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Jonathan Franzen is one of those writers I've heard a lot about, I've even read several of his interviews, but I've never read his fiction until now. I can now say I'm a fan.
Any time I read a 500+ page book in less than a week, you know it must be good. There were several things that impressed me about FREEDOM. I loved the unusual structure as it applied to point of view: switches between close-in third person perspectives and the first person writing in a third person POV of Patty's journal entries. I think Franzen could be read simply to learn about sentence structure, of which he is clearly a master. I loved the parallel nature of his very long sentences, how they just rolled on and on but were still accessible. He definitely has a creative flair for punctuation, which I appreciated, even if I wouldn't use semi-colons and colons in quite the same ways.
Probably the most overused maxim in writing classes is "show, don't tell." But any good writer knows that you must do both, and do both well. I think Franzen is a great example of this. FREEDOM has long passages of telling, but the voice and the ways in which the telling is done are fabulous. I thought the way he dealt with some of the more complicated political and scientific topics, through summary dialogue rather that straight dialogue, was fabulous.
I was also impressed with his characters. He wrote from both genders - close-in to Walter and first person from Patty - and I felt that they were both rounded out, authentic people. The only character I was a little iffy on was Connie. I remember reading some of her dialogue close to the end of the novel and thinking, she reminds me of a Hemingway female: either passively bowing to males, or hysterical. I think part of the problem is that she is an odd duck, but unlike some of the other odd ducks (Patty) we are never close-in to her perspective, so sometimes she comes off flat rather than just odd.
The book is also great for setting, from St. Paul, Hibbings, and Grand Rapids to Washington, DC, and New York, all the settings were used so artfully. I really enjoyed them.
I also liked the bits of political and scientific discourse. I felt like Franzen used them to his advantage but did not overwhelm the story with them. I got enough that I understood, but not so much that I felt like I was reading a treatise.
Any time I read a 500+ page book in less than a week, you know it must be good. There were several things that impressed me about FREEDOM. I loved the unusual structure as it applied to point of view: switches between close-in third person perspectives and the first person writing in a third person POV of Patty's journal entries. I think Franzen could be read simply to learn about sentence structure, of which he is clearly a master. I loved the parallel nature of his very long sentences, how they just rolled on and on but were still accessible. He definitely has a creative flair for punctuation, which I appreciated, even if I wouldn't use semi-colons and colons in quite the same ways.
Probably the most overused maxim in writing classes is "show, don't tell." But any good writer knows that you must do both, and do both well. I think Franzen is a great example of this. FREEDOM has long passages of telling, but the voice and the ways in which the telling is done are fabulous. I thought the way he dealt with some of the more complicated political and scientific topics, through summary dialogue rather that straight dialogue, was fabulous.
I was also impressed with his characters. He wrote from both genders - close-in to Walter and first person from Patty - and I felt that they were both rounded out, authentic people. The only character I was a little iffy on was Connie. I remember reading some of her dialogue close to the end of the novel and thinking, she reminds me of a Hemingway female: either passively bowing to males, or hysterical. I think part of the problem is that she is an odd duck, but unlike some of the other odd ducks (Patty) we are never close-in to her perspective, so sometimes she comes off flat rather than just odd.
The book is also great for setting, from St. Paul, Hibbings, and Grand Rapids to Washington, DC, and New York, all the settings were used so artfully. I really enjoyed them.
I also liked the bits of political and scientific discourse. I felt like Franzen used them to his advantage but did not overwhelm the story with them. I got enough that I understood, but not so much that I felt like I was reading a treatise.