The Bridges of Madison County (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "On the morning of August 8, 1965, Robert Kincaid locked the door to his small two-room apartment on the third floor of a rambling house..." (more)
Key Phrases: orange suspenders, Robert Kincaid, Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Robert Kincaid drives through the heat and dust of an Iowa summer and turns into Francesca Johnson's farm lane looking for directions, the world-class photographer and the Iowa farm wife are joined in an experience of uncommon truth and stunning beauty that will haunt them forever. The romantic classic of the 1990's.

From Publishers Weekly

Quietly powerful and thoroughly credible, Waller's first novel (he previously wrote two books of essays) describes the profound love between a photographer and an Iowa farmer's wife who, together for only four days, never lose their feelings for each other. In August 1965, 52-year-old divorce Robert Kincaid packs his pickup truck and travels to Iowa's Madison County, the location of seven covered bridges he is to photograph for National Geographic . There, he asks directions of Francesca Johnson, alone at home while her husband and two children visit the Illinois State Fair. Initially, neither Robert nor Francesca expects their random encounter to lead to seduction, yet their mutual desire is undeniable. Waller tells their story as though it were nonfiction, claiming to have heard about Francesca from her children after her death, read her journals, seen Robert's relics of those four days and interviewed a jazz musician who knew the photographer. Scenes between the lovers are movingly evoked and moments with Francesca, who celebrates her birthday 22 years later by reflecting on her brief time with Robert, are particularly poignant. An erotic, bittersweet tale of lingering memories and forsaken possibilities. Photos of covered bridges serve as illustrations. 35,000 first printing.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books, Inc.; 1st, 2nd Prtg. edition (April 13, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044651652X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446516525
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (393 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #665,315 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunate waste of potential (and paper....and your time), January 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bridges of Madison County (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is essentially worthless drivel. "He moves like a gazelle.." ?!? Is the author serious? To say the book is cliche ridden is an understatement. The writing is sophomoric and the characters are developed not in action, but in ridiculous cliched descriptions like the gazelle simile. The saddest thing is that this could have been a great story. The plot has potential. A long lost forbidden and passionate love affair, discovered after the two main players are deceased. The woman's children having to figure out what happened years ago based on their dead mother's diary. This book could have been brilliant and instead its like a bad passage from the Song of Soloman. Don't waste your time reading this rubbish.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, I can't rate it low enough..., November 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bridges of Madison County (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is manipulative, predictable, sacharine, wildly overwrought emotional porn. Waller knows how to pull the heartstrings-to a point he's a genius at it, but hasn't the decency to use a feather's touch and let things happen gently.

For the reader, "the Bridges" is a masochistic exercise of turning the other cheek to blow after blow from a blunt literary instrument. Waller is not content to let the reader slowly fall into the sadness of love cut short of its full tragectory.

In the first few pages he completely delivers his bittersweet emotional package in prose as big as a billboard, then for the remainder of the book relentlessly sledgehammers the message in.

Don't read it. Don't buy it. Don't waste your time.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Botched Opportunity Revealed by Film, January 27, 2000

By	C. Colt "It Just Doesn't Matter" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Robert J Waller botched his opportunity to make "The Bridges of Madison County" an interesting novel. The book contains fascinating themes of conflict including the struggle of choosing between passion and loyalty, and the difficulty of coming to terms with a mother's secret love affair. Unfortunately, rather than exploring these themes, Waller makes them the vehicle for a cardboard love story.

The hero, Robert Kinkaid might have been believable if Waller had endowed him with human qualities. Instead, Waller portrays him as a middle-aged superman: lover, artist, pacifist yet war hero, impoverished, yet glamorous, lovable but unavailable. His discourse is sometimes witty and often cheesy, but never quite believable. I know that Waller wanted to make Kinkaid engaging and appealing, but the resulting character is a two dimensional fantasy.

The Heroine Francesca is a bit more believable when she expresses her erotic feelings for Kinkaid and works through the dilemma over whether to run away with him or to dutifully remain with her husband. Unfortunately, Waller renders her character meaningless with vapid remarks about how Kinkaid should go on without her because she'll only cramp his style. The condescending manner in which she posthumously explains her love affair to her children comes across as artificial, and insulting.

I think the film version of "Bridges of Madison County" starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep succeeds where the book fails. Contrary to the book, Francesca angrily accuses Kinkaid of being selfish and egotistical-a flaw which he admits. Her objection and his subsequent admission provide the relationship with more dramatic tension and make it more believable. The fact that Kinkaid has his flaws makes him more believable and more appealing. Instead of being insipid characters that introduce the story, Francesca's children experience emotional conflict and character development of their own. The revelation of their mother's infidelity comes when each of them is experiencing a crisis in their lives. At first, the shock and shame of their mother's affair adds to their troubles. But slowly they come to terms with her affair and subsequently derive the courage and inspiration from it needed to repair their own lives.

I might not have given "Bridges of Madison County" a second thought and certainly would not have wasted time reviewing it if the film version had not revealed its failed potential to be a decent novel.