The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Wilder, Thornton
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- Minor wear; glassine lightly sunned and chipped; slight rubbing and wear to slipcase. Very good. SJK-414
- Seller
-
Addison, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Signed by the illustrator.
Quarto. 137pp. Illustrated in color by Jean Charlot. Publisher's black cloth over beige pictorial cloth boards, stamped in gilt to spine, front cover in gilt and black, original glassine dust wrapper. Housed in original card slipcase. Publisher's newsletter laid-in.
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Synopsis
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who has witnessed the tragic accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Reviews
We all have a worldview (don't we?) that influences just about everything we encounter. Literature is no exception. Perhaps that is why I thought the main point of Thornton Wilder's outstanding The Bridge of San Luis Rey was so obvious.In many of the reviews I've read, many have stated that Wilder leaves the main conclusion up to the reader. I must disagree. The final line, so quoted by many of the reviewers, makes it all very clear to me. "All those impulses of love return to the love that made them." Perhaps, had Wilder capitalized the second "love" more would have drawn the same conclusion as I. That love is, of course, the love of the Father. This short book is rooted in Christian realism -- summed up in that final page. Life and God's ways as they pertain to life, are a mystery to the believer. Seemingly saintly people die far too early in inexplicable circumstances-- a bridge that has lasted for centuries one day breaks under the weight of an old woman, a cripple, an old man, a young girl, and a young man. But the "why" is not for us to know. We all must live in the comfort that it is His will that reigns, not ours, and that the love which sustained us in this life will see us to the next. Perhaps Brother Juniper found his answer. I know I recognized mine.
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Details
- Bookseller
- InkQ Rare Books LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 414
- Title
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- Author
- Wilder, Thornton
- Book Condition
- Used - Minor wear; glassine lightly sunned and chipped; slight rubbing and wear to slipcase. Very good. SJK-414
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Keywords
- Fiction, Novels, Illustrated
Terms of Sale
InkQ Rare Books LLC
About the Seller
InkQ Rare Books LLC
About InkQ Rare Books LLC
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Laid-in
- "Laid In" indicates that there is something which is included with, but not attached to the book, such as a sheet of paper. The...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....