Well, it's been a few weeks hasn't it?! While "real" life did interfere (busy work streak, long weekend away), believe it or not I am not that far behind with these book posts, just this book and one other!
One reason it took awhile to get to this next book post is that Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge is a bit of a behemoth -- about 750 pages (and nearly 13k location for my fellow Kindlers).. and another reason for the delay is that it is just kind of intimidating to try to do this book justice. Spoiler alert: Loved it!
This epic historical novel centers around the life of a Hungarian Jew, Andras Levi, in the years leading up to and during WWII. Given that heritage, you can sense - even in the book's happier moments - the dark cloud that looms. Without giving too much away, if you are saying to yourself I don't want to read a war or holocaust novel (which was what little I knew about this book going in), do not worry it is a LOT more than that... and it's my pretty good guess that you have never read a book from this particular perspective.
What is even more impressive is that this is Orringer's first novel (having previously published a short story collection). It doesn't take too long to realize you are in the hands of a master storyteller and I was particularly amazed how much this book made me feel what Andras was feeling -- happy, hopeful, apprehensive, betrayed. If you asked me - on some random day or book, don't I always feel emotions when reading, I would have likely said "yes," but it takes a book like this to make me think it doesn't happen as often as I think it does. Perhaps, I acknowledge or "get" the emotion... more observed than experienced. But again, I just felt that there was something (extra) special going on here.
To not make this a total gush-fest, I have to admit I did flag about it during the book at - my best guess - around the 60-70% mark. This story is a very long and winding road, and to flip this very minor quibble into a compliment, I still have to give Orringer credit for keeping my attention for the vast majority of the novel, in this increasingly A.D.D. world, that's really saying something. Likewise, while the book's title, while explained, didn't have the impact that I expected it to -- was thinking it would be some "aha!" or revelatory moment, but alas it wasn't or just missed it (though I can certainly understand the symbolism of a bridge, even an invisible one). That said, if you asked me for an alternative title for the book I couldn't tell you what that would be.
While this was on my to-be-read list for a while, I didn't get to it until both Todd and his Mom read and loved it. Again, I will admit to hesitating about it due to its length -- and no doubt, it is a major commitment -- and the subject matter, but again I was pleasantly surprised that it was so much more.
This is one of the book that I loved so much that I almost am afraid to recommend as I think it would hurt just a bit that if someone didn't like it as much as I/we did. Barring the flat-out entertainment level of the Hunger Games books, this was certainly the best book I had read in over a year... and since Let the Great World Spin and Cutting for Stone... both of those books I pressed into as many hands as I could... soooo if The Invisble Bridge was on your radar -- or if I've managed (hopefully!) to just put it there -- give it a shot... a big commitment, but I think a very big reward as well!
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