Rating: 
Summary: Masterful and meaningful
Review: Subtle and oddly sweet, this overlooked work is all the more powerful for its economy. Run through with touches of the always-surprising magical realism which appears in Wilder's more fabulist works, it showcases his trademark sympathy for characters while never indulging in excessive sentiment. The story's simple retelling of five lost lives resonates with a complex appreciation for the richness of both life and art.
Rating: 
Summary: Uninteresting
Review: In this book a bridge collapses in Peru. Five people lost their lives. This is the story of their lives. Aside from that this book didn't make much sense to me. I found it dull and often uniteresting. The only decent part, was the story of the twins, Manuel and Esteban. I really don't recommend reading this book. However, if you are a Wilder fan or you want to read a classic piece of literature pick up this book.
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Summary: What do a bridge in San Luis Rey and the WTC have in common?
Review: They both fell; and the point of this book is to make an attempt to answer the question "Why?".EVERYONE who has ever struggled with the "Why?" questions should read this book. The "tower" mentioned in the book's prologue is a reference to the Tower of Siloam, whose fall is recorded in Luke 13.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Review: I read this book over summer in a matter of days. I am still trying to understand it now. I thought the book was confusing but still interesting when I did get pulled into the stories of the 5 victims. I think it is a book that should be taught and not just read. You need to have an appreciation for this book, that I obviously have not aquired yet. This book would be better for middle age adults, but kids could give it a try if they are prepared to be thoroughly lost in a novel. Who knows, some people may love this book and say it is the best ever written. But in my opinion, I do not see the point it is trying to make at all.
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Summary: A few Questions
Review: While I enjoyed the Bridge of San Luis Rey, I do have a good deal of questions concerning it. For instance, many people have come to the exact opposite conclusion I came to by the end of the book. These people state that Wilder states that there is no plan from God that determines the fate of people and it is ridiculous to think such. However, that is drawn solely from Brother Juniper's findings, and Juniper is not given the knowledge we are given in the novel and therefore comes, in my mind to an incorrect assumption. For instance, no one but God can know anything about the conversions that each character has before his or her death- these are very important to the story. Nor could Juniper see the effect the deaths would have upon the survivors (some say this is Wilder inserting hope into the ending of the novel- I think it is proving part of God's divine plan). Thus my conclusion was that God does have a divine plan for the world- it is not just hopeless chaos- however, humans, no matter how driven to prove it can and will never be privied to God's guiding hand. I obviously do not know if I read to far into it, and in doing missed the point- because I can see relevance in the other theory, though I don't like the message.
Rating:
Summary: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Review: The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a short novel, and in general it reads pretty well. I guess i disagree with others who state that it is not the conclusion the book reaches, but rather the stories of the five people before the conclusion. For me, the stories of these people at times did drag, however, Wilder does an excellent job tying it in at the conclusion of the novel. Throughout the book you wonder how Wilder will finish off the novel, proof that it was God's plan to take these five, and until the last 5 pages, you are left wondering. However, i believe if you look back at all five characters and the people they left behind, God's plan is definetly revealed. The book is short, insightful and well written- whats not to like.
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Summary: The Hand of God
Review: Why does tragedy strike certain person while othres are spared? Does God have a master plan that we call fate? Brother Juniper attempts to determine why a certain five people are fated to die when a footbridhe collapses in 18th century Peru. By attempting to answer these questions, Brother Juniper is branded a heretic and is put to death. The greatness of this novel is not in the conclusions it draws but of the masterful retelling of the lives of the five victims and their mourners. If any lesson is to be learned it is in the lessons that are learned by those who mourn the victims the most.
Rating: 
Summary: Life is chaos.
Review: When you hear in the news that a plane has crashed, killing hundreds of people, do you wonder about your fortune not to have been on board? Or when you drive by a car accident on the highway, does it occur to you that if you had been only a few minutes earlier, you might have been involved in the wreck? "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" is a novel that wonders about these things -- whether our lives are governed by the randomness of fate or whether we "deserve" what happens to us. It is the story of five people in Peru who, one day, are crossing a rope-and-plank bridge which suddenly collapses, spilling them into a chasm. A studious monk named Brother Juniper witnesses the catastrophe and determines to learn about the lives of the victims and find out whether they were "chosen" for this fate or whether it was just a matter of innocently being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The victims are a noblewoman named the Marquesa de Montemayor, who was returning from a shrine where she was praying for her pregnant daughter; the Marquesa's orphaned and loyal maid Pepita; Esteban, a suicidal young man who was despondent over the recent death of his twin brother; a man called Uncle Pio, who liked to nurture his interest in women, Spanish literature, and drama; and a little boy in Uncle Pio's care named Don Jaime. All these people's lives were connected in some way to a vampish actress named Camila Perichole, whose presence in the novel provides links between the characters and events. Brother Juniper tries but fails to correlate the lives these people led with their deaths. Unable to conclude that God unconditionally punishes all sinners and rewards all saints, he is promptly burned as a heretic. He smiles as he dies, knowing that his own death ironically refutes the beliefs of his accusers.
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Summary: Very insightful!
Review: i think that this novel by Thorton Wilder is a specticle within itself! i am a student at Hawker college, and normally i hate reading novels. this one looked boring, but i had to read it for english. i have read it 4 times and i have bought it for myself. I find Wilder one of the best author's in the world! The way he states what happens then how he leaves the rest up to us to make our own conclusion is wonderful! it doesn't give you an answer it asks you a question. i think that his compassion and love that he demonstrates in this novel is memorable!
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Summary: A Dance Around the Question of the Role of God
Review: Wilder's slender masterpiece is one of those delicious books that takes a central philosophic question and evenly divides the answer: Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But if it were only that, it would be pretty boring. Luckily, in telling the intertwining tales of the people who fell with the bridge on that fateful day, Wilder shows an exquisite delicacy of touch, very close to poetic, and a fine sense of where to elaborate in a story and where to simply summarize (would that many of our best authors today show that sense and not just churn out the pages). Also remarkable is Wilder's ability to be evocative. One gets a real sense of Lima, Peru, in the early 18th Century, the clear mornings, the quiet nights, and without all the unattractive bedbugs of an author like Saramago. No matter what your predilection is for fiction, you will not fail to be touched by "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."
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