<![CDATA[Four Freedoms: A Novel]]>

false <![CDATA[Four Freedoms: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256014120m/4972965.jpg 4972965 2 One of the most admired and honored of our contemporary literary artists, author John Crowley now brilliantly re-creates a time in America when ordinary people were asked to sacrifice their comforts and uproot their lives for the cause of freedom. In the early years of the 1940s, as the nation's young men ship off to war, the call goes out for builders of the machinery necessary to defeat the enemy. To this purpose, a city has sprung up seemingly overnight in the windswept fields of Oklahoma: the Van Damme airplane factory, a gargantuan complex dedicated to the construction of the B-30 Pax, the largest bomber ever built. Laborers—some men, but mostly women, many of whom have never operated a rivet gun or held a screwdriver—flock to this place, eager to earn, to grow, to do their part. Many are away from home for the very first time, enticed by the opportunity to be something more than wife and homemaker. In the middle of nowhere they will live, work, and earn their own money, fearing for the safety of their absent fighting men as the world around them changes forever. Vi, with her gun of a pitching arm, finds Van Damme after fleeing a dying ranch and a stubborn, broken father to chase a future built on something stronger than poison earth. Connie, once fragile and helpless, follows an unfaithful husband here with their little boy in tow—and inadvertently discovers who she is and what she's capable of achieving. Before Diane can enter the factory's gates, the restless young woman must leave behind the hot music and soldier boys she followed, taking a sudden, bold, and dangerous step in pursuit of something different, adult, and real. Their journeys will be liberating in ways they couldn't imagine, and will lead each of them to Prosper Olander. Disabled, an artist, a forger, a friend—a surprising lover and compassionate listener—Prosper has followed unlikely opportunity down a painfully twisting path to take his place as the true heart and soul of a temporary city. And before the B-30 Pax takes flight, he will change the lives of four women in profound and unexpected ways. Destined to stand tall among his previous acclaimed fiction—including Little, Big; The Ægypt Cycle; The Translator; and Lord Byron's Novel—John Crowley's Four Freedoms is perhaps his most heartfelt and compelling novel to date. It is a moving, evocative, and unforgettable saga of wives, mothers, and lovers—of strangers, outcasts, and damaged Quixotes—who, unmoored by conflict's unpredictable tides, find community, purpose, identity, independence . . . and one remarkable man who will touch them all. 5038823 1 6 2009 Four Freedoms: A Novel total:34|5:4|4:18|3:8|2:1|1:3| 34 121 120 21 4 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 11:38:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 12:09:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 08:17:40 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 07:23:47 -0700 2009 • “The first is freedom of speech and expression --...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jul 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 11:08:32 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 13:15:44 -0700 2009 A few years ago I introduced Crowley's work to my father, by way of Little, Big, which has since become his favorite book... it's likely mine as well. Since my dad still lives in Northampton, MA and I'm quite a few leagues west, when Mr. Crowley announced he'd be doing a reading from h...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 07:48:57 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 07:54:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 10:10:32 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 04:44:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 09:45:44 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 18:03:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 1 false false Tue Nov 10 07:31:50 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 07:32:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Oct 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 20:28:39 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 20:28:39 -0700 2009
Meh.

Random sex, World War II, a main character on crutches because that's symbolic, random flash-backs, some bizarre character naming schema, and, oh yeah, nothing actually happens in the direct stream of narration. Can't even have a deus ex machina tornado / excuse for a...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 18:56:04 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 17:38:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 09:30:29 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 09:35:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 16:38:32 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 16:40:45 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 20:28:35 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 20:28:53 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 19 14:03:04 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 14:17:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 15:34:16 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 13:31:35 -0700 2009 This is a very good novel to spend your time.. weather you have ot of time to read or you h...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jun 11 13:51:17 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 13:52:17 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 03 20:42:30 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 20:43:21 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 14 11:15:24 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 11:15:24 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Sat Jul 11 00:29:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 23:01:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 08 09:37:41 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 12:41:13 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 08:39:16 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 05:44:59 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4972965