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    Mr. Bridge: A Novel
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    Mr. Bridge: A Novel
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    Mr. Bridge: A Novel
    Ebook429 pages7 hours

    Mr. Bridge: A Novel

    By Evan S. Connell

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The classic novel about a repressed upper-middle-class husband in the American Midwest, by a New York Times–bestselling and Man Booker Prize–winning author.
     
    Walter Bridge is an ambitious Kansas City lawyer who redoubles his efforts and time at the office whenever he senses that his family needs something—even when what they need is more of him and less of his money. Affluence, material assets, and comforts create a cocoon of respectability that cloaks the void within—not the skeleton in the closet but a black hole swallowing the whole household.
     
    Together with its companion, Mrs. Bridge, this novel is a classic portrait of a man, a marriage, and the manners and mores of a particular social class in the first half of twentieth-century America.
     
    “A small masterpiece.” —Joyce Carol Oates
     
    “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge are forever human, forever vulnerable, forever pitiable. In spare, whimsical, ironic prose, Connell exposes each and every one of their wrinkles and then, in the end, offers them to us as human beings to be cherished.” —The Washington Post
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJan 13, 2005
    ISBN9781619020252
    Author

    Evan S. Connell

    Evan S. Connell (1924-2013) received numerous prizes and awards for his writing and was the author of many books of fiction, poetry, essays, and history, including Mr. Bridge, Mrs. Bridge, The Diary of a Rapist, The Alchymist's Journal, and The Collected Stories.

