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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Made it slightly over halfway through this book and decided not to finish bc I didn’t like the way the male characters talked about women. A shame because I did think the chapters written from the main female character’s perspective were well done.
Maybe I’ll come back to it someday but I had had enough misogyny for a bit :’)
Maybe I’ll come back to it someday but I had had enough misogyny for a bit :’)
I loved this book so much it made me wonder if I actually hated The Corrections as much as I say I did.
Oh smug, cynical condescension, what would a post-ironic author do without you? We might have a reasonably well written (if self-absorbed) epic without all the jaded leering, and that certainly wouldn't do.
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Franzen does an excellent job at creating stories and characters that beg to be followed. I enjoyed the roundabout way the story was presented, and it was not a jarring back-and-forth narration like I have experienced with other works. Based on this, I will be adding his other works to my (endless) want-to-read list shortly. I especially enjoyed the sections where minor one-off characters were presented and used as the chapter's basis.
I did feel that there was much suspension of belief needed when describing Joey, Richard, and Connie, and their respective situations, but that's what fiction is for, right?
I did feel that there was much suspension of belief needed when describing Joey, Richard, and Connie, and their respective situations, but that's what fiction is for, right?
What a big book with not too much to say other than everyone's life kinda sucks and who fucking cares? He could've cut out some of the bird stuff, too. I just wasn't feeling this one.
this is by far one of the best books i've read in a long time.
the characters are so fully developed that i often think of one of them as if they were real and then remember seconds later that they are only fictional.
do not let the page count scare you away.
read it and you'll thank me later.
the characters are so fully developed that i often think of one of them as if they were real and then remember seconds later that they are only fictional.
do not let the page count scare you away.
read it and you'll thank me later.
I guess I wasn't as enthusiastic about this book as Oprah ;) I loved The Corrections, but found Freedom too...sad? Tragic? I saw the satire, and enjoyed the writing, but felt empty despite the ending. I realize that is part of the power of the book, but it doesn't make me like it better.