amyreadsgoodbooks 's review for:

Purity by Jonathan Franzen

4.0

---

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.