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    Reviews for Mr. Bridge

    4/5

    131 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really liked "Mr. Bridge", but not as much as its companion piece "Mrs. Bridge". Connell's crisp, elegant writing and careful portraiture were no less wonderful, the literary equivalent of Albrecht Durer's finely-drawn engravings. The problem, I suppose, was that Mr. Bridge was not as interesting or sympathetic a character as his wife. He is portrayed as a very private, withdrawn, and unswerving individual. Rarely do we see glimpses of how and with whom he spends his days. India interested me because she was uncertain about herself and so many habits and customs around her. Walter, on the other hand, rarely wavered in his views or considered alternative possibilities -- which, of course, he regarded as a self-defining virtue. Walter's stiffness suppresses, but fortunately does not completely stifle, his humanity and the deep love he holds for his family. It's a testament to Connell's wonderful writing that we're able to see both sides of Mr. Bridge so clearly. The two books are a great read. You really need to read both of them to get the most out of either one.
    • 4/5
      Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell is a recent reissue of the beloved 1968 novel of the same name. There's a companion novel as well, Mrs. Bridge, which was published first and I get the impression it's the more popular one. I haven't read it but those that love the one seem to love the other.Mr. Bridge, the man, thrives on order and a life that makes sense. At least to him. He thinks he understands how the world works, but is woefully short of the mark when it comes to other people.The audiobook is read by the award-winning, highly prolific George Guidall. It's hard not to recommend a book, any book, if Mr. Guidall is the reader. Yes, he's that good.
    • 2/5
      I do not know how helpful this review will be to other readers, as it is a matter of my taste in fiction. My guess is that, for many people, this is a powerful book. I was curious about it, as I understood it was a companion to Mrs. Bridge. However, in my humble opinion, not even George Guidall's wonderful narration could redeem this book of monologues. I just did not like Mr. Bridge very much. As great as the detail provided about his very narrow life, I found him boring and not at all appealing. This is not a story and is plotless. I believe the book is well written and may be very appealing to a select group of people.
    • 4/5
      "He himself did not care what happened at the house during the day. There was no more reason for her to be curious about his work than for him to be concerned with the groceries, laundry, getting the children to school, and whatever else she did. Yet it would seem rude, almost brutal, to drop the pretense and admit that neither particularly cared what the other was doing. A display of interest, however shallow, made life easier." (p 9)Mr. Bridge is the converse to the earlier novel, Mrs. Bridge, written ten years earlier by Evan Connell. The story chronicles the life of Walter Bridge and his family, wife India, daughters Carolyn and Ruth, and son Douglas. Just as Mr. Bridge did not play a large role in the earlier novel Mrs. Bridge recedes into the background in this story. The difference is in part one of perspective, as you see the world from the view of Mrs. Bridge in the earlier book. In this one you begin to get some understanding of the reason why, in spite of being set during the depression, the family seems well-to-do which, as we find in the story of Mr. Bridge, is due in large part to the conservative investment habits of Walter Bridge. These are demonstrated again and again and his fixation on preserving a financial legacy for his family would seem a good thing if it was not one more brick in the wall that he has built around himself and his ordered life. Walter Bridge's conservatism is not his primary defining characteristic. In a certain sense he appears to be a stoic. But he is neither a seriously thoughtful nor a happy stoic in the mold of men like Marcus Aurelius and Henry David Thoreau. They exemplify the thoughtful and contemplative life of the stoic who accepts this world but yearns to understand it. Sadly, Walter Bridge's thoughtfulness falls short of understanding just as he falls short of any true sort of stoicism. His true character, rather, can be defined in two words: He is a "consummate Puritan". (p 249) That outlook determines Walter's world both for better and for worse. Much of the story takes place during the depression years leading up to World War II and while everything's not so up-to-date in Kansas City, there are symptomatic signs of transition--the encroachment of Jews in the neighborhood; or the possibility that their colored servant's nephew will attempt to enter Harvard; or that their own children will be doing unlikely things with unsuitable people. None of these are more unsuitable than his daughter Ruth's intellectual friends in New York whose magazine, "Houyhnhnm", he hides on a upper shelf in his library. Afraid to throw it out in case his daughter should look for it, he is unable to stand the sight of it and what it represents. Swiftian satire was seldom any sharper than this.Mr Bridge can also be seen as living his life of the edge of feeling. He is out of touch with his wife and children in part because of his taciturn personality, but also because of his inability to communicate. One aspect of this is demonstrated in the scene where he attempts to play ball with his son Douglas and some of his fellow schoolmates. Walter feels that he should do this against his own preference not to and the resulting failure is painful and made only moreso by Walter's attempt to rationalize away that failure. It is emblematic of much of his family life.Mr. Bridge is also out of touch with the world around him. He is fascinated with the bright yellow socks worn by Dr. Sauer. He thinks: What is it about those yellow socks? Likewise why am I uncomfortable with the young male ballet dancers? His inability to successfully answer these and other questions about the changes in his world leaves him once again on the edge of feeling. The effect of this, and the events that are chosen by the author and portrayed in the short vignettes that comprise the novel make this a darker work than its predecessor. At the end, Mr. Bridge is seen as the bewildered, beleaguered midcult man unable to cross the chasm of the generations and changing times.
    • 1/5
      OMG this was a painfully deadly dull book to get through, about a deadly dull man and his deadly dull family. At no point in time did I care about any of the characters or what happened to them. I especially can't understand why anyone felt the need to turn this novel into a film
    • 5/5
