human dust?

This story centers primarily around one Jewish family of brothers from a small town outside of Budapest. The author makes you love this family so deeply, and it’s no surprise to anyone that the Holocaust brought horrors beyond all imagining. Witnessing the journey from everyday life - school, family, Sunday dinners and trips to the bakery - and then the slow and violent demolition of all sense of normalcy and reason, was absorbing and highly disturbing.

And totally worth my time.
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Jun 18, 2011 Merry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Merry by: Lee Aiken - gave me the book :)

This is it! The book you want to read if you are one who steers clear of that horrific time in history, where millions of men, women, and children were brutalized, tortured and marched to their deaths because they were Jewish.

I understand what happened and I don't want to read any more details of the insane treatment of these human beings as I find it so painful. Therefore I shy away from the subject, but this book was mostly a joy to read. My compliments to the author, Julie Orringer, who can...more This is it! The book you want to read if you are one who steers clear of that horrific time in history, where millions of men, women, and children were brutalized, tortured and marched to their deaths because they were Jewish.

I understand what happened and I don't want to read any more details of the insane treatment of these human beings as I find it so painful. Therefore I shy away from the subject, but this book was mostly a joy to read. My compliments to the author, Julie Orringer, who can take this subject matter and teach us something good and valuable.

This is a work of art. The author's literary skills are like poetry. She thoughtfully writes at an engaging pace and with perfectly placed details that draw you in.... I smiled at the beautiful imagery, I often stopped to ponder what I just read, and I placed myself in their lives. I could feel the wind, their pain, their happiness, smell the trees...her detail writing was cinematic. I walked the streets of Paris and Budapest, dug the trenches with the dying, and I was a witness to a love that last forever, a family bound by war and a yearning to survive, so they could all someday reunite.

Extraordinary writing through out, but one of my favorite examples of this author’s ability to write a story within a story, is her description of a tree being cut down in the forest (page 322). The author takes a mundane task of woodcutting, and as you read, you realize, she has told you so much more than just simply how the cast of characters cut down the tree. Describing it as "the true death of the tree" and how that death can be used as a metaphor for the lives of the people, the boundary of their country, the destruction of war, and the end of many things. It is so much more, and you the reader, can see it and feel it...the words make you think...by describing one task of cutting down a tree, the author is teaching.

We all know how the story ends...the war ends, but you now have a chance to live their lives, without fear, from the beginning to the end. Go ahead, take this journey. The history is educational, but the people are inspiring.

Filled with life, survival, sacrifice, inspiration, humor, love, heartache, devastation, courage, strength, friendships and family...this book has it all and it will teach you so much more than just another social lesson on the injustice of this horrific time in history.
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Jan 01, 2011 Meghan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

I just want to say first that I am proud of myself for reading this book, because it is a beast of a thing. Big and epic and full of words I can't pronounce at all, also the whole time you know that terrible, terrible things are going to happen. And so it took me a long time before I could say I was reading it, really reading it and not just carrying it around. Then all of a sudden I realized I was heartsick over Andres and Klara, really upset about whether or not they were going to work out. An...more I just want to say first that I am proud of myself for reading this book, because it is a beast of a thing. Big and epic and full of words I can't pronounce at all, also the whole time you know that terrible, terrible things are going to happen. And so it took me a long time before I could say I was reading it, really reading it and not just carrying it around. Then all of a sudden I realized I was heartsick over Andres and Klara, really upset about whether or not they were going to work out. And I knew then I was reading it. Really reading it. Because at that point I was barely a tenth into the book. And if I was already heartsick at that point...! But that's the smart of it. You fall in love in Paris (the first half) and then you hang on through the horrors of the war (the second half) just because you're so desperate to see everyone through it. A few times I cried reading this; actually during the last few chapters I was basically on the brink of tears the whole time.

I knew so little about Hungary's role in World War II, that's the other thing, it's a bit daunting and almost shaming to realize you've completely missed an entire country's role in the war you've probably been taught most often. Orringer I think does a really good job understanding that about her reader; her explanations of events never seem patronizing or too thin. It's helped by how little anyone in the book seems to understand about what's happening, too, you're just as desperate for information as they are and so there's very little observer irony for you. Possibly that makes everything more immediate.

