I don't think that anyone could dispute that there are countless advantages to achieving literary success, but the flip side of that coin is that that there are disadvantages as well, some of which are born of those aforementioned perks. Winning a prestigious award like, say, the Pulitzer Prize, which Richard Russo did in 2002 for his previous novel,
Empire Falls, gives an author freedom to explore the range of their talents without the interference of an editor. This is a blessing, no doubt, but can also be a hindrance for a writer like Russo, who has a tendency to get so caught up in his lush storytelling that it may come across as endless rambling to the casual reader. That he actually has a firm grasp on the plot no longer matters, because that impatient reader will already be lost to the story. And that's quite a shame when it comes to "Bridge of Sighs" since it's actually quite a good novel despite the fact that a good editor could have pruned some passages here and tightened a few plot-points there. The first hundred pages in particular are a little slow, but stick with it. Russo is one of the best storytellers in current fiction, and trusting him a little will be well worth the early effort.
After winning the Pulitzer Prize Russo took a gamble on a different format with a short story collection entitled
The Whore's Child: Stories, which was an unfortunate misfire for him, an author who truly shines when he sticks to what he knows best, and in that regard "Sighs" is a glorious return to form. What Russo really understands are middle-aged characters (especially men) with seemingly simple ambitions and quiet lifestyles - in short, the average American citizen. Like Marilynn Robinson (another Pulitzer winner, she for her novel
Gilead: A Novel), his talents lie in making ordinary lives extraordinary. He did it for Miles Roby, the college dropout and proprietor of the Empire Grill in "Empire Falls," and he does it again for Lou `Lucy' Lynch, the college dropout and owner of Ikey Lubins Corner Market at the epicenter of "Sighs" (you probably noticed how similar those character descriptions sound, but don't be fooled - Russo is an expert at playing off the tried-and-true without making it feel redundant for a second).
What "Sighs" is ostensibly about is the relationship between Lynch and Robert Noonan, his childhood friend who is now a successful artist living in Venice while Lynch remains (stagnates?) in their old hometown of Thomaston, NY. The two men are polar opposites: Lynch timid and needy, prone to `spells' when he feels stressed and can't handle it, Noonan aggressive and independent, prone to lashing out with his fists when someone tries to cross him; Lynch comfortable living in the past and fearing tomorrow while Noonan actively tries to escape his past and runs headlong into the future. Their dueling narratives flesh out the complexities of their on-and-off friendship, culminating with their recollections of their fateful senior year of high school, a year that proved to be the catalyst for the rest of their lives. At the end of that year, as we know from the very beginning of the novel, Lynch will have won the hand of Sarah, the girl they both fell in love with and who was torn between them for an agonizing year and, perhaps, beyond, and Noonan will have run away to find his destiny in the wider world. As in "Empire Falls," Russo manages to seamlessly blend predictability with some genuine surprises for a heartfelt and multi-layered climax. Seeing how they all ended up where they are is all part of the superb ending, so anyone who doesn't make it through to the end will be missing out. Big time.
But the deeper theme of the novel has to do with our families and how they shape who we are - whether we want them to or not. For Lynch, a nervous and needy person, looking at his parents there was never any question which one he would rather be like: his (foolishly?) optimistic father easily won out over his sensible, grounded mother because what Lynch desires more than anything else is for his father's simple, good-hearted vision of how the world works to be true. The possibility that life can be senseless and cruel is terrifying to him, therefore he rejects it outright. And yet, he is his mother's son, so his optimism represents a choice rather than an inclination, and somehow he must strike a balance between his reality and his desire. Noonan hates both of his parents equally - his father for being a domineering and abusive presence and his mother for being a weak-willed depressive too damaged to get out of her own way. And though he rejects both of them, it terrifies him to know that he is more like them than he would care to admit. Sarah, meanwhile, is literally torn between her parent's disparate world's thanks to their separation and subsequent divorce: summers with her free-spirited, alcoholic mother and school years with her eccentric, rigorously intellectual father. Through them, Russo explores the holds our parents have on us and how, whether we want them to or not, our families mold our lives, and neither Lynch, Noonan or Sarah will ever truly be at peace until they come to terms with the parts of their parents that reside in their own selves. "Do you think we'll end up like them?" Sarah asks at one point. "What if it isn't up to us? What if we're going to end up like them and there's nothing we can do about it?" It's brilliant stuff, deftly handled by Russo, whose acuity for his leads and how they behave and why is nothing short of revelatory. He also scores big with his bit players - his affection for the mischievous Uncle Dec and embittered Gabriel Mock Jr. is palpable.
But as I said earlier, Russo is best at dealing with what he understands, and while he brings 98% of the cast to vibrant life, he seems uncertain of how to handle characters like Hugh, an effete Manhattan intellectual, or Kayla, an African-American preteen living in poverty on Long Island. Lucky for Russo, those misfires are few and far between.
They say that still waters run deep, and this novel, despite looking like a creek, is a veritable ocean. Despite its flaws, "Bridge of Sighs" is a thrilling and enjoyable read once it's had time to get going. Reading this book was a truly effecting experience for me; I can't stop thinking about it, and that, in my humble opinion, is the true test of what makes a great novel.
Grade: A-
