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aahlvers's review against another edition
2.0
Jonathan Franzen has come home to St Louis to get his parent's house ready to sell after the death of his mother. While he is waiting for it to sell he reflects on the significant moments of his life with particular emphasis on his childhood. The language in the book is beautiful and it is well constructed but for me, the characters were flat and uninteresting. For someone who has had such a rich and varied life and writes so well I think he could have come up with more interesting things to talk about. Even when his marriage is in trouble there is such a sense of distance that it is hard to care about the outcome.
I found myself having to force my attention back to the story time and time again. On so many levels this is a lovely book but in the end I just didn't care enough. If I hadn't been reading it for the committee I probably would have stopped reading it at some point along the way.
I found myself having to force my attention back to the story time and time again. On so many levels this is a lovely book but in the end I just didn't care enough. If I hadn't been reading it for the committee I probably would have stopped reading it at some point along the way.
beaniebookbagel's review against another edition
4.0
Franzen is one of my favorite authors, though I often find him selfish, overindulgent and infuriating. He is indicative of humanity, for me; that is, he is perfectly aware and often unashamed of his flaws, bad habits, and prejudices, but shows such moments of grace, clarity, and damn good writing as to be worthwhile.
pveeto's review against another edition
5.0
I due strati che si distinguono in questa raccolta di memorie - quello ironico e quello malinconico - si completano come nelle più riuscite strisce dei Peanuts, quelle in cui si sorride con amarezza e intelligenza.
Franzen, con sapienza e maestria, scava nelle sue profondità e ci offre se stesso con un'onestà che, rasentando livelli imbarazzanti, spesso mi ha urtato ad un livello profondo: è riuscito a dar vita ad un libro toccante, colmo delle grandi e piccole tristezze quotidiane.
Franzen, con sapienza e maestria, scava nelle sue profondità e ci offre se stesso con un'onestà che, rasentando livelli imbarazzanti, spesso mi ha urtato ad un livello profondo: è riuscito a dar vita ad un libro toccante, colmo delle grandi e piccole tristezze quotidiane.
http://www.blogdegradabile.net/?p=677
vicki_jarrett's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this book for two reasons – firstly, I knew from reading The Corrections that Franzen’s writing can be great (maybe a bit over-fond of itself at times but skilled enough to get away with it mostly) and thought that this slim volume implied greater economy, more focus. Secondly, I fell in love with the quote on the back ‘…the story of growing up squirming in your own skin, from a ‘’small and fundamentally ridiculous person” into and adult with strong and inconvenient passions.’ That combination of honesty, humour, tragedy and compassion that characterises the best bits of The Corrections seemed to be promised. The first section on his attempts to sell his mother’s house after her death lived up to this hope. The second, including an extended essay on the Peanuts cartoon strip was fascinating and touching. The remaining three chapters didn’t hold my attention so much. I was really struck by how conventional and even conservative the author was as a teenager. This could be seen as more rebellious than indulging in the usual teenage clichés – but these don’t seem to have been much in evidence in Webster Groves, the sheltered Midwestern US town where he grew up. This place sounds both idyllic and terrifying – the church youth groups seemed to me almost 1984ish in their group shaming sessions. By the end of the book, I was mostly glad it wasn’t any longer – the Bird-watching section was hard to get through. I liked his insights into what was driving his obsession with birds, but the prolonged listing of breeds and ‘exciting’ birding events nearly put me to sleep. Worth it if you’re a big fan of his other writing but perhaps not a great place to start if not already won over.
kscrimshaw's review against another edition
2.0
This uneven collection of personal recollections and insights just didn't do it for me. Franzen's childhood and teen years weren't different enough from my own to be particularly interesting to me, nor were they (or perhaps he) similar enough for me to feel that sense of connection. By the end, I was just skimming.
dibarsinnovations's review against another edition
4.0
Franzen was on my boycott list after the Oprah flap over The Corrections. Fortunately for him, the selection in bookstores here is pretty limited. And he's a good writer. He walks the line between having the distance needed to write about himself without being dispassionate about his past.
trudolini's review against another edition
This was my first Franzen book, and I'm not sure if I'll read another one