      How does somebody write a novel this perfect? The author takes us inside the head of a Kansas City attorney during the Depression era, as he confronts the challenges of raising a family and making correct decisions for himself and them, invariably congratulating himself on the wisdom of the path he has chosen for everybody, and dismissing their occasional suggestions that he might be cold or bigoted only after giving their hypotheses careful consideration. The book begins as a lightly humorous treatment of his thought processes and his perceptions of the foibles of the people and society which surround him, and gradually becomes a bit darker as his children force him to confront such perils of modernity as bohemianism and golf. The book is funny and wise, every character beautifully drawn, and also serves as an incisive portrait of the Kansas City of bygone days.
    • 4/5
      A sort of sequel to Evan Connell's "Mrs. Bridge," except that it takes place during the same time frame. This time we get the Bridge's life according to Mr. Bridge, and I was very surprised that he managed to make it so completely different. Some of the incidents meshed, and it was good to see the reactions from both sides, but most were individual, and exclusive to Mr. Bridge, and I came away with a completely different (although not necessarily better) opinion of him. A very good read, especially if you read "Mrs. Bridge" soon before or after. Clever concept.
    • 5/5
      The emptiness of contemporary American life, especially for the American man, is on every page of this book. Mr. Bridge, while less forthcoming than Mrs. Bridge, nevertheless conveys an apt portrait of the comfortable yet hollow American. The book is, at times, a painful one to read.
    • 5/5
      "Saga of sweet joylessness and blunted sensibility...marriage and middle-age on the plains of Protestantism",, April 18, 2015, 19 April 2015 The companion volume to Mrs Bridge, written ten years earlier, which looked at a marriage principally from the point of view of the wife . In that volume we never fully understood the husband, a largely absent lawyer, although we had little hints as to his personality: hard-working, determined to provide for his family, sometimes apparently more able to cultivate a 'normal' relationship with his children than his bright, correct wife could manage.Now in this book, we live through the marriage from the point of view of Mr Bridge. Narrated, like its prequel, in the form of short vignettes; many of these are new but some will be remembered by readers of the former, where we see two entirely different viewpoints on the same incident: when daughter Ruth is associating with a homosexual man, her mother utterly fails to comprehend the situation, while her more worldly (and adoring) father tries to stop it.Mr Bridge, a self-made man, is somewhat miserly at times with his hard-earned wealth. He has an irritating need to always be right. Like his wife he is intrinsically racist in his views although neither of them would publically own to such feelings.And as we follow this couple and their three growing children, all individuals with their own personalities, we see how people grow apart while living in the same house.As brilliant as its prequel, definitely 4.5*
    • 4/5
      I found both "Mrs. Bridge" and "Mr. Bridge" at a used bookstore and read them back-to-back. I really liked how the author presented their lives in a series of small chapters -- snapshots of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Bridge are upstanding members of their community but struggle with anything that might be out of their comfort zone -- for instance when Mr. Bridge (I believe this is in the Mr. Bridge novel) feels that African-Americans do not belong at Harvard, that they're better off at a black college. This is a reflection of the times that the Bridges live in (up to and through the 1940s). They are occasionally baffled by their children's escapades and struggle with the sexuality of their daughters who are not perfectly "good girls". Several memorable incidents in these books, as opposed to several recent novels I've tried to get through that were mostly unforgettable.(The above section also posted under "Mrs. Bridge").And to add...this novel was published after Mrs. Bridge and covers the same time frame. It's as if the author wanted to add more stories to the ones originally told; however, these are from Mr. Bridge's perspective.
    • 4/5
      Now we get Mr. Bridge's side of the story and see everything through his eyes. It definitely gives you a different perspective on the story overall and also on his character. It gives you more insight into his character, which I feel is always a good thing, as he wasn't quite so developed in the first installment. Overall, the writing is good and I definitely feel it's worth the time, although maybe reading it is a better way to go than audio.
    • 5/5
      Written ten years after Author Evan S. Connell finished Mrs. Bridge, this novel looks at the Bridge family through the eyes of its patriarch -- and patriarch he is.Like Connell's previous novel about the Bridges, this is written as a series of short interludes, with each "chapter" only a few pages long. It is a clear-eyed, and often merciless, portrait of high WASP middle-class life in the middle of the country in the middle of the 20th century.Connell's writing is exquisite, he conveys more in a single sentence than many writers can communicate in ten pages. Interestingly, Connell is also an accomplished historian. I highly recommend this novel, as well as his brilliant non-fiction volume on General George Armstrong Custer and the battle of the Little Bighorn: Son of the Morning Star.
    • 4/5
      I received this recorded copy of Mr. Bridge from Early Reviewers and was very happy to get it to accompany my copy of Mrs. Bridge, which I read several years ago. It has been a while since I read Mrs. Bridge but I remember loving the book and hating the character. I was curious about how I would feel about Mr. Bridge. At first I thought I might like him better but then I found he was the same product of his time and position (1940's, Kansas City, lawyer) in life as his racist, narrow-minded, naïve wife. The thing that makes this a good book, despite terrible characters, is the author's ability through dialogue and insight into Mr. Bridge's thought processes, to allow the reader to vividly picture this man and his encounters with his family and people in his daily routines. It was difficult to listen to some of his diatribes about the "Negros" learning to stay in their places, but it was essential to hear to understand the kind of man he was. I think I would put the writing of Evan S. Connell almost up there with Flannery O'Connor because, like all the books I have read by her, I hated the despicable characters, but I couldn't get enough of the writing. I felt the same about Mr. & Mrs. Bridge.