The Bridge of San Luis Rey Guest Book Review

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." Was it just a coincidence that these five had the misfortune to cross while the bridge snapped or did God have a reason for ending these particular lives? Brother Juniper, a witness to this tragic event, makes it his mission to learn about the life each of the five led.

Mr. Auger picked The Bridge of San Luis Rey as his summer reading book. There are two copies in the library. The following is Mr. Auger's book review:

This is the first book by Thornton Wilder that I've read, and it's beautiful. Wilder's prose is occasionally the most elegant poetry, without ever even verging on florid. His style is relatively simple and straightforward, interspersed with observations and turns of phrase like none I've ever read before.

As for the story itself, it leaves much to ponder and discuss. In only 180 pages, this is a short read, but so full of suggestion and literary sidelong glances from the author that two different readers could easily come to different conclusions and understandings of individual parts and perhaps even the story taken as a whole. For myself, I'm still not quite sure what I think it was that Wilder was after with this book, but I know I'll enjoy trying to figure it out.