Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen
So I promised to write a book review of Jonathan Franzen’s new novel Freedom, which initially appealed as an easy task because I ate The Corrections up the way every writer ever dreams someone will read their words (heart/soul/stomach/feet)…but here’s the thing…
…I never quite got there.
Which brings me to say the awkward statement that you should absolutely read the book because, as Marieke Hardy says*, this is everyone’s family. And that, for me, is Franzen’s real talent as a modern writer - he brings to life, or ink I should say, the intricacies and challenges and strength and breadth of emotion of what it means to be family.
“Patty really had been a good parent; she’d succeeded in preparing her daughter for a happier and easier life than her own; but it was clear from the other families’ very body language that she hasn’t been a great mom in the ways that counted most.” - p.183
No review I could muster will do Franzen justice, I’ll sound narky, pedantic, self-absorbed, probably like one of Franzen’s characters themselves. So ignore my review, and read the book for yourself. It’s 600 pages well spent.
Want more Franzen? This interview with Jonathan Franzen by The Rumpus might be just what you’re looking for.
While we’re talking about books - I declared Christmas 2010 The Year of the Book - see what kept Freedom company on my shelf this year.
(*That be Marieke Hardy with the very distracting stockings, in this episode of the First Tuesday Book Club, though I actually urge you to listen to Max Barry’s comments, if you can tear your eyes away…)
