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A review by jbingb
The End of the End of the Earth by Jonathan Franzen
4.0
85: The End of the End of the Earth by Jonathan Franzen
I have loved all of Franzen’s novels that I have read—The Corrections, Purity, Freedom—so was certainly intrigued to come across this 2018 collection of essays by him, despite some reviews indicating that Franzen’s essay writing is not Franzen’s fiction writing.
While I do not fully disagree with those reviews, I did overall enjoy reading this of Franzen’s writing also.
Granted, bird lovers and bird watchers are likely to enjoy and appreciate this collection far more than I—moreso a liker of birds; but I never mind learning things. And I did learn the names of a number of new-to-me birds and bird news by reading…but I have no trips to Antarctica—and especially not with Lindblad—any time soon. That actually brings up an aspect of Franzen’s essays with which I did take issue overall—just the great amount of privilege presented in some…and that all just so far removed from where my head and heart have for months now been.
But the essays were not all about birds and birdwatching either.
There were additional and interesting pieces about climate change and reading and friendship…and even about essays themselves as a form and the decline in the valuing and writing of them (hmpf! I had honestly just decided that maybe I have essays inside of me more than novels!). And I did especially enjoy a brief list of a piece called “Ten Rules for the Novelist.”
And even the essays that were heavier on nature and birding and such than my usual arenas contained profound ideas and made interesting statements. I considered at length things like: “The animals may not be able to thank us for allowing them to live, and they certainly wouldn’t do the same thing for us if our positions were reversed. But it’s we, not they, who need life to have meaning” (66).
And in one essay he writes about Sherry Turkle, who has written a couple of books about technology, including Alone Together and Reclaiming Conversation, both of which sound interesting, given Franzen’s references. I think she has nailed important things as Franzen presents one of her arguments in the latter: “The people she interviews have adopted new technologies in pursuit of greater control, only to feel controlled by them” (70), certainly an idea conveyed darkly in this year’s The Social Dilemma, a popular and disturbing Netflix documentary.
Franzen adds that Turkle’s “likably idealized selves that they’ve created with social media leave their real selves all the more isolated. They communicate incessantly but are afraid of face-to-face conversations; they worry, often nostalgically, that they’re missing out on something fundamental” (70).
All of this written—both by Turkle and then Franzen about Turkle—pre-2020, pre-COVID, pre-virtual/online education and interaction and everything going on now. So I’ll have to do a little more research to see what Turkle is now saying about all of that.
She does say, according to Franzen, that she “believes that regular family conversations help “inoculate” children against bullying” (71)…ultimately arguing that empathy can only begin when one is forced to recognize a person’s full human reality, which happens only when one speaks to another in person. I am thinking that there are virtual substitutions for this…and gains to be made from reading more as well!
With all of that said, I think many will enjoy reading this collection of essays, especially if they a) like Franzen and/or b) are willing to listen and learn new things and ideas when reading and consider other perspectives than their own.
I have loved all of Franzen’s novels that I have read—The Corrections, Purity, Freedom—so was certainly intrigued to come across this 2018 collection of essays by him, despite some reviews indicating that Franzen’s essay writing is not Franzen’s fiction writing.
While I do not fully disagree with those reviews, I did overall enjoy reading this of Franzen’s writing also.
Granted, bird lovers and bird watchers are likely to enjoy and appreciate this collection far more than I—moreso a liker of birds; but I never mind learning things. And I did learn the names of a number of new-to-me birds and bird news by reading…but I have no trips to Antarctica—and especially not with Lindblad—any time soon. That actually brings up an aspect of Franzen’s essays with which I did take issue overall—just the great amount of privilege presented in some…and that all just so far removed from where my head and heart have for months now been.
But the essays were not all about birds and birdwatching either.
There were additional and interesting pieces about climate change and reading and friendship…and even about essays themselves as a form and the decline in the valuing and writing of them (hmpf! I had honestly just decided that maybe I have essays inside of me more than novels!). And I did especially enjoy a brief list of a piece called “Ten Rules for the Novelist.”
And even the essays that were heavier on nature and birding and such than my usual arenas contained profound ideas and made interesting statements. I considered at length things like: “The animals may not be able to thank us for allowing them to live, and they certainly wouldn’t do the same thing for us if our positions were reversed. But it’s we, not they, who need life to have meaning” (66).
And in one essay he writes about Sherry Turkle, who has written a couple of books about technology, including Alone Together and Reclaiming Conversation, both of which sound interesting, given Franzen’s references. I think she has nailed important things as Franzen presents one of her arguments in the latter: “The people she interviews have adopted new technologies in pursuit of greater control, only to feel controlled by them” (70), certainly an idea conveyed darkly in this year’s The Social Dilemma, a popular and disturbing Netflix documentary.
Franzen adds that Turkle’s “likably idealized selves that they’ve created with social media leave their real selves all the more isolated. They communicate incessantly but are afraid of face-to-face conversations; they worry, often nostalgically, that they’re missing out on something fundamental” (70).
All of this written—both by Turkle and then Franzen about Turkle—pre-2020, pre-COVID, pre-virtual/online education and interaction and everything going on now. So I’ll have to do a little more research to see what Turkle is now saying about all of that.
She does say, according to Franzen, that she “believes that regular family conversations help “inoculate” children against bullying” (71)…ultimately arguing that empathy can only begin when one is forced to recognize a person’s full human reality, which happens only when one speaks to another in person. I am thinking that there are virtual substitutions for this…and gains to be made from reading more as well!
With all of that said, I think many will enjoy reading this collection of essays, especially if they a) like Franzen and/or b) are willing to listen and learn new things and ideas when reading and consider other perspectives than their own.