Book Log 2008 #20: Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

If you've read any of Russo's other works, the themes here - the clannish nature of small town life, the regret of advancing age and the difficulties of intergenerational family life - will be familiar. But it says something about his skill as a writer that he can continue to mine these topics (as well as the setting of upstate New York) without being repetitive or dull. That he does this while writing what is his grandest novel in scope - it covers three lives in depth over the span of 60 years - is icing on the cake.

That being said, the book does unfold in a very conversational way that doesn't have the sort of concrete resolution that may be expected. In that way it's actually more like life, which rarely has the sort of denoument that allows things to wrap up nicely. But it also makes it a little harder to feel like you can get your head around what the book is actually about. The shifting of time in the narrative can also cause a little whiplash, but it's a small price to pay for a novel this endearing.

It's probably one of the best novels of the year, but I can't help but think that some folks will find it disappointing.