From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Freedom

Jonathan Franzen

Start date: April 15, 2011

Finish date: May 15, 2011

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Sep 04, 2010 David rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2010

Scattered observations:

*Writers probably can't ever ditch certain fundamental aspects of their style. With DFW it's the slightly manic, ever-looping association of ideas as his brain connects his current thought to stuff you would never have imagined. Franzen seems unable to dodge the unevenness trap - brilliant for long stretches, interspersed with material that is either preachy, superfluous, or both.

*Less powerful than "The Corrections" because his characters are less universal. Arguably they Scattered observations:

*Writers probably can't ever ditch certain fundamental aspects of their style. With DFW it's the slightly manic, ever-looping association of ideas as his brain connects his current thought to stuff you would never have imagined. Franzen seems unable to dodge the unevenness trap - brilliant for long stretches, interspersed with material that is either preachy, superfluous, or both.

*Less powerful than "The Corrections" because his characters are less universal. Arguably they are all stand-ins for Franzen's own concerns and insecurities. Which are not uninteresting. But neither are they super-interesting.

*Why are they all so uptight? Even when kicking over the traces, nobody seems to be having much fun.

*So much emphasis on life's constraints and limitations. A "great" book/author should leave us with a heightened sense of life's possibilities? (Should it?)

*Despite the superficially broad canvas, at the 400-page mark it feels really, really claustrophobic.

*Clear pluses - writing is smooth; invariably, just when you feel you'll never get out of a particular dull patch, Franzen delivers something that's not just good, but kind of awesome.

It's hard to provide a coherent summary. In its favor, "Freedom" is a very enjoyable read, it's structured very smartly (though this is obvious only in retrospect), and benefits from Franzen's ability to nail aspects of the culture with enviable precision. Its mixture of small-scale concerns (the Berglund family dynamics) with larger societal issues is laudable, ambitious, not entirely successful, but certainly a worthy and interesting effort. It does suffer from some of the Franzen tics mentioned above. The variation in quality (some characters are superbly realized, others remain flat), occasional bloating (Franzen's particular hobby-horses relating to the environment and population control get quite a workout), and restriction in focus (to a very narrow section of white, upper middle class intellectuals and their concerns) prevent it from being a great novel. There's also that sense of claustrophobia, bordering on joylessness, that hangs over much of the central part of the book, though this is mitigated somewhat towards the end, which was surprisingly powerful and quite moving.

It is, nonetheless, a very good novel. Franzen cannot be blamed for the extraordinary hype that it has generated, and it shouldn't be held against him. Though I don't think "Freedom" quite matched the brilliance of "The Corrections", it's still one of the best books you're likely to come across this year.

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Jul 13, 2010 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was ok

Shelves: read2010

I started out giving this book three stars, then thought back to how I felt when I finished it, and changed it to two. I was moderately entertained by the first 2/3 but then it started dragging on and on. I could appreciate the unlikable characters at first, sometimes people who make bad decisions or can't get their lives together can be entertaining, but not when they start wasting your actual time and they aren't even real! Franzen doesn't write in a way that makes you compassionate toward his ...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Kecia rated it liked it

Shelves: obama, judaism, oprah, usa

Let me start by saying...Jonathan Franzen really rubs me the wrong way. I did not like The Corrections. I did not like the way he treated Oprah. I do not like the disdain he seems to have for all things midwestern. He really gets under my skin.

Then this summer the owner of a bookstore gave a copy of Freedom to President Obama before its release which caused a lot of stir. Then Oprah picks it as her final selection. So I figured if Oprah could give him another chance so could I.

I actually almost ...more

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