David’s Reviews > Freedom > Status Update
David
is on page 400 of 562
What I'd forgotten about Franzen is that when he's good, he's very good indeed. Also, though he sometimes comes across as being contemptuous of his characters, this is actually a misleading impression. He nails their foibles with merciless accuracy, but is not unsympathetic. Probably because he shares their confusion about how to live a decent life.
— Sep 07, 2010 08:39AM
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David
is finished
Damn you, Franzen! You were just toying with us. You had that perfect landing planned from page 1.
— Sep 07, 2010 05:35PM
David
is on page 300 of 562
Patty, Walter & Richard are so appallingly obsessed with their own navels, why should I give a s**t about them? Frankly, they deserve one another. Chunks that should have been hacked from this book: the appalling Richard-Zachary interview, teenage phone sex fantasy details, numbing statistics about population growth. (I wouldn't miss Patty for an instant, but I understand she fills a structurally essential niche)
— Sep 06, 2010 07:43PM
David
is on page 150 of 562
One of the few things I disliked about "The Corrections" was its slightly bloated quality. The problem is infinitely more pronounced in "Freedom". Franzen's prickly nature is a matter of record; where women are concerned, prickish might be a more accurate description. Loathsome characters can be interesting, but so far that's not the case here.
— Sep 06, 2010 07:52AM
