Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully romantic tear-jerker
Review: I must admit that I did in fact read the book after I saw the movie, and was astonished at my reaction. When I saw the movie I was crying within the first five minutes and never stopped, and at one point actually sobbing. The book same reaction. I have never been so moved by a story.
Rating: 
Summary: WORST EXCUSE FOR LITERATURE
Review: A terrible book: pretentious, sappy and just plain ol' poorly written. That this got to be such a sensation tells me only one thing: there are a lot of lonely, sickeningly romantic women out there who don't know crap when they read it. Anyone wonder why this author divorced? I don't.
Rating: 
Summary: If you need a good cry ...
Review: Francesca is torn between her expected duties as a wife andmother, and her feelings as an individual when she finally finds her one true love. As I put myself in her shoes I felt her emotional frustration in deciding whether to follow her heart or her head. I appreciated the non-cliche'd ending but boy did it make me cry!
Rating:
Summary: If you need a good cry ...
Review: Francesca is torn between her expected duties as a wife and mother, and her feelings as an individual when she finally finds her one true love. As I put myself in her shoes I felt her emotional frustration in deciding whether to follow her heart or her head. I appreciated the non-cliche'd ending but boy did it make me cry!
Rating:
Summary: The most wonderful romantic love story ever written.
Review: If you've ever experienced that magical feeling, seeingsomeone for the very first time come into a room, look up and glance into your eyes, meeting your smile with hers, you'll know what 'Bridges Of Madison County (BOMC)' is all about. That shimmering pulse of exciitement when you first touch her hand, her eyes wide open and alive with interest as you both find you've got so much in common. This four day romance will bring joy to the hearts and tears to the eyes of lovers everywhere. If you want realism read the newspaper - if you want love read BOMC! Romance is 'Billy Bob's heart to Charleen in John Deere green', romance is Reba's 'What if it's you', romance is a '57 Chevy, romance is Francesca and Robert. The movie brings Francesca and Robert to life and even with changes to the book's dialog, the scenes are deliciously moving; the joy in her face as she dashes breathless to pick up the phone call from Robert just discovering the note she had pinned earlier to Roseman bridge, the first time she has her hand on his shoulder desperately trying to end the phone call interrupting their 2nd day together, her hand desperately clutching the car handle, thinking as the lights start to change in the pouring rain, would she still have time to leap into Robert's car ahead. Alas! She should have left with him, gone to places strange and new with Robert, left Iowa, and lived and lived and lived.
Rating:
Summary: The most wonderful romantic love story ever written.
Review: If you've ever experienced that magical feeling, seeing someone for the very first time come into a room, look up and glance into your eyes, meeting your smile with hers, you'll know what 'Bridges Of Madison County (BOMC)' is all about. That shimmering pulse of exciitement when you first touch her hand, her eyes wide open and alive with interest as you both find you've got so much in common. This four day romance will bring joy to the hearts and tears to the eyes of lovers everywhere. If you want realism read the newspaper - if you want love read BOMC! Romance is 'Billy Bob's heart to Charleen in John Deere green', romance is Reba's 'What if it's you', romance is a '57 Chevy, romance is Francesca and Robert. The movie brings Francesca and Robert to life and even with changes to the book's dialog, the scenes are deliciously moving; the joy in her face as she dashes breathless to pick up the phone call from Robert just discovering the note she had pinned earlier to Roseman bridge, the first time she has her hand on his shoulder desperately trying to end the phone call interrupting their 2nd day together, her hand desperately clutching the car handle, thinking as the lights start to change in the pouring rain, would she still have time to leap into Robert's car ahead. Alas! She should have left with him, gone to places strange and new with Robert, left Iowa, and lived and lived and lived.
Rating: 
Summary: The book is not that bad!
Review: It seems that all the cynics and pseudo-intellectual types have a hard time with certain people who have enjoyed The Bridges of Madison County. I agree it's not F. Scott Fitzgerald or Tom Wolfe, but it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. The story has some merit and millions of people have enjoyed it. Not all of us read for cerebral stimulation. Some of us read for pure entertainment, and we don't care what the snobby esoteric types think. One of my friends who considers himself the "tolerant" type is very narrow minded when it comes to literature. Face it. Readers like different things, and it doesn't have to be great literature to grab someone. I liked the book and I will probably read it again.
Rating:
Summary: How did Waller sell so many copies of this?
Review: Then again, i bought it; didn't i? I bit and held on to the end to see if it was truly as flimsy as it seemed. It was.Waller spews cotton candy, but goes beyond that to trick us into buying that this is somehow based on a true story. Next time i hear Autumn Leaves i'll find myself riding the tail of a comet, poisoned with saccharine, dry heaving all the way.
Rating:
Summary: Is there a Rating lower than 0?
Review: I thought it was a very poor written book about a woman and a man she only knew for 4 days to have a relationship and be that much in love is so unrealistic did she forget that she was married supposedly her husband was nice but she just needed more please, How in the world did this book stay on the best seller list so long I know because Oprah Winfrey suggested it. Grow up America and Oprah.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but contrived and trite
Review: Obviously this book has some redeeming qualities. Otherwiseit wouldn't have sold so many copies or evoked so many reader responses here on this site. However, this book made it very hard to engage in "willing suspension of disbelief" and just enjoy the love story. As many others have said here, the circumstances of Francesca's and Robert's meeting seemed pretty contrived and their instantaneous love seemed even more so. I agree that Francesca seemed amazingly free of guilt over the whole affair. Also it's pretty hard to believe that someone as worldly as Robert could fall so completely in love with a woman who had lived in one place for 20 years and led a fairly sheltered life (as intelligent as passionate as she was supposed to be). Furthermore, the prose about their lovemaking was embarrassingly reminiscent of a Harlequin romance. Also I felt that I was continuously being bombarded with Waller's personal views. Obviously he's a vegetarian who's against overdevelopment. Sometimes I couldn't disengage from his political/sociological views enough to get back into the story. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed the book. I'm just amazed that a book I consider average has garnered such a huge following.
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