The Bridges of Madison County

A bestseller novel from Robert James Waller with about twelve million sold copies according
to the internet. To give you an idea: ‘The Hobbit’ had more than one hundred million copies,
‘The Kite Runner’ had only ten million sold copies. Asking ten people about this title, it
turned out eight of them had never heard of it. What about you? Perhaps you already heard
it from a friend who told you he or she once had to read it for school and thought it was
boring, or from a girl swooning at the memory of Clint Eastwood dancing with Meryl Streep in
the film adaptation. Which could make you slightly hesitant when it comes to reading it
yourself. What we want to show you with this article is that a good novel or film isn’t
necessarily a very spectacular one about something extraordinary. The story of two people
falling in love can be enough to leave an impression.

Now what is the book about? It’s the story of two people, Robert Kincaid and Francesca
Johnson, meeting on a summer day. Francesca’s husband and two children have just left for
the cattle market, and she will be alone for four days. Robert stops by Francesca’s house -
Madison County, Iowa - to ask in which direction he should go to get through a covered
bridge. As he earns a living being a photographer for National Geographic, his presence in
Iowa is exclusively professional. Until (of course) the moment Francesca comes into his car
to show him the way. Starting a conversation, Robert and Francesca find themselves hardly
able to part that afternoon. As their love increases, so does the feeling of despair: though
what they have is a ‘the kind of certainty that comes only once, and never again, no matter
how many lifetimes you live’, Francesca will not leave her family to go along with the
photographer. At the end of those four days, Robert leaves and Richard - the husband – and
the children return to their home, to Francesca.
Flipping through the pages of the book in search for the beginning of the actual text, the first
thing you see is the little chapter, actually more a prologue, called ‘Beginning’. Reading this
is quite confusing, because the author makes it look as if this story is non-fiction, talking
about a meeting with Francesca’s children after her death where they tell him about the
diaries she kept, revealing the content of this novel. The bit of credibility that this preface
adds to the story you are about to read, is not of that kind that you don’t go over it lightly,
nor do you forget the story too easily.
The main difference between the novel and the film adaptation is the point of view. The film
is nearly all about Francesca’s experience, while the book gives more attention to Robert’s
feelings during his visit to Iowa. The presence of Francesca’s children, Carolyn and Michael,
is also much stronger in the films, and carries the story, brings it to you. All these differences
are with no doubt a choice of the producer, Clint Eastwood, who confirmed this in an
interview with Tony Macklin: “I just do what I feel I should be doing. […] But I go away from
the book. I don't want to get as exacting as that. I like it when the audience can play around
with it.”
This being said the final question remains: what is it that makes the book a bestseller? The
theme, love, isn’t very original. But looking further, there’s a lot more behind the romance,
especially when it becomes clearer that the two lovers cannot stay together.
Francesca’s words: “What Robert and I had, couldn’t continue when we were
together; what Richard and I shared, would vanish if we went apart” are
not the words of a plain housewife, but words of a sensible woman who
not only thinks about herself. She stays a home because Richard wouldn’t
understand, he would be spoken of, laughed at, and so would her children
and they’d hate her for it. She herself would, if she would leave with him,
turn into another woman than she’s now because of the constant thought
of her responsibilities and her ‘own selfish wanting of you’. The
unadorned way of writing down these torn feelings, the passion, anger,
sorrow, the way of understanding the characters and let them speak for
themselves, is certainly another quality that makes the book more
than worth reading.
So, what to conclude of this film about love, about adultery?
Francesca never regretted her affair. Without, she probably
wouldn’t have endured life on the farm for the rest of her life. We can say that, in a way, the
memory of love gave her the strength to carry on. But did it make her happy? We can always
ask ourselves: “What if she had never met him? What if she had fled with him? What if…“
I think it did make them happy. Finding your soul mate, only to lose him/her again after four
days is a cruel stroke of fate, but I think it’s worth it. That’s why this novel and film deeply
impressed me. I can only hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sources:

• The book and film adaptation

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

• http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/47/clint.php

• Picture behind text:

http://www.tvkrant.nl/index.php?id=10333

Book: The bridges of Madison county

A bestseller novel from Robert James Waller with about twelve million sold copies according
to the internet. To give you an idea: ‘The Kite Runner’ had only ten million sold copies. The
story line is quite simple at first sight: Francesca, a housewife from Iowa, falls in love with a
photographer, Robert Kincaid, but Francesca is already married and they part after four
days. Looking further though, there’s a lot more behind the romance, especially when it
becomes clearer that the two lovers cannot stay together. The unadorned way of writing
down these torn feelings, the passion and despair, is certainly a quality that makes the book
more than worth reading.

Film: The bridges of Madison county

The main difference between the novel and the film adaptation is the point of view. The film
is nearly all about Francesca’s experience, while the book gives more attention to Robert’s
feelings during his visit to Iowa. The presence of Francesca’s children, Carolyn and Michael,
is also much stronger in the film and makes it in a way more comprehensible: together with
you, they discover their mother’s affair and they themselves evolve while reading it. Finding
a soul mate, only to give him up after four days because of the husband and children she
loves impressed them, as it deeply impressed me. I can only hope you enjoy it as much as I
do.