I ponti di Madison County

by Robert James Waller, Maria Barbara Piccioli (Translator)

I ponti di Madison County è la storia di Robert Kincaid, fotografo di fama, e Francesca Johnson, moglie di un agricoltore. Kincaid, singolare, quasi mistico viaggiatore dei deserti asiatici, di fiumi lontani, di antiche città, è un uomo che quasi non appartiene al suo tempo. Francesca Johnson, un'italiana giunta in America come sposa di guerra, vive tra le colline dello Iowa meridionale e, di tanto in tanto, torna col pensiero ai suoi sogni di ragazza. Nessuno dei due ha mai cercato qualcosa di diverso da quello che ha, ma quando Robert, in viaggio per un servizio, entra nel cortile di lei per chiedere un'informazione, il ritmo delle loro esistenze si spezza sotto la forza di un'emozione inesprimibile. L'incontro fra Robert e Francesca diventa rapidamente un legame profondo e ciò che accade durante pochi giorni di una torrida estate, presso i vecchi ponti coperti di Madison County, è per entrambi un'esperienza così intensa da trasfigurare i luoghi consueti e i gesti quotidiani. I momenti trascorsi insieme diventano un patrimonio raro e prezioso di sentimenti a cui attingere per il resto della vita e che sopravviverà a loro stessi.
Una storia appassionante, che riscopre nell'amore la forza originaria dell'esistenza, una vicenda profondamente commovente, espressa in una prosa lirica, che consacra Robert James Waller autore fra i più rappresentativi della nuova narrativa americana.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Classics, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Novels

174 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 1992

About the author

Robert James Waller was an American author also known for his work as a photographer and musician. Several of his books have been on the New York Times bestseller list including 1992's The Bridges of Madison County, which was the top best-seller in 1993. Both that novel and his 1995 novel, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, have been made into motion pictures.

Reviews

[Feddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You guys have completely lost the plot.
You simply can't say that this is not a good book. It's well written, the story stands its ground and there is that bit of intrinsec poetry which can make a good read into an excellent one.
And remember, it is a book! What is this bigotry of saying that you don't like it because she has an extra marital affair?
The story works and the main doubt the author underlines is for her between leaving her obligations and following her heart, regardless of the adultery sitution, or staying home with her family. Nothing else.
It is a story of true love, that can happen even after one gets married (oh what a wonder!) and that can lead someone's life into turmoil for maybe the only time ever.
The movie was brilliant and the book is no less.
I am simply astonished at some comments. But this makes just my belief of modern times stronger and stronger: people and literature are drifting apart. Go buy some comics instead, if you have to judge a book on such meaningless details.

[Pakinam Mahmoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

"قصة قادرة علي إذابة كل قلب.."
وأنا قلبي الصغير لا يحتمل الصراحة❤️

مقتنعة جداً إن كل واحد فينا في مكان ما في الدنيا دي يوجد نصه التاني..مستنيه..بيدور عليه...بيحلم بيه..
قليلين جداً اللي بيلاقوه بس لو لاقيناه حنكون مستعدين نحط كل عمرنا اللي فات في كفة والأيام أو حتي الساعات الللي حنعيشها معاه في كفة تانية😍

جسور مقاطعة ماديسون رواية رومانسية بقلم الكاتب الأمريكي روبرت جميس والر..الرواية تعتبر من أكتر الكتب مبيعاً في القرن العشرين وبيع منها ٦٠ مليون نسخة حول العالم ..وكمان ليها فيلم بنفس الإسم بطولة كلينت إيستوود و ميريل ستريب..

في أربعة أيام فقط عاشت فرانشيسكا مع روبرت أجمل قصة حب ..كانت تشعر معه إنها امرأة من جديد بل أجمل امرأة في العالم ..
لم تتوقف عن التفكير فيه طول حياتها ولا للحظة واحدة ..كانت تشعر بوجوده دائماً حتي وهو مش موجود جنبها..
كان دافئاً..جذاباً..قوياً..متفهماً لظروفها ولحياتها كونها زوجة وأم وتعيش حياة مستقرة..
منحها في أربعة أيام عمراً كاملاً وحباً جارفاً لا يأتي إلا مرة واحدة في العمر ولا يتكرر أبداً...

"علمني معني أن أكون امرأة علي نحو لن تختبره إلا حفنة قليلة من النساء،ربما لن تعيشه امرأة أخري علي الإطلاق.."