It's beautifully written, also. It seems a few too many times that Andres is helped by a sympathetic so-and-so, not that he doesn't suffer an equal amount but it gets a little magical after awhile. Orringer seems to realize that herself, and there's a really strong passage about how slight the difference is between life and death, success and failure. And maybe it is magical that anyone can survive what these characters survive. But I might have to take that up with myself? We'll see. And as much as I wanted Andres and Klara to live forevs and evs in happiness forevs, I did miss Klara in the latter half of the book. Her two biggest stories are told in past tense, which, I know, but it puts me a bit on edge. I would have maybe exchanged a labor camp chapter for a present tense Budapest chapter, that's all I'm saying.

But still. Good stuff. Glad we did this.(less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Diane D. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Diane D. by: Chrissie and Lisa !

Shelves: a-gift, own-already, historical-fiction, buddy-read

Here's a line I want to remember as Andras watches the S.S. Ile de France set sail: "How astounding that a ship that size could shrink to the size of a house, and then to the size of a car; the size of a desk, a book, a shoe, a walnut, a grain of rice, a grain of sand. How astounding that the largest thing he'd ever seen was still no match for the diminishing effect of distance."

Review For starters, I can't believe I had this on my shelf since 2010. It was recommended by a few GR friends (especi...more Here's a line I want to remember as Andras watches the S.S. Ile de France set sail: "How astounding that a ship that size could shrink to the size of a house, and then to the size of a car; the size of a desk, a book, a shoe, a walnut, a grain of rice, a grain of sand. How astounding that the largest thing he'd ever seen was still no match for the diminishing effect of distance."

Review For starters, I can't believe I had this on my shelf since 2010. It was recommended by a few GR friends (especially for the Hungarian connection as my partner is Hungarian) and I received it as my 2011 Holiday Gift Exchange from the BBs. All this, plus my buddy read pal, Lisa, finally prompted me to read it. So thanks to all who had a part in my reading it, and to Deana who gifted it to me.

I'm not sure how I can concisely review a 758 page book into a proper review, but I'll try. This is an epic historical fiction page-turner of a read, deserving of 5 stars from the accuracy of the author's historical research alone. I can say this, because I discussed it with a native Hungarian who is very up on his history.

This book was a journey I took with our main character, Andras, from his naive days as a young Hungarian Jew in 1937 who ventured to Paris on a scholarship to study architecture at the Ecole Speciale. He carries a letter from Hungary to Paris to be delivered to a stranger, who will also play an important role in his life. While that connection may seem a bit far-fetched, it works as the story develops and reaches a much more serious and dark level towards the second half through the remainder of the book. The reader is exposed to the Labor Camps, and all of the atrocities of World War II, but from a very different standpoint -- that being the primary setting is Hungary.

For me there was wonderful character development as I felt everything that each of these characters went through, their joy, their suffering and their fears. If you do read this (and I do recommend it) be sure to read the acknowledgments at the end of the book! If you don't you'll miss an extremely interesting part of the story!

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Aug 08, 2011 Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

""He could see the inchworm in his mind even now, that snip of green elastic with it's tiny blunt legs, coiling and stretching its way toward the tabletop, on a mission whose nature was a mystery. Survival, he understood now - that was all. That contracting and straining, that frantic rearing-up to look around: It was nothing less than the urgent business of staying alive." p437"
— Julie Orringer (The Invisible Bridge)

I think this quote also describes the length and breadth of this book; slowly...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Maude rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maude by: Discovered in library

Shelves: jewish-intolerance, world-war-ii, historical-fiction, german-occupation

"Paris, 1937. Andras Levi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letter's recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanshile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe's unfolding tragedy sends each of th...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Marion rated it 5 of 5 stars

I spent a great deal of this book wondering how the author, younger than I, came to write this epic tale of World War II, and forced myself not to skip to the ending or the acknowledgements. I had my guesses, but in the last pages of the story, the full force of it hit me and I finally understood. The main character, a Hungarian boy, travels to Paris in 1937 to study architecture on scholarship. It's the tale of his studies there, his work on the side at theater companies, and his unexpected lov...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was so fortunate to have this fascinating novel with me on my train ride yesterday. The hours flew! This story of star-crossed Hungarian Jewish lovers in late 1930s Paris is beautifully written.

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Feb 15, 2012 Brianna Mulligan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although daunting (at almost 800 pages), Julie Orringer's first novel is by far one of the most beautiful stories I read in 2011. Hopefull, naive, heart-wrenching, and disastorous at the same time, Orringer's look into the life of Andras Levi leaves nothing to the imagination. Andras, a Hungarian Jew studying archticture in 1930's Paris, stands at the center of this novel on love and loss. Diving deep into his mind and the lives of his loved ones, the reader grows attached to, and becomes one wi...more

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May 22, 2011 Aylin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: by-of-in-france, by-of-in-hungary, fiction-historical, by-of-in-germany

I didn't know much about the Hungarian experience leading up to and in WWII and this book set that straight. One experiences events in Hungary and France through the life of Andras, a Hungarian Jewish student from a family of very modest means.

