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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/107821.Bridge_of_Sighs?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Bridge of Sighs" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fQQNBPG-L._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/107821.Bridge_of_Sighs?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Bridge of Sighs</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7844.Richard_Russo">Richard Russo</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14127107?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>When I finished reading Richard Russo's wonderful novel Empire Falls (for which he won the Pulitzer), I wondered - how will this novelist do this again?  Turns out, he just keeps getting better.  One thing I've always admired about Russo is his ability to write about small towns in a way that honors the provincial nature of small town life while exploring all of its intricacies and nuances, its complexity and heartache - the way a person can live a wide life in the smallest of ponds.  Perhaps this is because Russo understands that the human heart is the widest of oceans.  In Bridge of Sighs, Russo explores another small town, in this case Thomaston, NY - but he widens his own palette with one of his small town characters moving away and living in Venice, Italy.  Of course, a person can't escape his own heart, even when he changes geography. 
<br/>
<br/>In all of his novels that I've read, Russo unfolds a story slowly and Bridge of Sighs is no different.  Russo's patience as a novelist is perhaps his biggest asset.  This is a novel to be savored, to be pondered.  But what I find most remarkable about Russo is his ability to be unexpectedly profound.  I told my husband that he is like the sweetest of sensibilities masked in a Budweiser and day old stubble.  He is at once all rough edges and masculinity but also deeply sweet and emotive.  His beauty is in the details, in the way he wraps this world around you with words and makes you take a long swim in this story alongside all these lives, all fully formed, all deeply complex, all flawed.  No villains.  No heroes.  
<br/>
<br/>Ultimately, this is a novel of redemption and great sadness, of happiness in the small details that make up a life - the search for greatness within the smallness of ourselves.  It's about finding our way.  Of course, this all sneaks up on you.  Russo infers in the novel that people seek "a small, good thing" - that this is what the human heart yearns for.  That ultimately, a person's happiness often hinges on recognizing what this "small, good thing" is - and on letting it fill you up, sustain you.  Letting it be enough.  Well, Mr. Russo:  One of my small, good things is reading a novel like yours for which I can marvel and be grateful.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/528255?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Kim's review
rating:

When I finished reading Richard Russo's wonderful novel Empire Falls (for which he won the Pulitzer), I wondered - how will this novelist do this again? Turns out, he just keeps getting better. One thing I've always admired about Russo is his ability to write about small towns in a way that honors the provincial nature of small town life while exploring all of its intricacies and nuances, its complexity and heartache - the way a person can live a wide life in the smallest of ponds. Perhaps this is because Russo understands that the human heart is the widest of oceans. In Bridge of Sighs, Russo explores another small town, in this case Thomaston, NY - but he widens his own palette with one of his small town characters moving away and living in Venice, Italy. Of course, a person can't escape his own heart, even when he changes geography.

In all of his novels that I've read, Russo unfolds a story slowly and Bridge of Sighs is no different. Russo's patience as a novelist is perha...more When I finished reading Richard Russo's wonderful novel Empire Falls (for which he won the Pulitzer), I wondered - how will this novelist do this again? Turns out, he just keeps getting better. One thing I've always admired about Russo is his ability to write about small towns in a way that honors the provincial nature of small town life while exploring all of its intricacies and nuances, its complexity and heartache - the way a person can live a wide life in the smallest of ponds. Perhaps this is because Russo understands that the human heart is the widest of oceans. In Bridge of Sighs, Russo explores another small town, in this case Thomaston, NY - but he widens his own palette with one of his small town characters moving away and living in Venice, Italy. Of course, a person can't escape his own heart, even when he changes geography.

In all of his novels that I've read, Russo unfolds a story slowly and Bridge of Sighs is no different. Russo's patience as a novelist is perhaps his biggest asset. This is a novel to be savored, to be pondered. But what I find most remarkable about Russo is his ability to be unexpectedly profound. I told my husband that he is like the sweetest of sensibilities masked in a Budweiser and day old stubble. He is at once all rough edges and masculinity but also deeply sweet and emotive. His beauty is in the details, in the way he wraps this world around you with words and makes you take a long swim in this story alongside all these lives, all fully formed, all deeply complex, all flawed. No villains. No heroes.

Ultimately, this is a novel of redemption and great sadness, of happiness in the small details that make up a life - the search for greatness within the smallness of ourselves. It's about finding our way. Of course, this all sneaks up on you. Russo infers in the novel that people seek "a small, good thing" - that this is what the human heart yearns for. That ultimately, a person's happiness often hinges on recognizing what this "small, good thing" is - and on letting it fill you up, sustain you. Letting it be enough. Well, Mr. Russo: One of my small, good things is reading a novel like yours for which I can marvel and be grateful....less

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message 1: by John

04/27/2008 08:58PM

I have heard many excellent things about Russo from my friends...I will definitely have to check out his books.