Richard Russo

Add a comment with your reflections on this author.

5 comments:

Madeleine (Brown) said...

Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winner for Empire Falls (one of my favorites), is no shabby pick. His characters and themes repeat often in his novels, creating common patterns and connections within and between all of his books. If you know what to look for in the very beginning, this paper will be the best and most supported paper you have ever written. That Old Cape Magic and Straight Man were two of my favorites because they interrupted Russo’s repetitive cycle of characters and introduced new insight about their personalities. Start drawing your connections early! Don’t waste your time taking notes on motifs or really abstract theories: take note of the repeating quirks of the big characters and their relationships because it’s a central focus throughout his novels. All in all, I would say as long as you can stay focused on drawing conclusions and don’t get stressed out by his characters, Russo is a great pick for you.

Drew (Brown) said...

I loved Richard Russo! I chose him because both of my parents recommended him and I couldn’t have been happier that I did. His books are decently long, about 400+ pages each and they are not the most fast-moving books. However the language is easy to understand and the plot is fairly interesting. My personal favorite is Bridge of Sighs, which, like all Russo’s novels, deals with life in a rural Blue-collar town. Make sure that you make detailed inferences right off the bat though because even though his language is easy, he buries a lot of themes and connections deep in the text. But most of all have fun with discovering the themes and characters in his novels! He is a great choice and makes for a fun, strong paper!

Jack (Maxwell) said...

Richard Russo is a great choice! He wrote in a style that I found enjoyable and often uses humor to energize his plots, even though they do not need much. The beginnings of his novels can be a bit slow, but those lengthy openings are necessary to set the scene. His settings are all in rural, blue collar towns, which may seem boring, but it allows Russo to spend more time developing his characters, which helps in writing a strong paper. My favorite of his novels is Empire Falls. In this novel, Russo integrates exciting plot with substantial character development to make it a great read. Overall, my best piece of advice for readers interested in Russo is to not be discouraged by the seemingly boring settings or plots. He intertwines his characters in an intriguing way that makes his stories wonderful to read and write about.

Anonymous said...

I loved reading Richard Russo and found his books enjoyable and intriguing. While his books touch on many serious topics, he conveys them in an interesting way with some comedic elements. While his books were enjoyable, there were times where I found the plot development a bit slow. Russo spends a lot of time going into deep detail to describe the setting, different characters, and the plot. However, while this can be boring, it is essential to his books. I read the books Mohawk, Empire Falls, and Bridge of Sighs. All of these books take place in rural, blue-collar work environments. If you choose Russo as your author, I would recommend that you read all parts of the book thoroughly and draw connections early in his books. Even when the book may seem boring, these parts can be essential to character and plot development. Overall, Richard Russo is a great choice, and when you look deep into his books and writing, it can make for a very strong essay.

Anonymous said...

Richard Russo is a great option for someone willing to read stories which are mainly character based. His analysis of the challenges and choices of common people is breathtaking in its complexity and realism. I would say that the book anyone who chooses Russo must read would be Empire Falls, as I believe it is his best written book, mainly because of the fact that everything Russo writes in that novel is connected to the larger themes in the novel. Russo’s character development is interesting and engaging, even though sometimes his plotlines border on the somewhat bland or commonplace. In general, my personal recommendation for anyone choosing Russo as an author would be view his books in larger terms. In other words, Russo builds his themes through many small scenes or characters, so connecting such thematic instances is essential.

American Author Thesis

Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.

Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.