Kathy and I are starting this weekend so there's still time if anyone else would like to join us.
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Richard Russo's BRIDGE OF SIGHS
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 booksalot |
Richard Russo's BRIDGE OF SIGHS |
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Posts: 1385 06/18/09 04:25 PM |
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/19/09 01:53 PM |
booksalot wrote: I started yesterday and I'm about 50 pages in. I'm loving it, of course! Richard Russo is my man! 
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/19/09 02:24 PM |
Oh cool! I hope I'll like it too. Love the pic of you and the big man as your avatar! Guess all this means you are feeling better?
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/19/09 03:36 PM |
booksalot wrote:Yes FINALLY. I came home yesterday and slept all day. I was finally able to eat something this morning. Carl is also feeling better, thank goodness. What a rough ride that was! I think Sushi is out for me for a while. It took me forever to change my little picture but he looks great, doesn't he?! I really think you'll like this Russo. It has the same feel as Empire Falls. Have you read The Risk Pool?
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/19/09 06:45 PM |
No, I've read Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool (I think) or else Straight Man. Whichever one of those it was I despised. I only disliked Empire Falls
because it reminded me so much of my boring childhood so the experience didn't feel good to me. I think it was a good story and I loved the movie.
So far I'm liking the characters in BoS. Especially Noonan and Hugh--total hoots!
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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booksalot |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/20/09 06:53 PM |
Page 133 the two stories finally connected. It feels like the story is moving verrrry slowly. Please tell me the strengths of this book from your perspective.
I'm guessing it is character development but it feels very repetitive to me. Maybe now that the two have been connected it will take off in a somewhat
different direction.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/21/09 09:06 AM |
booksalot wrote:I'm only on pg 105 (I had a small food poisoning setback yesterday) so you're a bit ahead of me. I should catch up with you today. And yes, it is the character development. I love the way he moves back and forth in time slowly showing us Lucy's life. And I like the mystery around Bobby's life. I really liked the truck surfing part. I could so picture that in my head! I haven't found it repetitive at all . He really sucks me into his books. Of course you know that I loved Empire
Falls. I also grew up in a fairly small town but it was in Calif., not the midwest. If you hated EF then you won't like The Risk Pool. It's another
small town book which seems to be his forte. BUT I loved it. I own Straight Man and Nobody's Fool but I haven't gotten around to them yet.
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/21/09 10:43 AM |
The truck surfing incident was pretty fun and I too could visualize. The only thing I found odd was that the boys never changed positions. Lucy was always in
front with Bobby behind. Don't you think normal kids would have tussled over that front position? Big Lou is certainly a bit of a hopeless case, isn't
he?
Big OH NO on the food poisoning. Do you mean you ate something else that made you sick or do you think it was still left over from the original sushi incident? Have you decided the whole thing is food poisoning as opposed to the flu? Sorry you had another setback and I hope it is very short in duration.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/22/09 07:08 AM |
booksalot wrote:Lucy was always in front because Bobby was more athletic and could "surf blind". Lucy was supposed to call out the turns to warn Bobby. I think they just accepted that Lucy couldn't do the back position and I imagine that Bobby liked the challenge of being in the back. He just strikes me as that type of kid. Yeah, Lou is hopeless but in a big hearted kind of way. I'm almost up to where you were yesterday. Golf has been entirely too distracting. I'll have time to read this afternoon and I think I'm going to take it to the barn with me tonight. I'll have some downtime during the first class. I didn't eat anything else that made me sick. I guess that's just the way that food poisoning works. Carl said the Dr. said there would be little setbacks. We both were pretty rocky on Sat. I did manage to eat yesterday but my stomach still isn't too happy.  Ah well, I'm sure this will pass soon!
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/22/09 07:42 AM |
I made it to 155 yesterday and I brought the book to work so I could read during lunch hour. Let me know when you make it to the reveal on page 133 so I can
check that I've got it right. It came as a surprise to me but I may not have read closely enough and might have missed some clues. LATER UPDATE: Ok, on
pg 180 I'm confirmed, pretty much. Now I have to wait to learn what the story is.
Big Lou reminds me a lot of the dad in The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio (I have the book, unread but I recently watched the movie). In addition to being mostly a slacker he was also an alcoholic but everyone in the family seemed to accommodate him and his moods while mom picked up the loose pieces and held the family together by winning jingle contests, etc. In BoS I find it interesting that Lucy is more closely connected to his dad than he is his mom. Don't I remember him almost wishing her dead at one point? I can't quite figure that whole thing. Hope you have/had a good ride and fun with the kids in class.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams
Last Edited By: booksalot 06/22/09 12:19 PM.
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Bookgirlie |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/22/09 02:47 PM |
booksalot wrote:I'm on page 191. Are you talking about Sara and Bobby being involved at one time? I've gone over pg 133 a couple of times but I don't see anything that jumps out at me. 
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/22/09 05:49 PM |
Noonan is Bobby! That was what I was missing as far as tying the two stories together. It was confirmed on pg 155 when Lucy said something to the effect that
he no longer goes by that name.
So, did I miss a major statement about that earlier? Is that why it isn't hitting you as being out of the ordinary?
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/22/09 08:24 PM |
booksalot wrote:Oh, I figured that out very early on. It just made sense that the Bobby in Italy that he had been writing to had to be the one from his childhood. And his father was such a horrible person that I just figured that Noonan changed his name because of him. He also mentions that his father married a woman named Deb Noonan (pg 133) so obviously he took his mother's name at some point. His dad came back from the war and she was pregnant so he married her. Man, I was scared that I had missed something really obvious  and you'd know what an inattentive reader I really am! I'm still at pg 191 and I'm too pooped after working at the barn to read tonight.
