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sunbreak's review against another edition
Yawn.
This happens every time when I read Jonathan Franzen. Halfway through, I literally stop caring about all of the characters. Even if I have 300 pages invested, I give up! (and I don't give up easily on books..)
This happens every time when I read Jonathan Franzen. Halfway through, I literally stop caring about all of the characters. Even if I have 300 pages invested, I give up! (and I don't give up easily on books..)
khaliah's review
4.0
I’ll admit that there is quite a lot to dislike about Jonathan Franzen. He has been accused of being pretentious (see any and all writing by the author), ungrateful (he had the audacity to question Oprah Winfrey—no really, the audacity), and in many ways it seems that possessing an incredible talent has been his biggest crime against the writing and reading world. Jonathan Franzen is just too good, and Freedom, his fourth novel, proves that point over 562 nearly perfect pages.
Set against the backdrop of an America in decline post the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the reader is invited to witness another decline; the fall of an American family, the Berglund’s of St. Paul. Where The Corrections was a social novel intent on dissecting the flaws of our society at the end of the 90’s by way of the Lambert children, Freedom takes on the political—and in some small way, environmental—issues that have been the long line of America’s narrative these last eight years. While The Corrections used the adult children of a middle class Midwestern family to make its many points, Freedom takes on the adults; in this case, Walter and Patty Berglund and their friend, rock star Richard Katz. The children, namely the Berglund’s son Joey, while important to the story, serve more as a mirror of the many things their parents have failed to become or achieve.
Freedom has most often been described as a novel about a Midwestern family, but it is far more than that. In addition to being yet another testament to the author’s incredible ability to combine improbable elements and turn them into fiction gold, Freedom moves the reader through time and across state lines, beginning with Patty’s New York upbringing in an upper class, liberal, Jewish household that helps turn her into an ambitious college athlete and later a less ambitious housewife. Eventually Franzen deposits the reader at the doorstep of her college years where she meets Walter and Richard. Though we spend less time learning about Walter’s lonely childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father, we know enough about his early life trauma that makes him the man he is at the opening of the novel, fiercely upstanding and perhaps just a bit too idealistic and too good hearted to have the kind of happy family life he imagined would come with success and good morals.
What is most impressive about Franzen’s narrative is his ability to keep many balls in the air at once: the politics of government, of love and child-rearing all come into play in this book. Not to mention, the intricacies of Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia and unethical government contractors in Iraq. With so many ideas floating around, it would be easy for a writer to get lost in his own narrative, but Franzen is so at ease with his characters and the worlds they inhabit, one could easily believe that the author himself had spent time touring the country with his own indie rock band or had done extensive work as a nature conservationist. And, while the idea of the love triangle seems clichéd, having been used time and time again to explain away the reasons why marriage and other forms of love do not work as we so often hope, Franzen redefines this metaphor, making it all the more painful when these relationships fall apart and a little bit joyous when things right themselves.
Freedom is not without flaws. While I’m certain that it was taxing for Franzen to maintain a solid grasp on all the many facets of this book, it’s just as taxing for the reader. The constant movement between the narrators and the occasional change in voice gets old pretty fast. Additionally, as I got to know the characters of this world, I found myself liking them less and less, and the time it took for them to get to a place of redemption was a little too long for me to do any continuous reading. I was surprised to find that I willingly put the book down for days, sometimes weeks at a time. When I picked up the book for the last time, I thought I was I finishing it more for the beauty of Franzen’s prose than the story itself; but by page 562 it was clear that the time it took to get that far had been well worth it.
Set against the backdrop of an America in decline post the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the reader is invited to witness another decline; the fall of an American family, the Berglund’s of St. Paul. Where The Corrections was a social novel intent on dissecting the flaws of our society at the end of the 90’s by way of the Lambert children, Freedom takes on the political—and in some small way, environmental—issues that have been the long line of America’s narrative these last eight years. While The Corrections used the adult children of a middle class Midwestern family to make its many points, Freedom takes on the adults; in this case, Walter and Patty Berglund and their friend, rock star Richard Katz. The children, namely the Berglund’s son Joey, while important to the story, serve more as a mirror of the many things their parents have failed to become or achieve.