إسلوب السرد كان من أعذب ما يكون،مكتوب ببساطة و رِقة غير عادية بس في نفس الوقت يلمس القلب وحتحس من خلال الحكاية وقلم الكاتب إنك لأول مرة تعرف يعني ايه حُب:)

الترجمة كانت ممتازة وسلسة جداً و تشجع إنك تخلص الكتاب في قعدة واحدة بس نصيحة مني بلاش..
الكتاب دة عامل زي الحاجة حلوة اللي بتدوب في البق وبتكون مش عاوزها تخلص فلازم يقرأ علي مهل وبمزاج عشان تستمع بيه لأطول وقت ممكن..

وردة بتقول في أغنيتها ..في يوم وليلة خدنا حلاوة الحب كله في يوم وليلة.. و دايماً لما أسمع الأغنية أقول بيني وبين نفسي هو ينفع يعني يا ست وردة في يوم وليلة نعيش قصة حب عمرنا ما ننساها؟طلع أهو..ينفع..:)

قصة حب سوف تستولي عليك وتأسرك بسحرها..اقرأوها،رجاءً وليس أمراً بل دعوة هذه السطور...
من أعذب و أجمل ما قرأت😍

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Recipe for Bridges of Madison County Firestarters

1. melt 20 oz. parafin in 4 1/2 quart slow cooker set on low--should take about 20 minutes.
2. set several sheets of newspaper on kitchen floor next to slow cooker.
3. Tear pages out of binding--I find about seven at a time works best. Discard binding.
4. Crumple each page individually--you can do it two or three at a time, but recipe will go farther if you take the time to crumple each page individually.
5. With tongs, dip each crumpled page into the parafin. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove.
6. Carefully set dipped,crumpled pages on newspaper to dry.
7. Continue steps 4 and 5 until all pages have been dipped.
8. If preferred, repeat steps 4 and 5 to get a thicker coat of parafin on each page.
9. VERY IMPORTANT: Carefully dispose of left over parafin in an empty coffee can and unplug slow cooker.
NOTE: the next few meals you make in your slow cooker might not taste very good.
9. Once all pages have been coated, place them together in attractive baskets next to your fireplace.
10. Each time you use your fireplace, place a few crumpled pages of The Bridges of Madison County on your logs, ignite with flame source and enjoy watching them burn!

[S.]

The Book, cough, cough: Called a novel, it's more a novella, barely over 170 pages--the better to save money on printing costs--set in large type on small pages. Set between a frame story (utterly forgettable) employed to give the reader a sense of being privy to a real event, voyeurism at it's best--one of my acquaintances actually tried to find the characters from the novel in the real world using the Internet, convinced Waller could never have made the story up. She was half right: Waller didn't make up the story, he just changed the details in a story old as time (how old is time, anyway?), like changing the colors in a paint by number.

The Oh-So Complicated Plot: First, if you're going to read this book, don't. Second, if you aren't going to listen to me, skip this part and read on to find out more about why you shouldn't read this book. Francesca is a bored housewife married to Richard (forget him--Waller does) who has an affair with a new and exciting photographer (How do we know? He carries a Nikon and snaps pictures) called Robert Kincaid. Note: not Robert, but Robert Kincaid, like James, James Bond; for the slow reader, two names means he's different. The two adulterers fall in love. But then instead of going off with the exciting man, Frannie, as her unexciting husband calls her, decides to stay because of her "responsibilities." Later she regrets it and finds out Robert never loves again. Why? Because it's more romantic that the knight goes off and dies of unrequited love than settles down with the damsel and becomes the unexciting husband of everyday life.

Fiction Writing 101: I found this book good for only one thing: as an excellent primer for those who want to become writers themselves. Just look at these valuable lessons I learned.

1. Characterization-Uh, I got this character who I want to be different. Hmm, well I gave him two names and I made him a photographer (by making him carry a Nikon and snap some pictures). I guess I should describe him in some different way, too. What about calling him a "dead-end branch of evolution." Now, that's description. I'll just repeat that one phrase over and over and over. Wait maybe I'll throw in something really original like the "last cowboy." Oh man, that's hot stuff.

2. How to simplify a morally ambiguous issue: Excuse what your character does and have the other characters accept it; that way your reader doesn't have to do any thinking and doesn't get confused over how they should feel about the character. Francesca to her children on her affair: "If you love me, then you must love what I have done." Mom, I killed my brother but if you love me, then you must love what I have done. Waller told me so.

