Whether you are rediscovering Wilder’s work or entering his world for the first time, you are joining thousands of his readers in exploring the fundamental meaning of human existence.Īt first glance, these two stories may appear to be worlds apart. They are so well known, in fact, that we easily take them for granted. Because they have been widely read or performed abroad, this novel and play are not only American classics but classics of world literature as well. Both won Pulitzer Prizes, and neither has ever been out of print. Thornton Wilder’s novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and his stage drama Our Town (1938) have enjoyed enormous success since the moment they first appeared. Only after contemplating these timeless stories side by side do we begin to discover the signature they share: an appreciation for life’s preciousness in the shadow of eternity. One is about the search for meaning after a fatal bridge collapse in Peru, the other about life in a small New Hampshire town. At first glance, his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and his play Our Town may appear to have little in common. This is certainly true of Thornton Wilder. But to know a writer, one book is almost never enough. To know a book, you have only to read it closely.
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