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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Incredibly tragic and beautifully written. Everyone with parents needs to read this book.
I tried reading this years ago and DNFd it. I gave it another swirl with the audio, and though I found it more interesting this time around, I don't think it's Franzen's strongest work and wouldn't necessarily recommend it, unless you love reading about characters you hate and have zero sympathy for. Which, let's be real, can sometimes be a vibe. Franzen is a very talented and intelligent author - Freedom, Purity, and The Crossroads are all fantastic, and all feature characters that garner very little sympathy. I'm glad I gave this another try and saw it through (got over "the hump" chip mentions in his screenplay which I have to wonder was intentional as this book also had a hump to get over), but this won't make it into my top 10 reads for the year.
Honestly I read over 100 pages of this book and then put it down. I read his second book "freedom" and very much enjoyed it. I was surprised this book didn't work for me. The characters weren't like-able in my point of view and I really didn't care about what was going to happen to them. Done.
I loved the writing and will check out other J. Franzen novels. The characters were all unlikeable, almost to a cartoonish level, which I found entertaining. I wasn't prepared for the ending to hit me so emotionally, but my father died of a disease very similar to Alfred's. Even after ten years, it was difficult to be reminded of the torture of dementia.
I may have overlooked a few flaws in this book because Franzen is so damn good with the written word, but who cares? It's the best novel I've read in a long time. None of the characters is particularly likeable, but I ended up loving them all because of Franzen's wordsmithing. Whether it was Chip shopliftting a frozen salmon in his underwear or Alfred lifting his sleeping son from the uneaten meal of revenge, scene after scene made me want to laugh and cry. All I can say is, thank goodness for dysfunctional families in American novels.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
didn’t end up hating everyone so that’s a win to me
I read Freedom before this which is also critically acclaimed and enjoyed it. I found the characters in this novel more tragic and detestable at times. As the novel progressed my reading pace increased and I had sympathy for the entire family.