3. Theme-Make astonishing philosophical statements by asserting bland generalizations about the sexes: "In a way, women were asking for men to be poets and driving, passionate lovers at the same time. Women saw no contradiction in that. Men did." Now, that's brilliant, what in-depth analysis of the complex way women and men view each other.

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sometimes I wish that negative stars were allowed...this book deserves the Anti-Star. I wanted to read this book because everyone I knew had read it and love it and wept over it. "The greatest love story of all time." blah blah blah.

~~Spoiler Alert~~

I have a serious pet peeve. A love story does NOT involve adultery. (Period!with a capital P) I have also started to question anyone who thinks that a "great" love story can only happen if you cheat on your spouse, or steal another persons spouse or any combination of the above.

And it is further insulting that the adulteress kids are intrigued that their mother had a relationship with someone OTHER than their father and thinks it would be FUN or interesting to discover more about it.

I just don't understand it.

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no way you can convince me that Robert Kincaid is not a serial killer.

[David Putnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it came out along with millions of other folks. The set up and motivation for the story was done quickly and economically and even though there was an affair involved we accepted the motivation as to why. Which is tough to do. The book is about romance, and love and relationships. If I had to sum up the book in one word I think it would be, 'tender.' For a long time I though the book too short (probably because I liked it so much) but after contemplation I realized it was probably just the right length.
David Putnam author of The Bruno Johnson series.

[Ryan]

This was a bestseller for 2 years when I first became a bookseller.

It is no coincidence that I started to hate most people with a deep and abiding passion around that time as well. Robert James Waller writes sex scenes that are so moronic you wonder if he's ever had it himself.

Bottom Line: I've read more romantic things on Craigslist.

[Cecily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love, loss, and sacrifice

Sacrificing something for love is one thing.
Sacrificing love itself is quite another.

Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
The book suggests it is, for both Francesca and Robert, but I can’t agree.

In my mid teens, I planned to change my name to Francesca when I turned 18. Despite my ambivalence about this story, part of me still wants to be Francesca, taking a different path.


Image: A heart in fractured concrete (Source)

Layers of truth and fiction

For years, I vaguely knew of the 1995 film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood but thought it was about Mr and Mrs Bridges of Madison County. By the time I read this, I knew it was about actual bridges, and that it was a love story, but little else.

“There are songs that come free from the blue-eyed grass, from the dust of a thousand country roads. This is one of them.”
The 1965 meeting of farmer’s wife, Francesca Johnson, and National Geographic photographer, Robert Kincaid, is framed as a true story, discovered by her adult children, when they find journals, mementos, letters, and a photo after her death in 1989. They ask the author to write this book. It’s a valid literary device that’s as fictitious as Francesa and Kincaid.

They share quotes from a real poem, The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats, HERE. New fictions are also included: an odd and ethereal piece, Falling from Dimension Z, in which Kincaid explores his feelings for Francesa, as well as an interview with a jazz musician who befriended Kincaid in his final years. All part of the (meta)fiction blend.

However, Robert James Waller, the actual author, was a keen photographer and musician, like his fictional Robert. He wrote The Madison County Waltz about this story. You can watch him performing it on the Roseman Bridge, HERE, where he even looks like Kincaid.

Waller had previously written a song about the dreams of a woman called Francesca. Sometime later, he was photographing bridges, and put the two together. He said he wrote the book in eleven days.

Madison County really is known for its covered bridges. Those named in the book are real: see HERE. The covers were made of cheap timber, supposedly to protect the more expensive flooring - yet some of them are only partly covered. I think they’re all rather ugly, and too visually intrusive for a rural landscape.


Image: Roseman Bridge, Madison County (Source)

Only 2* from me

I went through a range of emotions and responses reading this:

• Compositionally, it’s uneven (the main story is okay and has a framing story, but the various bits appended don’t really fit, and the chapter titles are strange).
• There are minor surprises beneath a broadly predictable plot arc.
• At times, it’s tender and subtle. Quiet tension is done well. Sometimes.
• The dialogue is plausible when it’s minimal, but not when it’s overly introspective and analytical.
• Several times, especially towards the end, I was moved, but simultaneously felt manipulated by the author's overwriting and purple prose. Perhaps I’m just not used to romance novels:
“She had become a woman again… turning for home toward a place she’d never been.”
• I don’t get why a photographer, albeit a “shamanlike” free spirit, sees himself as “one of the last cowboys”, devoted to “the old ways”, let alone why it was such a big deal.
• I don’t believe the timeframe (lifelong love within hours, and a total of only four days together), but maybe that’s a failure of my imagination and experience.
• I don’t want to believe a mother would write in such detail in a letter to her children: poor things!
• Talking about sex with quasi-spiritual fluff and animal metaphors that went beyond the hot, into the odd, didn’t work for me: I was alternately baffled, amused, and mildly repulsed. See quotes, below.

