Freedom

Wow. It will be difficult for me to summarize here 550+ dense pages, but I will try. This is a powerhouse of a novel, an engrossing and highly-nuanced narrative of the intricacies of marriage and parenthood, traditional American values held in the light of increasingly polarized politics, and the paradoxically complicated nature of what it actually means to be free.

The story follows a perfectly midwestern couple, Walter and Patty Berglund, and their perfectly nuclear family, who at the start seem cliche in their normalcy and unflappable kindness. But slowly, as their children become teenagers, Patty begins to crack, and then the family cracks, which then sets off a permanent and increasingly damaging rift that grows into all kinds of scandal.

Franzen does a remarkably thorough job of harping on freedom, and what characters will do to try to find it; Walter seeks freedom from his childhood, and from the ills of an environmentally-imploding society; Patty seeks freedom from her marriage with Walter, and from the pervasive regrets of having not hitched the rockstar; Joey wants to be free of his too-committed high school girlfriend; etc, etc, while in the background is 9/11 and then the ensuing war for freedom in Iraq. And so it seems that all journeys for freedom end up messy, painful, and even if freedom is found, it is vacuous and unfulfilling. Walter's older brother Mitch is the prime example of this, and perhaps even Richard Katz.

I may need to think more on the takeaways, thematically, but I will say that Franzen's clever structure and knack for detailed, long-haul character development is captivating from the start. The dialog is delightful and the overall story a little absurd but still firmly enough in contact with reality to be uniquely charming. This book is a commitment, but if you've liked other Franzen novels, or David Foster-Wallace, or the like – then I definitely recommend picking this one up.

I really hate the star system for these kinds of books.

I'm not sure how to review this book. It's not the great American novel, but I see the potential. Franzen is no slouch but the novel suffered from too much observation (if astute) and not enough edge. It's like Franzen can recognize the issues but is to close to comment on them effectively (usefully?). I recognized myself and my generation but was neither affirmed (not a bad thing) or challenged.

Well, here's the thing: I like Jonathan Franzen most of the time. And I certainly zipped through Freedom. I can't, however, help harboring the sneaking suspicion that he is just a little bit sexist. Certainly not misogynistic, nor a male chauvinist, but just a wee bit biased towards his male characters. I'm sure someone could offer a compelling argument about how Patty Berglund's character in this novel is not only central to the plot, but a detailed and sympathetic portrait of a troubled woman. Alright, fine fine. But she's the sole central female character flanked by three central male characters, and two women who certainly could have had their stories woven into the plot more intricately seem simply flat against the more in-depth psychologies of the other four. Franzen spends a lot of time on how Patty was the forgotten child of her family of origin, and then, ironically (and, I believe, unintentionally), allows Patty's daughter, Jessica (written to be an eerie match for her mother on several dimensions) to become the forgotten child of the Berglund family.

All that is not to say that I didn't like the book. I did. And Franzen can clearly write about whatever he wants to write about, and plenty of people will (probably justifiably) adore it. I'm just saying (admittedly, quite possibly as a result of the blossoming of my inner feminist curmudgeon) that I would have liked it more had I not finished with the sense that Franzen is an eminently capable and entertaining writer, but, also, a dude.

All the characters in this novel called Freedom are driven by compulsions. Compulsion is the central problem, and the characters have varying degrees of success in recognizing and dealing with their compulsions. In the process, you the reader have to accompany them through some painfully terrible decisions. What makes this an enjoyable way to spend your time is really good storytelling. Patty and Walter Berglund and their friend Richard Katz are likable people, recognizable in their human failings. The Berglunds' son Joey is so unlikable that you want to know what he's going to do next. Franzen makes a gripping story out of these people's struggle to find meaning for themselves and preserve their relationships. You might even say Freedom is compulsively readable.

The Corrections was a bleak novel about unhappy, unlikable people. So is Freedom. I was not in the mood for Freedom; I didn't think I was going to like it and I didn't. That doesn't mean it is not a good novel, possibly even a great novel. I just was not in the mood for a huge book filled with disfunctional people.*

O carte mare, la propriu și la figurat, centrată pe trei personaje principale: soțul este un model de seriozitate, maturitate, chibzuință, moderație, corectitudine, pe când prietenul său cel mai bun este un rocker rebel, o fire neliniștită și libertină. Femeia se îndrăgostește inițial de rocker care însă nu profită de ea pentru că prietenul lui o place pe tânără și îi lasă să se căsătorească. Povestea prezintă viața acestui trio încă de când erau copii, apoi relația amoroasă dintre ei, căsătoria, mutarea în casa nouă, vecinii, copiii, serviciul, apoi relația extraconjugală a soției cu rockerul, refugiul soțului în muncă, secretara cea tânara care apare. Aparent este o poveste comună, dar e scrisă cu atâta sevă, cu atâta forță, încât trebuie citită. În paralel cartea este și analiza societății americane contemporane. Franzen este unul din cei mai mari scriitori americani contemporani.

Franzen tends to spend the first 200-300 pages making you hate every one of his characters, only to finally make you then care enough about them to finish the damn thing. he is a fantastic writer, but i would not describe his books as enjoyable to read. his characters make you hate parts of yourself you generally don't acknowledge you have.