I listened to The Bridges of Madison County this past weekend, and was left with very mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s a nice, well-paced, evocatively written piece of fiction with some wonderful characters. It’s a treat to get to know Richard Kincaid and Francesca Johnson, and to see their strengths and weaknesses as individuals. On the other hand, the portrayal of marriage as something less meaningful than being swept off one’s feet by a brief, passionate encounter grows tiresome when it’s so oft repeated. Just for a change of pace I’d like to read of a soul-expanding delightful romance between a husband and wife. (Baroness Orczy did a wonderful job of this in The Scarlet Pimpernel, and threw in some great swashbuckling too. Gotta love the classics.)