Quotes

• “He began to see that light was what he photographed, not objects.”

• “Though neither of us was aware of the other before we met, there was a kind of mindless certainty humming blithely beneath our ignorance that ensured we would come together.”

• “Like some animal courting rite in an old zoology text… licking her as some fine leopard might do in the long grass out in the veld… It was far beyond the physical… It was spiritual, but it wasn’t trite… It was almost as if he had taken possession of her, in all of her dimensions.” [Ummm and ugh]

• “The leopard swept over her, again and again and yet again, like a long prairie wind, and rolling beneath him, she rode on that wind like some temple virgin toward the sweet, compliant fires marking the soft curve of oblivion.” [LOL: how do you ride beneath, and what’s a compliant fire?!]

• “I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea.” [Huh?]


Image: Peregrine falcon, in bronze, by Gé Pellini (Source)

[Debbie Petersen Wolven · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it were possible to rate a book in the negatives, this one would earn a negative 10. Truly one of the most terrible books ever. Maudlin, whiny and ridiculous. A woman whose husband and children are away has a brief affair with a photographer just passing through. Of course, the few days spent with this complete stranger prove that her marriage is a sham and the photographer is her true love...but wifey sacrifices herself in martyrlike fashion and suffers to allow her substandard husband to continue to support her financially while she moons over hidden letters in the closet. I would like to rewrite this book and place it in the stark light of reality, where the neighbors report to her husband that his wife is a whore; when she has to explain to him where she picked up the STD and why there are crabs in their bed; where he throws her out on her ass and she DOES go off with her "true love" only to find that he has a wandering eye and a drinking problem, and often goes off on photographic jaunts where he beds other lonely housewives like herself. Oh, the poetic justice when she finds the crabs in her own bed.

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a beautiful love story, four days between parentheses in the life of Robert and Francesca, a tale of responsibilities, renunciation, family, and self-sacrifice. Novel read in one go. That was an excellent, relaxing read.
I also thank the person who offered me this book, as I no longer remember who it was. I am grateful because this work opened new horizons for me.

[Katie R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was absolutely wonderful. I started it like an hour ago, and I already savored its 170 pages. Crying, the last fifty or so. It's similar to Night of Rodanthe, but its better, sweeter, shorter and sadder.

I want a love like this, but one that can happen. Not one tainted with already present responsibilities. Ie: I am NOT supporting adultery, I banish the thought. She should have divorced and moved on-- be brave if true love finds you.

It ended as happily as a novel like this could.

Its also made me mildly interested in photography. Funny how that works.


AFTERTHOUGHTS:

I just read some of the comments about this book from others... They're all so negative and hateful I can only laugh. I feel bad for the people that didn't enjoy this book. They obviously couldn't open up to how wonderful the novel could be for them.

Don't close your mind off to it, try it. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But maybe you will.

[Fabian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wonder what Waller, the 8 year old doofus responsible for "The Bridges of Madison County" is like in real life. Like, is he for instance the dashing "last cowboy" he so "romanticizes"? Or more like the tepid housewife who looks at the nothingness that is Iowa (oh forgotten state! what did you ever do to deserve this?) and nods in approval. Did he grin in a stupid daze with his mouth full of Oreos... all the way teeheehee to the bank? All I know is that this belongs in the same category as (The Granddaddy of S*** novelists) Nicholas Sparks. Yikes. "Literature" doesn't come in a worse package than this. No doubt a best-seller, it was the garbage that the people yearning to learn how to make out sentences read once upon a time. Ouch.

This is a genuine insult to American (& non-!) readers.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

"One man.One Woman.The sultry heat of an Iowa summer.And the brief encounter whose all-encompassing passion will last a lifetime."