But I'm sure I'll make lots of progress tomorrow.
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/23/09 08:15 AM |
I'm not surprised that I was slow to figure out the Bobby/Noonan connection. I really try not to read too much into books and movies and wait for them to
reveal themselves to me. So I was surprised when I picked up on that first clue and then again on pg 155 when he talked about his a name change and somewhere
he mentioned the broken wrist. But that second mention pretty much confirmed it for me. I missed the one about his step-mom being Deb Noonan.
Not to worry. I'm probably the least attentive reader although lately I've tried to slow down and so long as I'm liking a book I'm pretty good about picking up on stuff. My brain still wanders and I occasionally miss something though. BTW, I am beginning to like this one more. I just wasn't much into all the childhood angst but that seems to be moving along at a better pace now. Odd little mention about the Spinnarkle sisters. I'm assuming since they came out of the fire naked and there was some big secret that they must have been sleeping together. I guess that was a little weird but it certainly didn't add anything to the story--or did it? Last night I made it to pg 215. I have a hair appt today and I'll get a little bit of reading time there.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/23/09 03:34 PM |
booksalot wrote:He actually mentions Noonan's first name several times in the first chapter that we meet him: pg 36 the professor from Columbia addresses him as "Bob" in his letter, Hugh refers to him as "Robbie" on pg 39 and he refers to one of his paintings as "one of Robert Noonan's final canvases" on pg 41. I just figured that there couldn't be more than one Robert/Bobby involved in the story  . And it's his mom, not step-mom. His father always refers to her as DC
although I don't know why.
The Spinnarkle thing was weird. I think he told it to show how naive his father was about them not really being sisters but the more important part was about him feeling like a fake hero. He was more afraid of them finding out that he got lost and had to be rescued by one of the sisters than about them being naked. Ha, you know I enjoyed all the childhood angst! Must be because mine was so angst-y  . His books never feel slow to me but I get so involved right from the beginning. I really am loving this one. So what do you make of the
envelope written in Sarah's handwriting but containing something from Lucy? Hmmmm . . .
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/23/09 07:10 PM |
So what do you make of the envelope written in Sarah's handwriting but containing something from Lucy? Hmmmm . . .I don't know what to think of it. I actually didn't register it as much of a mystery because we get cards all the time addressed by one of the kids with inside greeting by the other so it's normal in my family. But I'm sure you are right--there is going to be more to that story. Oh, see, I did miss all those other references to Bob/Bobby/Noonan. I just wasn't putting it all together in the beginning. I should probably go back and reread the first 50+ pgs. I'll join you in Thomaston shortly but I don't know how much I'll get read. I'm exhausted from the library--we were absolutely swamped today. I hurt like I've been in some kind of fight.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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booksalot |
#16 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/24/09 08:57 AM |
I made it to pg 255 last night before falling asleep. It bogged down again for me with all the stuff about Uncle Dec and the store. I have been trying to
analyze what about his writing style I find troublesome and I think it is two things. I think it pov and the fact that there is so little dialogue. I much
prefer to hear from the characters rather than about them. It must be all the long descriptive passages that make it feel like it is moving so slowly. And I
don't relate so much to the angst which seems to be a big part of all of his books. At least it is very prevalent in the ones I've read.
Man, I'm really struggling with this heat. Enough already!!!! Sadly there doesn't look to be much relief in sight.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#17 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/24/09 02:01 PM |
booksalot wrote:I'm up to pg 300. I wish you were enjoying this book as much as me! It has gotten so interesting now that Bobby is back in town. It's amazing how completely differently he and Lucy see everything. His thoughts looking back on Lucy are nowhere near Lucy's memories. Of course the love triangle is now coming into play so maybe it will pick up for you. I actually don't miss it when there isn't a lot of dialogue. I really like being able to get inside their heads . What do you think of Tessa? Oh
yeah, and I found out what DC stands for. Niiiice man  .
I just got back from my riding lesson and a hair appt. I am so over this heat. Riding in the glaring sun for an hour just isn't fun!
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#18 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/24/09 02:10 PM |
Hmmm, I think Bobby just came back into what I was reading at lunch. I'm just past the Sarah section. Probably won't read tonight because I'm going
out to dinner with one of my hotel partners.
I don't feel as though I really know all that much about Tessa. She definitely seems to have the smarts in the family, she's a hard worker but she seems to be very much a secondary character. She sort of jumps into the story, speaks her mind then is gone again. It's almost like she is a presence more than a person. What are your thoughts? Why do you ask? Oh dear, can I guess what DC means? Egad! It fits his character perfectly if it is what I'm thinking. What a tyrant! I just read the part about her trying to run away and him smashing open the suitcase in the middle of the street. Then another attempt to Canada. Poor thing, she doesn't have the spunk to pull it off. Do you think Owen is going to come into play in a bigger way as we go farther?
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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Bookgirlie |
#19 | |||
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Posts: 127 06/25/09 06:05 AM |
We were at the Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton concert last night eating junk food and dancing like teenagers so I didn't get any reading done. I'm going
to be out all morning but I'll write about Tessa when I get back.
Kathy
If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. -Cicero- |
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booksalot |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 1385 06/25/09 09:04 PM |
Whoa! I just read the "Bridge of Sighs" chapter beginning on pg 319. That's some weird stuff. What was going on there? Am I going to learn more
later? I'm flummoxed.
Hope the concert was fun! It certainly sounds like you enjoyed it. Ok, now I'm ready to hear what you have to say about Tessa.
Anne in Austin
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."--John Adams |
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