This story (if you can call it a story) is a highly descriptive, multi-layered dream state of a man laying in a coma. There are three facets of the dream:
A character study of the person in the coma. His open relationship with his true love Andrea is a key element.
A fantasy about an amnesiac living on a gigantic bridge.
A fantasy about a barbarian complete with an alterego he calls a familiar.
The amnesiac and the barbarian appear to be deep-seated elements of the main character . Halfway through reading this book I was reminded of reading Virginia Wolfe's novel To the Lighthouse. In both books I kept waiting for drama, for something to happen. I have never been big on novels that are essentially anecdotal character studies and/or rely on brilliant descriptive passages. If you like that type of book, The Bridge is right up there with the best of them.