Robert Kincaid is a National Geographic photographer and Francesca is a housewife,in a small town in Iowa.They meet briefly,fall in love,but can't stay together as she is already married.

According to the author,this book is based on a true story.An Iowan man came to see him and wanted him to write the story,after his mother had died.

Waller did a good job of it.It was a massive bestseller in 1992 and then became a movie.

The negative reviews notwithstanding,I liked it a lot.It is very well-written with lyrical prose.

Clint Eastwood adapted it as a movie,starring Meryl Streep and himself.Both gave terrific performances.

I watched the movie first,it was very good.I like Eastwood and Streep,both are favourites of mine.Later,I read the book,and even though I knew the story,the book was still very enjoyable.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

The literary version of Thomas Kinkade.

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was laughable. Francesca is a housewife living in Iowa where no one--not her children, her husband or her neighbors--see her for the beautiful, fascinating worldly woman she is. Until that fateful day when Robert Kinkaid, a handsome, fascinating worldly man shows up on her doorstep asking for directions. And talk about great timing! Her husband and teen-aged children just happen to be out of town for the next four days. How convenient.

Francesca and Robert have four crazy, wonderful days together, falling madly, deeply, irrevocably in love. (for some reason I feel compelled to use lots and lots of superfluous adverbs when describing this book) He asks her to run away with him. Though it breaks her heart and his, Francesca declines. And everyone cries.

Obviously, Waller is pandering to the dowdy housewives among us who yearn to have a handsome, worldly man who sees us for the fascinating women we believe ourselves to be. It's a fantasy. Waller ignores the fact that every man (even the jerkiest of jerks) can be wonderful for the first four days.

From beginning to end, this book set my teeth on edge.

[Megan Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely beautiful.

I read it over the summer because I had just taken a photography class and I was interested in a lot of related stuff. I found the book on my mom's bookshelf and picked it up mainly because of the fact that the man is a photographer.

I read that book in a day, I couldn't put it down. It was probably one of the greatest works I have ever read and possibly will ever read.

I would recommend The Bridges of Madison County to anybody who wanted to read a good literature... well, anybody over the age of about 14 or so.

[Maria Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, por Dios! ¿Cómo puede ser que haya tardado tanto tiempo en leer este libro? ¿Cómo puede ser que hasta hace dos días, no se haya decidido a entrar en mi vida? Por Dios, qué historia tan bonita; tan mágica, tan llena de sentimientos...

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live.”

[فايز غازي Fayez Ghazi · Rating 3 out of 5]

اننا جميعا نعيش كلٌّ داخل صدفته المكونة من أحاسيس تغطيها القشور المتصلبة لجراح قديمة.

- لا يمكن قراءة هذه الرواية دون صورة "ميريل ستريب" في بال من شاهد الفيلم!

- جسور مقاطعة ماديسون، قصة عن الحب، عن الفرح الممزوج بالحزن، عن الخيارات الضائعة، عن لحظات السعادة القليلة المسروقة، عن العائلة، عن الريف، عن التصوير وتقنياته، عن الجموح، عن التعلّق بجزيئات من الماضي، وعن المفاضلة بين العيش والحياة. قد تكون فرانشيسكا المثال المضاد لآنا كارنينا.

- الرواية تطرح العديد من الأسئلة، هل يمكن للحب ان ينشأ في لحظة دون مقدمات؟ هل يمكن ان يكون كالبركان الخامد بفعل الرتابة وينتظر اللحظة المناسبة للإنفجار بفعل مؤثرات خارجية أنية؟ هل يأتي بعد الزواج الذي تحكمه علاقة من الهدوء والرتابة والتعوّد؟ هل يمكن ان يعيش لسنوات دون اي اتصالٍ جسدي او سمعي او بصري؟ هل الحياة تختزل في بضعة ساعات من السعادة والوقت الآخر مجرد زمن عادي يجري؟ هل الخيارات التي نتخذها تكون هي الخيارات الصحيحة عادةً؟...

- بعيدًا عن علاقة الحب، هناك دروس في التصوير في هذه الرواية، كيفية التقاط الصورة، الفرق بين العدسات وزاوية الصورة والوقت المناسب لأخذها، من يعرف في التصوير سيستمتع بهذه المقاطع. هناك ايضًا ملامح تلك النزعة للعودة الى الطبيعانية وما وصف فرنشيسكا لكينكيد بالشامان إلا في مسار هذا الإتجاه.

