Last night, my very small book group (four people) had a great discussion on Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. The story is set in a small town where the historical industry has closed down and there are the typical signs of town deterioration, and demise. One signal is the inability of a wealthy family to sell its home and the closure of some of the town's stores, except one located across the street from the young protagonist's home. The book follows the protagonist and a few contemporaries through their growing up, taking a productive roles in town, and dealing with becoming "older". Probably dealing with his ages from 8 to 60+. It is a bit long, and does drag in spots, in my opinion; however, Russo does deal with some wonderful themes.
More later....I've run out of time.
Is this a formal Great Books discussion group? I wasn't aware they were doing contemporary novels.
ReplyDeleteno, this is a private, small, book group which is a spin off of LibraryThing.com
ReplyDeleteI have no association with Great Books discussion books.