Bridge of Sighs: A Pulitzer Prize Winner’s Follow Up

By Breanne Boland December 27, 2007 Issue

Bridge of Sighs is a deceptively small story with big themes — the advantages of optimism versus pessimism, the urge to forget as contrasted with the need to obsessively remember, the nature of truth, the death of the American small town, and other very large ideas fiction is uniquely suited to address. It’s also compulsively readable, with a range of characters who are thoroughly and lovingly created, and who lead us through the ecstasies and inanities that make up normal life.

The two main characters are boyhood friends who come from the same tiny town in upstate New York. Lou Lynch was born nostalgic; things, places, and events left behind are meant to be obsessively collected, to be told and retold. Bobby Marconi’s tumultuous childhood gives him no such luxury — the past is something to flee, and the further you can get from it, the more successful you are.

The story begins when Lou sits down and begins to record his life in preparation for his first international trip. He describes himself as a “devoted if not terribly exciting husband” to his wife Sarah. While he is indeed a sedentary man — throughout his life, he’s rarely left his hometown — his careful chronology reveals layers upon layers of complications around him. While he’s congenitally straightforward, those around him have no such luxuries. His family and friends are forever questioning whether security is worth sacrificing adventure, whether they’ve made the right decisions, and whether the great struggle of life is really worth it.

Beyond them, there’s Thomaston itself. The town almost becomes a character in its own right — in addition to getting to know so many of its inhabitants, its decline forces most of the action along. The tannery that once supported the town sees its business dwindle and then disappear completely. The dyed tides that turned the local river lurid colors once meant commerce; now it means the gradual spread of carcinogens, giving the area a new notoriety after its main industry disappears.

Lou’s family is affected time and time again by the town’s economical and social changes, as Lou’s father sees his trade become obsolete like so many others in their town. The Lynch family then tries to make their own fortune with a corner store that becomes the physical heart of the story. The basic descriptions of the character’s arcs sound simple — kids grow up, adults deceive and are deceived, expectations are not met — but Russo’s nonlinear structure, combined with varying perspectives, keeps it fresh and lively.

It runs the risk of being ponderous and repetitive, as multiple characters recount the same series of events. However, Russo expertly times his revelations. Rather than feeling like the book walks over and over the same ground, one gets the feeling of circling and searching, and only at the last moment is the whole truth revealed. It makes even the most clearly forecast events into discoveries. Lou is a character who is content to take things at face value; with his wife and friend’s perspectives, we get the sense of the whole truth, something not all of the characters are willing to acknowledge. It could be cluttered, to be switching from first to third person and from character to character, but instead it adds to our understanding of the cast just as much as Russo’s sharp dialogue. What Lou omits says as much about him as what he tells us.

Once the back story has been covered, and the characters are left to go forward, the book stagnates a bit. After ruminating on the past for so long, for the last 50-odd pages to follow the now 60-year-old protagonists on their search for what will define the rest of their lives is jarring, considering that the previous 500 focused on the pivotal events occurring before they reached age 18.

Still, Russo’s is a capable voice, and even when he falters with the occasional one-note character or overly verbose package, it’s still a worthwhile read. He deftly handles the melancholy that seems to be an occupational hazard of being an adult who must choose one thing while ignoring other opportunities, and he manages his cast and its diverse voices wonderfully.

Bridge of Sighs, 528 pages, Alfred A. Knopf. Available at bookstores, libraries, and online booksellers.

(Top)

More Book Reviews