- رواية ممتعة ومسلية بشكلٍ عام، بعيدة عن العوالم الطوباوية، الترجمة كانت جيدة بشكل عام رغم بعض الأخطاء في الإملاء والمعنى على حد سواء (ص115 على سبيل المثال "أردت ان اشاهدك وانت تصنع الصور، "تلتقطها" بحسب تعبيرك" بينما الصحيح "أردت ان اشاهدك وأنت تلتقط الصور، "تصنعها" بحسب تعبيرك).الأسلوب الإسترجاعي المتبع كان جيدًا، والنهاية التي ستذكرك بشعر إيليا ابو ماضي كانت ممتازة.

- من الروايات القليلة التي أجد فيها ان مشاهدة الفيلم افضل من قراءة الرواية، وأنهي هذه المراجعة بهذا الإقتباس:

دقق النظر. كانت جميلة، او كانت جميلة ذات يوم، او قد تعود جميلة من جديد يومًا ما.

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1993, this novel topped the Bestselling Novels List in the US. Why? Check the others in the lists around that time. They were novels by Stephen King, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Daniel Steele and Robert Ludlum. It reminded me when in 2001, the soulful operatic voice of John Groban made his first waves in the music industry. The market was then dominated by the likes of Limkin Park, Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Nelly and Shakira. On that same year the simple, acoustic yet heartfelt song Pagdating ng Panahon by Aiza Seguerra topped the Best-Selling Albums list in the local music industry leaving by miles the likes of belter Regine Velasquez and the local bands Parokya ni Edgar and Eraserheads.

The Bridges of Madison County is a sensitive simple tragic love story. Yet it is not overbearing, cheesy nor mushy. It is a story of Francesca/Frannie, a lonely (but not sex-starved) housewife who did not think that at the age of 45, in just 4 short days, she would find her one true love. The man, Robert Kinkaid, a 52-y/o divorced travelling photographer also felt the same for her. What happened on those 4 days: each moment, each sight, each word, each action, each kiss, each time their bodies touched... they carried with them as treasured secret memories for 22 years living their own separate lives

The narration is simple, poetic yet effective and incandescent. Each sentence is carefully worded and you cannot help notice some symbolisms. By design, Waller knew what he wanted: a simple yet heartfelt love story maybe to differentiate his work from the horrors of Stephen King, courtroom dramas of John Grisham or the espionage adventures of Robert Ludlum. One can likened The Bridges of Madison County to the description of the tune Robert's friend composed for him after Robert told him Francesca's story: I wanted to keep it simple, elegant. Complex things are easy to do. Simplicity's the real challenge.

Like my favorite novel at all times, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Sometimes, we don't need a complicated story to be happy with what we read. Sometimes, a simple yet sensible heartwarming story is what we need to cuddle ourselves in bed on a cold October night.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm embarrassed to have read this maudlin piece of shit.

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's clear to me now that I have been moving toward you and you toward me for a long time. Though neither of us was aware of the other before we met, there was a kind of mindless certainty humming blithely along beneath our ignorance that ensured we would come together. Like two solitary birds flying the great prairies by celestial reckoning, all of these years and lifetimes we have been moving toward each other."

This book. Oh my God, this book.

I just finished it earlier this morning and I have a feeling that it is going to be one of those books that stays with me for the rest of my life.

Francesca Johnson is a farmer's wife living in Madison County. She is at peace with her life, but she is unhappy. She is a passionate woman, with hopes and dreams that are as untamed as the wildest windstorm. When freelance photographer Robert Kincaid stops at her doorstep seeking directions to the various covered bridges in the area they find themselves caught up in a love affair that knows no boundaries.

"This is why I'm here on this planet, Francesca. Not to travel or make pictures, but to love you. I know that now. I have been falling from the rim of a great, high place, somewhere back in times, for many more years than I have lived in this life. And through all of those years, I have been falling toward you."

I cannot even begin to describe how much I adored this book. It was literally the perfect blend of forbidden romance, myseterious beauty, and poignant sadness. It has a surprisingly low rating here on goodreads and after finishing it I think I understand why. The main character Francesca is having a love affair outside of her marriage. The book is primarily focused on that, and this is the issue that I feel many people cannot understand. Look, don't get me wrong. I am not condoning infidelity. But what I am condoning is that pure rush of love. Have you ever felt that? That moment where you life changes and you heart feels as if it might soar right out of your chest? That realization that you absolutely have to be with that other person and consequences be dammed? I know I have. It's a terrifying feeling yet wonderful all at the same time. And this book really and truly shows just how deep and how strong love can be.