The year is 1937 and Andras has the opportunity to go to France to Study Architecture at a well known school. Life goes on as usual, but change is already in the air. People rarely expect life/ world altering changes in their lives and they plod on from d...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vcfa-reading, world-war-ii, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, doorstops

I have a theory about why some people love this book and others, myself included, struggled to slog through it. First, I think it depends on your personal tolerance for sentimentality. Given that the first half of the book is a love story base on Love with a capital L, which itself is based on beauty, magical first glances, a forbidden element, and an ever mysterious woman, you'd better be content with a sentimentality meter reading that's over the moon. I have a number of reader-friends who wou...more I have a theory about why some people love this book and others, myself included, struggled to slog through it. First, I think it depends on your personal tolerance for sentimentality. Given that the first half of the book is a love story base on Love with a capital L, which itself is based on beauty, magical first glances, a forbidden element, and an ever mysterious woman, you'd better be content with a sentimentality meter reading that's over the moon. I have a number of reader-friends who would love to wrap themselves up in this kind of thing and take it home...and that's great. For them. If you're of the more cynical persuasion who raises an eyebrow at a college freshman professing his undying fidelity to the older woman who is his first love, wondering what kind of emotional backlash might ensue...don't bother ducking. There is no backlash. This is LOVE. If the main character Andras wrings his hat (and he does this a lot) in an emo fashion over his intended's perceived "infidelity", rest assured that all tension shall be based on complex yet innocent misunderstandings. Because this is LOVE.

And while we're on the subject of sentimentality, let's talk about the characterization. The large cast of co-protagonists in Andras' circle of family and friends are GOOD people, noble and innocent, with few exceptions. Even when the sky itself is on fire and raining down on them, they are insufferably selfless, starving themselves to feed children, nursing each other back to health and so on. They are even anachronistically Modern in their beliefs: of course only Fascists with a capital F would have the nerve to harass a perfectly harmless Gay character, while all our co-protagonists lovingly embrace him As He Is, no questions asked. As all the good non-fascists were wont to do in the late 30's... But the point of good characters is that we sympathize with them, right? Even if it makes them predictable and dull? I suppose, and yet somehow I resent being emotionally manipulated by this kind of forced sympathy: it's just too easy, when unspeakable horrors happen to good people for no reason, especially when children are involved. Of course I KNEW this was a holocaust saga going in, correct? Isn't that the very definition of the genre? What right do I have to complain about this, anyway? (I'll just mention that Suite Francaise was full of petty, ignoble, interesting characters, but somehow I cared about some of them anyway.)

One of the biggest barriers to my appreciation of the story was its relentlessly heavy tone of overwrought momentousness. Even in what should have been lighter moments the characters are wracked with angst and poetically purpled profound thoughts. The result, quite simply, is that it's exhausting. And repetitive. The characters are caught in a cycle of expressing their more dramatic emotions: shocked disbelief, breast-beating sorrow, ecstatic professions of love, misplaced tearful apologies for situations beyond their individual control. The few instances of attempted humor fell flat, and I so wanted them to work. Even an epic saga needs humor, needs the grit of sarcasm and understatement, needs to turn occasionally away from the epic before we are beaten over the head with it.

Which leads me to one of my biggest issues with this book: that the superfluous, overwrought prose waters down what is, deep down, a moving story. The author feels compelled to EXPLAIN everything, not counting on the reader to GET IT on her own. The author relies too much on interpreting for us every little quiver of body language, lest we somehow miss the point of their next unsubtle outpouring of emotion.
The result of all this (unintentional?) telling is that it caulks up the hazy void where subtext tends to dwell. When an author insists on spelling out the meaning behind every little look, glance, and line of dialogue, we readers suspect our intelligence isn’t trusted. Some of us don't mind, but some of us resent it. I noticed this sort of excessive interpretation in The Invisible Bridge, not just once, but consistently.

