Rating:  Summary: An appalling book Review: This is a terrible book. An insulting book. A dangerous book. It is so bad, so BAD. that it should have been sealed in foil like that dirty book Madonna put out a few years ago that showed pictures of her doing, uh, stuff. Or at least put on one of those "Parental Advisory" labels that frightened parents want plastered all over rap albums. I usually don't scare so easy, but his book shouldn't be left out for idle shoppers to flip through. Don't retailers have any consideration for their customers anymore?So why is this book so bad? You might as well as, why is the ocean so wet? The book is filled with horrors aplenty. I'm not talking about the plot, hokey as it is. Hunky wandering stranger has affair with lonely neglected housewife. A good writer could do something with this, if he/she really wanted to. Waller is not a good writer. He is not a bad writer. He is the worst writer ever. Since the day when Sumerians first scratched symbols on clay tablets there has not been a more banal, insipid, nauseating writer than this guy. To say that he can't write is incorrect. Oh, he can write. He knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote this dreck. He's not like those thousands of monkeys hammering away at typewriters for all eternity trying to write the complete works of Shakespeare. No, Waller actually had the INTENT to write this abomination. There are paragraphs in this book too horrible to mention, sentences that will leaving you gasping and grabbing blindly for something sturdy to cling to. The sheer incompetence is awesome to behold. I can't give examples of how bad it is because I would end up transcribing the entire book. How he was able to write this book without becoming becoming paralyzed with shame is beyond me. Well, if you have no shame... And believe me, I know all about awful writing. I was a writing major and went through 3 fiction workshops full of oblivious and overconfident twentysomethings (I was one of them). I have read some truly abysmal crap in my day. And if you think I'm dissing this book after flipping through a few pages, oh no, no no no. I was dating a young lady and we went over her place to watch a movie (she rented "It Could Happen to You", featuring the appalling Rosie Perez. But that's a review for another day). Entering her place my eyes were drawn to her coffee table as though there was a bloated corpse lying on it. It was the book. I made a kind of shrieking noise, and it took my friend some time to coax me from under her dining room table, where I was of course cowering in terror. She told me that this was her FAVORITE book of all time and that I just HAD to read it. Caving in to a woman yet again I did as I was told. I read the whole thing in one sitting, with an expression on my face that you'd expect to see on someone who just saw a passenger train derail. When I returned the book my friend asked, "Did you cry at the end?" Oh, I cried, I cried. We broke up shorty after that (actually, about 8 seconds after that). But I'm pretty sure that the girl I just married read and loved "BMC". And that scares me. Any editor with a brain larger than a pecan could see that this book was garbage. Yet some big publisher bought it, marketed the heck out of it, and made it into one of the most popular books OF ALL TIME. Waller wrote like 6 more books and did an album and all sorts of horrid things thanks to this book. Doesn't anyone else see that this is evil? How many good books about love and loss went unread because millions were burdened with this book. All that waste, all that senseless waste...I can't bear to think about it.
Rating:  Summary: The best book I've read in a looong time Review: The best book I've read in a looong time
Rating:  Summary: A story that should move everyone Review: One of the best books out there in terms of emotions. One can't help but be moved by this love story. One must be open-minded to appreciate the simple truths that float throughout this wonderful story. Buy this book and let yourself be captured by the magic and emotion that develops with every word.
Rating:  Summary: If there's a worse book in the world, I haven't read it Review: A truly wretched book that reduces romance to a jumble of poorly-written cliches. The writing is so astoundingly awful that it is often quite funny, sounding like a prizewinning entry in one of those Bad Writing contests. The unintentional hilarity is the book's only asset; otherwise, it's a sugar-frosted turd. If you enjoy reading Harlequin Romances while listening to "You Light Up My Life" played on a Hammond organ, then "Bridges" might be for you. On the other hand, if you've ever found pleasure in a book written by a competent author, approach "Bridges" in the same way you'd watch "Plan 9 From Outer Space."
Rating:  Summary: What is all the hype about? Review: I read this book because I was tired of seeing it all over the place and assumed that there was something there. I closed it 2 hours later, having finished it in that amount of time, wondering how many poor trees had to die to print this soap opera. Children find out that their mother had an extra-marital affair on their father while they were at a country fair, having left her behind to pick up a wandering photojournalist and they find the romance worthy of celebrating? Yeah! That is reality for you. I am sure there are loads of adult children hoping they found out that their mother was living a lie their entire lives! Sorry, but I still regret wasting the time on this book. And I won't see the movie, even on video, because I have already wasted enough time on this sentimental fantasy. I would rather read a Harlequin novel. At least then I would have been forewarned and without excuse for wasting my time.
Rating:  Summary: It was ok Review: I was given this book by a trusted friend as a must read. One saving grace is it is short you gotta give it that. The book wasn't bad ok, but I just didn't see what was so great about it. A woman being unfaithful to her husband and hiding it from her family until she dies to be reunited with him in death even though they only knew each other for what a few days? Give me a break. Is that supposed to be romantic or tragic? I guess the idea was it was supposed to be both, I just didn't get it. My wife on the other hand loved the book. She thouroughly enjoyed it just like the person who recommended it to me. Maybe I am just not a romantic.
Rating:  Summary: Amazing love story Review: This book moves me every time I read it. It really touches the soul. An amazing story of a 4 day love affair that lasts a lifetime between two people whom any reader can truly connect. Waller puts romance into poetry and song with this book.
Rating:  Summary: Not worth all the hype Review: This book was a huge fad when it first was published. It was not worth the hype. I agree with the reader below that the plot was contrived. I didn't find the characters all that sympathetic, but then I don't much like stories that romanticize adultery. However, I disagree in that I didn't think this book was all that well-written. The prose was too flowery and included some ridiculously cliched metaphors. Go ahead and read it if you really want to, but I'd suggest the paperback (it won't cost much) or better yet, just check it out of your local library.
Rating:  Summary: Top 10 Love Stories of All Time Review: If you find adultery offensive, don't read this book. If you like Cinderella fairy tales, this is not for you. If you are looking for intellectual discussions, don't waste your time. But if you want to experience the joy and intensity of true love between two people, you have to read this book! I have tasted such love once and this book describes many similar feelings (and even words) I experienced. Tired of Hollywood's frequent portrayal of men who seem to be only interested in "scoring" women, I applaud Waller's effort in depicting another kind of masculinity, rare but real, who has a genuine desire to find and cultivate the kindred spirit in his life. Whether you are a man or woman, in love or out of love, you will find this uplifting story touch your soul and giving you hope.
Rating:  Summary: Read something else. Review: Here's my interpretation: This book is about two people who have hot sex for one week and then spend the rest of their lives broken hearted over one another. PLEASE! I felt pity for them, not sorrow or anything else. Francesa doesn't even try to put the spark back into her marriage, and Robert becomes celibate even though he's had a lot of one night stands? Ugh! In real life this would have been long forgotten. This book makes a whole lot of noise over nothing. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it just got worse. Its obvious the author knows how to write well, its just too bad he had to waste it on such a lame plot. Do yourself a favor and read something else.
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