"Analysis destroys wholes. Some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. If you look at their pieces, they go away."

So I fell head over heels in love with this story and its characters. I really wish it had been longer because I never wanted it to end! The writing was as lyrical and beautiful as the story itself was. Don't read this book if you have strong strong opinions about extramarital affairs. Don't read this book if you are cynical, biased, or jaded about love. But DO read this book if you have an open heart. Do read this book if you believe that the force of love can change your life in an instant. It is a remarkable book!

"In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live."

[Heba · Rating 1 out of 5]

هل هذا هو الحب حقاً ؟ 😏
المصور الفوتوغرافي الرحَّال " روبرت كينكيد " بينما كان في مهمة ل " ناشيونال جيوغرافك " باحثاً عن الجسر الأخير " جسر روزمان " من جسور مقاطعة " ماديسون " إذ به ينزل من شاحنته متوقفاً غير بعيد من الممر المؤدي إلى منزل " فرانشيسكا " الزوجة والأم لفتاة وفتى في عمر السابعة عشر....
في قبضة تلك اللحظة وقعا في الغرام....!!
لنتعرف أولاً على " روبرت " إن استطعنا ذلك ، تراءى لي رجل يتمتع بذكاء محايد ..شغف غامض ، القوة المرنة لمحارب قديم ، رأيت عينيه الزرقاوين غائمتين بالشعور بالاغتراب في عالم لا مكان له به ، ملامح حادة لكنها ليست متشنجة بل يمكن أن تلين بطيبة آسرة ، لا يحاول اقتحام قلب امرأة ..ولكن يمكن أن يفقدها توازنها والذي لن تستعيده بعدها أبداً....
قلما تلتقي برجل يفتقر إلى المراوغة والخداع ، ولكن كان ثمة شيء هناك عميق في هذا الرجل يستحيل التعرف عليه....
أما في التقاط الصور ، كان بارعاً ولم يكن جامحاً...، تولد لدي انطباع قوي بأن الطبيعة لم تكن تبخل بأن تمنح لحظة من السحر خارج الزمن في كل صورة تلتقطها عيناه...عينا الصقر وليس عدسة كاميرا التصوير....
اعتقد رجل مثل " روبرت " يثير الاعجاب...الاهتمام ..والتساؤلات..ولكن هل هذا يكفي أن يصيغ مبرراً لامرأة متزوجة أن تكسر الحدود وتقيم معه علاقة في غياب عائلتها عن المنزل...
حتى وإن كانت وحيدة...منطفئة ، أحلام الصبا الجميلة القديمة كانت قد ركلتها ولكن يبدو إنها لم تركلها بعيداُ لأنها ارتدت إليها لحظة أن التقت ب " روبرت " ...
هنا بعيداً عن الحكم بمعيار أخلاقي ، لكن بحكم المنطق هل يمكن ان ندعي بأن الانسياق وراء الرغبة والشهوة اللعينة هى لحظة الوقوع في الحب ؟!!!...
أم إنها لحظة اللذة القصيرة التي تورث عذاباً لانهائياً....
إدعاء التضحية بالتواجد مع أسرتها بينما قلبها مع رجل غير زوجها لسنوات طويلة هو تزييفاً لحقيقة الخيانة...
كيف يمكن ان تطالب ابنها وابنتها في وصيتها أن يكون الرجل جدير بحبهما واحترامهما ؟!!
الم تشعر بوخز ضميرها عندما كان زوجها على فراش الموت وقد اعتذر عن عدم استطاعته أن يحقق احلامها الخاصة ؟؟..
هنا الهشاشة والوهن ، الرغبة والاحتياج ، تتداخل في لحظة شائكة مؤرقة...هل تشهد تلك اللحظة صدقاً بميلاد حب ؟....

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars for The Bridges of Madison County (audiobook) by Robert James Waller read by Mitch Greenberg.

This is a story of love and loss… and finding out that your mother led a more interesting life than you thought.

[Jeannette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read on the WondrousBooks blog.