A prime example of this occurs when the willful Elisabet stays out all night while her mother Klara and the main character search for her: “but when they opened the door they found [Elisabet] on the doorstep, holding a pair of evening shoes in one hand, a cone of spun sugar candy in the other. Klara, standing in the doorway, took a long look at her, at the shoes, the cone of candy; it was clear she hadn’t come from an innocent evening with Marthe.” I would argue that the entire second sentence, semi-colon and all, is unnecessary. The fact that she’s carrying her shoes, that someone bought her candy, signals that she’s been out dancing with a boy and not at Marthe’s house. We don’t need Klara’s prolonged double take, the repetition of “shoes” and “candy” for this to sink in, and certainly not that patronizing phrase “it was clear.” “It was clear” signals (to me) that the writer fears the opposite, that it is not clear at all (which it is), but instead of adding a few extra details to Elisabet’s appearance to bar any imagined confusion—smudged makeup or a man’s handkerchief hanging from her belt or whatever—she lays everything out for us. “It was clear” reappears throughout the novel, and is always used to similar effect as in the following: “Now she held her back rigid while another woman leaned close to her ear; it was clear that the other woman was narrating the progression of Novak’s tete-a-tete with Klara” or even “Soviet planes—or what had appeared at first to be Soviet planes, but might have been German planes in disguise—had bombed the Magyar border town of Kassa. The message was clear: Hungary had no choice but to send its armies into Russia.”

To be fair, there were some very powerful moments in this book. In particular, I was emotionally struck by the part in which Andras and his friend are punished for creating a humorous reactionary newspaper in one of the labor camps and literally forced to "eat their words". During the scene Andras has a chilling realization that he hasn't even seen the worst of the horrors which are to come. But while this should have been a turning point for Andras in which he should have either been galvanized into action or frightened into complicity, neither comes to pass. Apart from a few quips that "you should have seen what they did to us", this scene may as well have never happened, for all the impact it has on Andras' characterization. He is still his same Good self, still willing to conduct a bit of passive resistance without holding his neck out too far.

I think I'm being a bit harsh. Few of us are aware of the Hungarian role in WWII, and Orringer's meticulous research into the details of everyday life in Paris and Budapest are laudable (although the wikipedia-esque summaries of battles and broad political developments that pop up every time a character sits down to read the paper could have been better incorporated). I'm still feeling more than a bit guilty about this review because I know the characters are based on the remarkable experiences of the author's family, and of course one never wants to show one's ancestors in a bad light unless they deserve it. At the same time, in FICTION I want to read about tortured, flawed characters who don't always think politically correct thoughts or are likewise always charitable and forgiving. And not for an unending 700 page slog.

Don't think that a short book could possibly do justice to a weighty subject like WWII? Then I recommend the tiny, incredibly powerful 85 pg novella "Closely Watched Trains" by Bohumil Hrabal about Czech resistance to the German Occupation. It's hilarious and brutal, and takes just one afternoon to read.(less)

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May 17, 2011 Betsy Fasbinder rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is \thick, rich, luxurious tome that invites readers to slow down, take their time, and enjoy its many meandering paths. If you're looking for a tight, page-turning plot, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for historial fiction that is chocked full of vivid detail and a unique vantage point on a familiar historical time, this is a great read. It's essentially a love story, but set against the backdrop of WWII Europe. The story is set in Paris and the love story is of two Hun...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Agnes

A review of this book (NY Times?) noted that it's an exception to the frequent European critique of American literature for being self-absorbed and inward-looking. While reading, I was impressed by the level of detail in language, geography, the study of architecture, military practices, all in Central and Western Europe 60-70 years ago. Ultimately the reader learns that the book draws (even in a character's name) from the experiences of the author's family. Still, the novel reflects a lot of me...more

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Jun 03, 2010 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, vine, fiction

This stunning debut noel portrays a side of WWII that is not often written about - Hungary's role in the war. Told from the perspective of Andras Levi, this book follows him from his first days as an architecture student in Paris in 1937 through the end of the war. There are so many aspects to this story that make this novel an incredible epic: Levi's architectural studies, his life in Paris, his affair with an older woman, his return to his homeland upon the outbreak of war on the continent, hi...more This stunning debut noel portrays a side of WWII that is not often written about - Hungary's role in the war. Told from the perspective of Andras Levi, this book follows him from his first days as an architecture student in Paris in 1937 through the end of the war. There are so many aspects to this story that make this novel an incredible epic: Levi's architectural studies, his life in Paris, his affair with an older woman, his return to his homeland upon the outbreak of war on the continent, his marriage and fatherhood, his experience as a Jewish laborer in a German-allied nation, and all the horrors of war he is forced to endure. There are so many beautiful moments presented even more elegantly thanks to Orringer's superb writing. But for every touching account, there are a dozen tragedies. Andras carries the burden of being a Jew in a Europe that wants to destroy his kind. First his education is forfeited, then his livelihood, and finally his freedom. While he is blessed with a large and supportive family, they are another element of his life that can easily be taken away.

