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The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." With this celebrated sentence, Thornton Wilder begins The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of the towering achievements in American fiction and a novel read throughout the world. By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy. Brother Juniper seeks to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy. His study leads to his own death -- and to the author's timeless investigation into the nature of love and the meaning of the human condition. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is now reissued in this handsome hardcover edition featuring a new foreword by Russell Banks. Tappan Wilder has written an engaging and thought-provoking afterword, which includes unpublished notes for the Pulitzer Prizewinning novel, illuminating photographs, and other remarkable documentary material. Granville Hicks's insightful comment about Wilder suggests an inveterate truth: "As a craftsman he is second to none, and there are few who have looked deeper into the human heart."
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Eggs
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

A Pulitzer Prize winner, Bridge explores the collapse of a fabled bridge in eighteenth-century Peru. It centers around Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk, who watched 5 people plunge into the water to their deaths. With deft prose, he ponders fate, love, and the interconnectedness of human lives. Beautifully done.

#Pantone2023 @Clwojick @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
#RushAThon Day 23

Vansa I really loved this book 1y
Vansa I really loved this book 1y
TheLudicReader Love Wilder. 1y
See All 9 Comments
Eggs @Vansa 🤗🥰 1y
Eggs @TheLudicReader 🙌🏻❤️👍🏼 1y
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 1y
Eggs @DieAReader 🤗🤗 1y
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 1y
Eggs @Andrew65 🥰😍 1y
56 likes2 stack adds9 comments
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StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Slowly making my way through the scratch off poster. #100essentialnovels

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Conservio
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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i joined the #wordytraveler bookclub on the Peru box. This is the fiction that came with it.

It was OK, a pulitzer prize winner written in the 1920‘s….. by a white american.

I‘m disappointed that the two books that came in the Peru box were both by white american men…

The tagged book wasn‘t even really about Peru. But hey it was short #peru #classic #subscriptionbox

8 likes1 stack add
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Blueberry
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Eggs Love Our Town 3y
53 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

I liked the humor, which you wouldn‘t expect from a book about the five people who fell to their deaths when a bridge fell. But that‘s just the conceit. The book is really a wonderful character study, and a reminder that no one really knows everything about another human being.

Ruthiella I read this in my 20s and think I was maybe too young at the time to really appreciate it. I should re-read it. 3y
Lcsmcat @Ruthiella I think it is a book better appreciated if you have more life experience to bring to it. 3y
47 likes2 comments
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Lcsmcat
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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“There was something in Lima that was wrapped up in yards of violet satin from which protruded a great dropsical head and two fat pearly hands; and that was its archbishop.”

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Vansa
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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@Cosmos_Moon #ThankfulThursday
Sorry for the late post!Thanks for the tag, genuinely thought provoking-I find this quote very moving and beautiful,from a really compelling book with memorable characters.Is it the first of its kind where a central event connects disparate characters?
1.Constant vigilance!Constant worry about my parents.
2.Being at my parents house and I am thankful everyday when all my loved ones are healthy.

Cosmos_Moon_River Wow, great quote 💚 it gave me some feels... hope we‘re all back to normal soon. Enjoy your time with your parents. 4y
10 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Mehso-so

I have been thinking about how to rate this book a couple of days. I decided that what I mostly liked about it was the concept, describing the lives of the 5 people who fell off the bridge. Other than that, I did not particularly like the people (not wishing them to die) and did not feel that there was any closure. I‘ll leave it at that. Blah ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Schwifty
Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

Five residents of Lima, Peru and its environs fall to their deaths when a bridge collapses on which they‘d been traveling. Brother Juniper of the Franciscan order, methodically analyzing each of their lives to determine why these particular souls should befall such a tragedy, encounters no such overriding reason for their fate. “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

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Ellen_C
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

Did you read this one in high school? It‘s definitely worth a re-read, especially these days. Five people died in an “act of God.” Why them? Brother Juniper tries to use the scientific method to demonstrate God‘s plan, but as we read about each of the victims, we discover what the real meaning of life it. Written in 1927 (Pulitzer winner 1928), its message is timeless. https://cannonballread.com/2020/08/the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey-elcicco/

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Blueberry
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Eggs Gorgeous!! 4y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
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umbrellagirl
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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hriordan
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

This book is a masterpiece. It explores love in such a deep and meaningful way, exploring different types from mother-daughter love, to brotherly love, to romantic love. In every instance, deep characters are built to where you can really see why they do what they do. This book disguised itself as a theological pondering of death but is so much more than that simple preface. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

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Jerdencon
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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So I forgot I still had this to read for #lmpbc roind 3 and just saw it today - hope you don't mind if I send it back next week because I really want to read it! @Wannabe_Quijote But if you need it back, I'll drop it in the mail this week. 😀

Wannabe_Quijote Take your time! 6y
50 likes1 comment
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mariaku21
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

What an interesting set of character vignettes to read. Really glad this one came my way to read.

