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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I will admit that Jonathan Franzen's novels can be difficult and long yet if you give up on this book in the first "story", you will be missing out on the multi layered family dynamic that oscillates from laugh out loud morbid humor to dreary boring everyday life to international psychosis. The reader must wade through the complete development of every character (my favorites were Tom and his father) only to have all the pieces of all the drama of life neatly fold up into an explanation for continued drama. Ah life... I must be getting to older to appreciate the situations of the characters and the life Franzen gives them. Bring in the hidden meaning behind the title and the "lead" character, Purity, therein the basis for dysfunction on any level in any situation. Intellectuals will be doing cartwheels with the GRE characters (primarily mothers), the international resistance and media, the man vs feminist, the environmentalism & humanitarianism vs capitalism theme....Worth devoting the time to but don't overthink it all, it's all about being pure in life, and no one is.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was a whirlwind i so thoroughly enjoyed being wound up in.
I absolutely LOVED the first 2/3, couldn't put it down! Last 1/3 was fine but not as awesome, I thought book lost a bit of steam. But definitely the most I've enjoyed a book in a while!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading 1 Franzen book is like reading 5 different books. Each of his characters, even a few minor ones, get a rich loaded history. Sometimes I feel like the books could do without the incredibly long backgrounds, but in the end I think he is really making a point about the current infatuation with knowing "EVERYTHING" about someone. I really liked this book. I think I liked the ending of Freedom better than the ending of Purity, but I liked the story of Purity better...
Franzen writing stories about women becomes more difficult to enjoy as I become a more informed reader.
Purity is Jonathan Franzen's newest novel (and these bricks are few and far between), the story of Purity Taylor (called "Pip"), a girl raised by an isolationist mother and who never knew her father, and who gets involved with a charismatic professional Internet leaker... It's not an easy plot to describe, but it's less about the plot than the characters, each section essentially a character portrait linking to the others. And it's a quality of Franzen's always clever and astute prose that you actually resent the change from one protagonist to another, until the next one anyway. The book's title obviously evokes a theme, and all the characters want to remain "pure" in some way, although that purity takes on different forms. And yet, they also rebel against that purity. It's a very sexual book, using its characters' sexuality as an important brush stroke in its portraitures. Less obviously funny than his other books, it's nevertheless a gorgeous read. I can never get tired of Franzen's prose and rich characters; the story itself is perhaps secondary.
Purity is Jonathan Franzen's newest novel (and these bricks are few and far between), the story of Purity Taylor (called "Pip"), a girl raised by an isolationist mother and who never knew her father, and who gets involved with a charismatic professional Internet leaker... It's not an easy plot to describe, but it's less about the plot than the characters, each section essentially a character portrait linking to the others. And it's a quality of Franzen's always clever and astute prose that you actually resent the change from one protagonist to another, until the next one anyway. The book's title obviously evokes a theme, and all the characters want to remain "pure" in some way, although that purity takes on different forms. And yet, they also rebel against that purity. It's a very sexual book, using its characters' sexuality as an important brush stroke in its portraitures. Less obviously funny than his other books, it's nevertheless a gorgeous read. I can never get tired of Franzen's prose and rich characters; the story itself is perhaps secondary.
Didn't like it much. Found the cast of characters almost caricature-like and the plot unnecessarily far fetched. I loved The Corrections and very much liked Freedom. I think perhaps Franzen has been overtaken by his own fame and resistance against anything novel. It's not that I just luuurve everything new - I've just read The Circle - but I don't understand his arguments. Purity has nothing to add to the previous two, so don't bother. It's also very very long!
This is my least favorite Franzen novel and probably his most ambitious. It is not a perfect book, and I found that it dragged in parts, especially near the end, but he is such a masterful writer that I enjoyed going along for the ride.