I was intrigued by the portrayal of Hungary's role in the conflict. I found the historical aspect well integrated with Andras' own history. The characters were so well developed that they were tangible to me as I read. The lovely Klara, the older woman whom Andras meets in Paris causes him so much joy and angst. His fellow architecture students, especially the tragic figure of Polaner who remains steadfast in his devotion to Andras. His supportive older brother Tibor is a constant source of encouragement, even in the face of death. There is an extensive cast of characters who affect Andras' life, each one with a distinct role in shaping him into the man he would become.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this exquisite novel. The skill in which it was writted, the seamless blend of history and fiction, and the emotion it evokes is as close to perfection as anything I've read. Bravo!

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine Program.

(less)

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Feb 01, 2011 Lucy Paskell rated it 5 of 5 stars

THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE is an incredible, powerful read that will enlighten you and entertain you, set in the horrible years of the Holocaust.

This is a poignant, heart-wrenching, touching story of the power of love, survival of the horror, tragedy, grief and despair of war and remarkable human spirit. This is beautifully written in vivid details, the highs and lows with strong characters, each with a story written in great depth.

Andras Levi, in the late 1930’s was a student in architecture traveli...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the story of the horror of the Nazi era and how it affected the lives of a trio of Hungarian Jewish brothers dreaming of and acting on better lives for themselves and their families. It fills in many of the blanks of how individual European Jews were affected by the awful events in Europe during the thirties and forties. However, this is also the story of the human will to survive. I can't say I "enjoyed" this book; reading it was not a joy. But I can say this is a must read and compelli...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Suzanne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was 300 pages into this book, when I realized the four Jewish young men were still in Paris, nothing of significance was happening, and the war had not yet begun. I was so bored at this point that I found myself anxiously awaiting the Holocaust. I am totally missing something in this book. It is a standard, predictable Holocaust story, that manages to make even World War II look dull. I guess I dont find any of the characters more than cardboard, and the central love story unconvincing, and (d...more

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May 05, 2013 Rachelfm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 121-in-2013, 60-books-by-women-2013, europe

I enjoyed this book, an impulse that I put on hold after looking through an SPL Next 5 list for someone with similar tastes.

I found the writing vivid, with some unexpected visual elements. I really appreciated how the author interlaced prewar Paris, architecture and Hungary together, with special attention paid to words and cultural differences. While I was familiar with the story of the Hungarian Jews (and how their story differed from other European Jewish communities during the Holocaust) it...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Aileen Cheatham rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was drawn to this audiobook because it's both set in Paris and Hungary during the second war. My grandfather was Hungarian and though I never met him, I was always curious about what the place where he and his 10 siblings grew up. Though it took me a while to get used to the reader in the book which seemed a bit affected and monotone and consistently mispronounced the French word "Marais," it didn't take me long to become totally captivated by the characters, the story, and the setting (first...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Gail rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub, did-not-finish, physical-book

The book had mixed reactions.
Of the seven people who attended, two had read the book.
One person was unable to read it at all and two had read less than half.

It was suggested that the end of the book justified the lengthy "Danielle Steele" like beginning, because it set the reader up to know the characters really well when their lives were changed or ended during the war.
It was the last part of the book where the story really came together and showed how the two families came together.

Another re...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

One third through this book, it was stolen, along with a beloved pair of black boots, from my suitcase enroute from San Diego. This was the third time I'd had a pair of boots taken from my suitcase-- a strange twist of bad luck. Anyway...I was at a point in the book where I didn't really care because I had detected from the frequent summaries that the author had gotten into the epic middle and wasn't giving the story its previously written beauty. I tried not to be bothered about not finishing a...more

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So far a bit boring..	10	133	Mar 28, 2013 01:25am
finally finished invisible bridge	14	144	Feb 14, 2013 04:24pm
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About Julie Orringer

Julie Orringer is an American author born in Miami, Florida. Her first book, How to Breathe Underwater, was published in September 2003 by Knopf Publishing Group. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her stories have appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, Ploughshares, Zoetrope: All-Story, The Pushcart Prize Ant...more

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“And what if I fail?"
"Ah! Then you'll have a story to tell.” — 15 people liked it

“Why would a man not argue his own shameful culpability, why would he not crave responsibility for disaster, when the alternative was to feel himself to be nothing more than a speck of human dust?” — 6 people liked it

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