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Blaire
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Waiting for school to get out. Enjoying rereading this classic. #classics #reread #rainyday

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Gayle
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder

For a journey into the psyche of each character leading to a thought provoking conclusion, I really enjoyed this classic that I missed in my college days! Well worth your time if you ever wonder why life turns out as it does...

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Wannabe_Quijote
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Hour 33: Under the Radar #24in48 @24in48

Most people know #Wilder from #OurTown. But this one is just as good, if not better. It won a #pulitzer (one of Wilder‘s 3!), is set in #Peru, and has the humor and humanity that Wilder is known for.

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Wannabe_Quijote
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

Absolutely loved this one!!

17 likes1 stack add
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Wannabe_Quijote
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Wannabe_Quijote
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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TheRomantiCate
Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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April 17: #AprilBookishMadness#BookishBirthdays; I couldn‘t remember any standouts from my books so I went with author/playwright Thornton Wilder...

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theVespiQueen
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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When once we were just an "insane vision" #women #readingwomen #womenempowerment #classics

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theVespiQueen
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Been looking for this book for ages and now I finally got hold of a copy ❤ first chapters and it has so much feels already. This classic is really superb. #classics

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Jas16
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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For today‘s #novemberbythenumbers I am choosing this book published in 1927. I have read this one twice and know I will read it again.

58 likes3 stack adds
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twohectobooks
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

A book I wasn‘t sure how much I liked until the very end. The story of five people who die in a bridge collapse: who they are, how they got there, and how they‘re remembered afterward. A quick and easy read with lots to chew on.

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RealBooks4ever
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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This book is not only powerful, its flawless in my humble opinion. #acityinthetitle #uncannyoctober

RealLifeReading Keep meaning to read this! 7y
RealBooks4ever @RealLifeReading It is SO good!! 💜 7y
30 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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Snakes6atx
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

The writing is a bit more formal than I prefer but this one made me think. Planning to pick up some more Wilder!

BookishMarginalia Gorgeous kitty! 8y
9 likes1 comment
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readtheworld
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Thornton Wilder would have been 120 years old today. Celebrate his birthday with his most famous novel:

https://readtheworld.org/2015/11/03/the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey-by-thornton-wilde...

#thorntonwilder #authorbirthday #happymonday #readingtime #oliveedition

101 likes6 stack adds
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merelybookish
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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For today's reading challenge, a book I know I read for a class, but about which I could tell you nothing. I do know there is a bridge. 😜
#lyricalapril @Cinfhen

Cinfhen At least you remembered the bridge 😂😂😂😂 8y
merelybookish @Cinfhen yes. I think it breaks and people die.😮 But don't quote me on that. 😉 8y
Cinfhen Haha 😂 spoiler alert 🚨 !!!! 8y
Lmstraubie I'm so glad I'm not the only one!! 8y
38 likes4 comments
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AAdamson
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Just beginning this book for book group.

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HauntedOrchid
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

This was a really interesting book; as well as a, dare I say, fascinating look into tragedy, and how it affects people.

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HauntedOrchid
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Decided to make The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder my first book of the year.

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GoneFishing
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder

The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.

Readingrobin Another lovely quote from a classic I haven't read! 8y
myellenbee It's such a good book. I first read it in Spanish in high school and a couple of times in English. 8y
40 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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HotCocoaReads
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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Pickpick

Four stories in one that interconnect in several ways. Brother Juniper is trying to make sense of the tragedy of the bridge that fell and the five victims of it. He tells their stories beautifully, trying to figure out if there was some method or rhyme/reason why they died. A sad little story that breaks your heart in many ways. The writing was slow and thoughtful and melancholy. Beautiful book.

SusanInTiburon Beautiful. 8y
13 likes1 stack add1 comment
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HotCocoaReads
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.

14 likes3 stack adds
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HotCocoaReads
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder
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There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.

11 likes1 stack add
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LoriBeth
The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder

There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.