Can We Talk 2

The Bridges of Madison County

         I finally got around to reading this 1992 novel. It was a best seller in 1993 and made into a hit movie in 1995. I'm a little late to the show. I did see the movie and thought it was okay. However, the book was much more engaging. Okay, yes, I teared up a few times. I think there is something about it with which most people can connect, even if they disapprove of the forbidden love.

         First, on reading the book, I don't picture Streep or Eastwood. Francesca is a plain woman, slight due to genetics, hard work as a farm wife, and eating home grown, home cooked natural foods. I picture her a little shorter, sturdy from working hard not working out, small boned, and darker skin. She was first generation Italian. The guy, Robert, is tall, but maybe not Eastwood tall, and certainly smaller than Eastwood. He's a vegan, lean from not eating regularly, climbing mountains, camping out. You know, the rugged outdoors type, tanned and hardened. She was about 45, so her dark hair would have had some grays. He was about 52, and his hair was gray and long. Hippies weren't around quite yet, at least not in rural Iowa.

         If you don't like romances, this is not the book to read. It really isn't about bridges. It really is fiction, made to appear as a fictionalized true story. The author, Robert James Waller, involves himself in the story. He tells about getting the idea, doing the research, conducting interviews, and the usual things with which writers can identify. This lends an air of authenticity to the story. He's even a photographer himself, so he adds a lot of detail about his character who is also a photographer.

         People will identify with unfulfilled dreams, lost passions, too comfortable marriages, being in a rut. Even the traveling life of a world photographer gets too routine. But there's this special spark, this romance, between two lonely people who weren't looking for love. Their intensity and sensitivity to others is powerful. "I want to feel like that" is what you think after finishing the book. I want that magic in my life.

         I've got to see the movie again. Maybe it went over my head. Or maybe it just fell short of the book. Books usually are better than the movie, like every Nicholas Spark book that's been made into a movie. Maybe that's the case here.