* Spoilers ahead. Though, honestly, if you've read even one Nicholas Sparks book, none of this should come as a surprise. *

So, I looked at the bestseller lists for 1993 and this one was the top book for the entire year. I needed a book published in '93, because of the 2015 Reading Challenge: A Book That Came Out the Year You Were Born. I later found out that it was actually published in 1992, but I consider my duty done, since I couldn't find anything else connected specifically to 1993.

Anyway, I'll be blunt and I feel the need to apologize in advance: this is a book written for women who are past their prime and unhappy about their lives and look for hope wherever they can find it. 

It's not a very good book either. It tells the story of a permanently sweaty photographer and a lonely farm wife, both of whom really want to have sex. There's insta-love, almost insta-sex and a tragic separation of two people who are truly meant to be together - I mean, he asked her for directions, she noticed how sexily sweaty he is and that he has sweat stains on watch and drops of sweat on his chest, and decided to invite him over to show off her sexy 49-year-old butt and to shag him on their second "date".

And to top that off, just before she died she wrote a letter to her children, which innocently starts with:

"If possible, please sit at the old kitchen table to read [this letter]. You'll understand that request shortly."

Then there is a lot of blah-blah-blah. And then, the big reveal a.k.a. why should they sit at the old kitchen table:

"In our old kitchen, Robert and I spent hours together. We talked and danced by candlelight. And, yes, we made love there..." 

I mean... HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

She and Robert were separated because of her children, so she decided to get back at them by making them sit at the same table she had sex with a random guy on, while making them read about it. HAHAHAHAHAHAH WIN! And also...



As far as the love story goes, it's a few degrees above laughable and unbelievable. Same goes to descriptions of their "love-making" and the way he is a tiger, or a panther, or I don't know what that disturbing woman was describing him as. She is a neglected wife and the mother of two total a-holes who don't really care about her enough to even visit on her birthday. All she does is farm and serve her husband beers. That's exactly the type of woman an adventurous photographer, who's been around the entire globe, would fall for. Not.

The writing is not any better than the characters. In the very first chapter, when Robert starts the journey which will eventually lead him to Francesca, the author lists the things Kincaid puts in his car - one by one. And lest we forget, two lines down Robert does a mental list of the very same things. Then every time his car, Harry, is mentioned, there is again a list of everything that's in it. Every time. And when Francesca reminisces about him, she also thinks about the stuff in his car. First world problems, people!

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always wanted to read this book. I loved the movie and hoped that the book would be the same or better. It didn't disappoint me. A love story we all want to have and find in our lives. I wished the book was longer because of all the emotion that you could feel in the book. I wished they would have found each other later in life. I enjoyed it and I will carry the story with me the rest of my life. May love find us all.

[Belinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

A friend sent me a copy a kajillion years ago, so I dutifully read it. I still adore the friend, and have liked plenty of other books she recommended, but I was actually ANGRY with her for WEEKS for causing me to have read this book. This was my all-time "worst book I ever read (to the end)" until I read "The Devil Wears Prada."

I wouldn't disparage anyone who DOES like this book, obviously, but to say it wasn't my cup of tea would be...WILDLY kind. How to describe the experience? Let's see. It's like eating a Twinkie, which is bad enough, but let's say that particular Twinkie got deep fried in the shrimp basket.

Whoa. Take THAT, literary critics. I'm obviously in the wrong line of work.

[sAmAnE · Rating 4 out of 5]

بوی آرامش؟ مگر می‌شود چیزی بوی آرامش بدهد؟
.
در مورد عکاسی که با عکس‌هایش ما را با تجربه‌هایی عمیق از عشق و زندگی آشنا می‌سازد.
.
برنده جایزه کتاب سال کتابفروشان آمریکایی سال 1993
برنده جایزه آئودی سال 2015

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world of reality and harshness it would be all to easy to forget what it really means to be human...

“Eventually, computers and robots will run things. Humans will manage those machines, but that doesn't require courage or strength, or any characteristics like those. In fact, men are outliving their usefulness” 

Sometimes things don't need to be dissected, but rather taken for exactly as they are...

"Analysis destroys wholes. Some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. If you look at their pieces, they go away."

This book isn't particularly well written but it is a beautiful story and there are some brilliant moments.
I wonder if a 20 or 30 year old reading this would relate to it in anyway? It is a story of
deep and passionate love that transcends everything else, husbands, children, time itself.
They knew each other for 4 short days, but those days were eternal.
One last quote for me to remember....

'The old dreams were good dreams; they didn't work out, but I'm glad I had them".

4*