A tornado at the club: On the majesty of Evan S. Connell's "Bridge" novels

BY EDWARD SCHWARZSCHILD

When I heard that Evan S. Connell died last week at the age of 88 what I first remembered was a tornado bearing down on a country club in Kansas City. It?s a tour-de-force scene, one of many, from "Mrs. Bridge," Connell?s 1959 debut novel.?

The Bridges, India and Walter, are at their club to celebrate India?s 48^th birthday. Walter tells her this celebration will continue because he has made arrangements for them to travel to Europe for six weeks.? He?d said he would take her to Europe before they married more than twenty years ago and now he is proving himself true to his word.?

That?s when the weather turns bad, very bad: It was the season for tornados, and before much longer it had become evident that one was approaching.?Eventually, the other diners, including the mayor, leave their tables to take shelter in the basement. Only the Bridges and a worried steward remain.? India has misgivings but stays put.
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She saw a metal chair go skidding off the porch as though someone were pulling it away with a rope.
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?Goodness, this is?a storm,? said Mrs. Bridge.? ?Do you think we should go to the basement??
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But Mr. Bridge is one obstinate yet lovable bastard and he intends to finish his meal.? He?d also like some more butter for his steak. He doesn?t need to ask. Mrs. Bridge knows what he wants.

?Well, I?ll steal some from the next table,? said Mrs. Bridge.? ?I don?t suppose anyone will mind.?
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At four and a half pages, ?Tornado at the Club? is one of the longest of the 117 sections that make up "Mrs. Bridge." Should these sections be called chapters? All I know is?you won?t be able to stop reading them. It?s amazing?how efficiently Connell brings the Bridges to life. Connell makes you wonder why all novels aren?t written this way.

As the tornado approached the country club Mrs. Bridge remained seated across the table from her husband. She listened to the curious grunting and snuffling of the storm; although she had never been in the path of a tornado before, she knew this must be it, this must be the sound it made?the hooting, sucking roar of the vacuum. Now that it was so close it reminded her of a pig rooting on the terrace.

It?s a particular moment and, of course, it illuminates a great deal about life in the Midwest in the first half of the twentieth century. But it?s also not difficult to find the universal here. With our cars and our precious, ever-updating devices, aren?t so many of us sitting in the country club right now, reaching for more butter, defying the roar of the tornado?
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It did not occur to Mrs. Bridge to leave her husband and run to the basement. She had been brought up to believe without question that when a woman married she was married for the rest of her life and was meant to remain with her husband wherever he was, and under all circumstances, unless he directed her otherwise.? She wished he would not be so obstinate; she wished he would behave like everyone else, but she was not particularly frightened. For nearly a quarter of a century she had done as he told her, and what he had said would not occur had not occurred. Why, then, should she not believe him now?
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The tornado spares the club, the diners emerge from the basement to resume their meals, and Walter enjoys his small triumph.? But another storm awaits the Bridges in Europe; World War II will force them home much earlier than planned.
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Yes, India and Walter were played by Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman in a fine Merchant-Ivory production, but that?s not the reason they endure. In the "Bridge" novels ("Mr. Bridge" was published in 1969), Connell reminds us that shared lives are not the same lives; with enormous dignity and care he allows us to see India, Walter, their three children, and their friends and acquaintances as fascinating, deeply flawed individuals. They continue to haunt us because on page after page Connell magically reveals the discrete moments that make and unmake their lives; the Bridges are never grander or lesser than human beings actually are.
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In addition to the Bridge novels, Connell published at least 16 other books ? including fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.? Few people I know have read all of them.? I certainly haven?t.? But everyone I know who has read "Mrs. Bridge" and "Mr. Bridge" looks forward to reading more work by Evan S. Connell.
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Schwarzschild is the author of "Responsible Men," a novel, and "The Family Diamond," a collection of short stories.

(Photo: Associated Press)

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/blogs/~3/FvDGH8y6DxU/story01.htm

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