Freedom has most often been described as a novel about a Midwestern family, but it is far more than that. In addition to being yet another testament to the author’s incredible ability to combine improbable elements and turn them into fiction gold, Freedom moves the reader through time and across state lines, beginning with Patty’s New York upbringing in an upper class, liberal, Jewish household that helps turn her into an ambitious college athlete and later a less ambitious housewife. Eventually Franzen deposits the reader at the doorstep of her college years where she meets Walter and Richard. Though we spend less time learning about Walter’s lonely childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father, we know enough about his early life trauma that makes him the man he is at the opening of the novel, fiercely upstanding and perhaps just a bit too idealistic and too good hearted to have the kind of happy family life he imagined would come with success and good morals.
What is most impressive about Franzen’s narrative is his ability to keep many balls in the air at once: the politics of government, of love and child-rearing all come into play in this book. Not to mention, the intricacies of Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia and unethical government contractors in Iraq. With so many ideas floating around, it would be easy for a writer to get lost in his own narrative, but Franzen is so at ease with his characters and the worlds they inhabit, one could easily believe that the author himself had spent time touring the country with his own indie rock band or had done extensive work as a nature conservationist. And, while the idea of the love triangle seems clichéd, having been used time and time again to explain away the reasons why marriage and other forms of love do not work as we so often hope, Franzen redefines this metaphor, making it all the more painful when these relationships fall apart and a little bit joyous when things right themselves.
Freedom is not without flaws. While I’m certain that it was taxing for Franzen to maintain a solid grasp on all the many facets of this book, it’s just as taxing for the reader. The constant movement between the narrators and the occasional change in voice gets old pretty fast. Additionally, as I got to know the characters of this world, I found myself liking them less and less, and the time it took for them to get to a place of redemption was a little too long for me to do any continuous reading. I was surprised to find that I willingly put the book down for days, sometimes weeks at a time. When I picked up the book for the last time, I thought I was I finishing it more for the beauty of Franzen’s prose than the story itself; but by page 562 it was clear that the time it took to get that far had been well worth it.
purplepierogi's review
4.0
I did not know what I was getting into with this one, ha. I had literally never heard of Franzen before picking this book up, and once I was a little ways in I was surprised to find a decade of think pieces online penned by and about this man, hahaha. I was twelve when this came out and woefully uninformed of Oprah's book club and literary world drama, but here we are.
okay, to the novel! Yes, I did think it was really well written, an incredibly long and detailed character study of flawed and critical people, and from the outset it held a neat clip with the flow of this information. yes, I can see critics' perspectives that were this a female author, the reviews may have labeled it self-masturbatory chick lit for the sort of gossip-y tone that such animated detail and judgement evokes. I'm not convinced it's the great American novel, but I did enjoy it!
okay, to the novel! Yes, I did think it was really well written, an incredibly long and detailed character study of flawed and critical people, and from the outset it held a neat clip with the flow of this information. yes, I can see critics' perspectives that were this a female author, the reviews may have labeled it self-masturbatory chick lit for the sort of gossip-y tone that such animated detail and judgement evokes. I'm not convinced it's the great American novel, but I did enjoy it!
protoman21's review
3.0
A broad story that had its moments, but ultimately I could have been perfectly happy never hearing. There were times where I felt for the characters and moments where I cared what was happening, but mostly what I got out of the story is that these are miserable people living miserable lives. Perhaps it comments on the reality of life, but if that is the case then I'd rather live in the illusion. I give it three stars only because it was a well crafted story where the character's soul were laid bare.
goodem9199's review
2.0
I'm only giving this 2 stars for the profound effort this man gave in his quest for the most explicit and exhaustive character development I have ever come across. He should also be nominated for the "Master of the World's Longest Sentence" award. Oy. By the end I wanted to crack the audio CD's over my knee.
kevintheyeoman's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lastpaige111's review
5.0
If Franzen doesn't win some huge prize for this book there is no justice in the world, with which ironically this book would concur. It's witty, entertaining, disturbing, and honest to the point of making my head explode, or, as Emily Dickinson said of good poetry, lifting the top of my head off (or something like that). I liked it so much better than his National Book Award-winning title The Corrections, which in retrospect seems so dark and pessimistic as to be the cause of the type of serious depression alluded to and depicted but not drearily explicated in Freedom. The way he so effortlessly makes his characters convincing spokespeople for progressive politics lends me as much hope as do idealistic teenagers ... even despite our current political climate.