Title: Freedom
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Genre: Fiction
Published: 2010
Inspired me to learn about: Carving out character descriptions through the use of first, second and
third person narration.
Jonathan Franzen weaves an
intricate tale in Freedom; which
although does not have a plot that grabs, it held my attention sufficiently
because of its almost mundane subject matter - the life of a contemporary
middle class American family grappling with issues of love, marriage,
infidelity and disappointment. Reading it did feel voyeuristic at times because
The Berglunds - though struggling through their less-than-average issues are
quite the average family.
I found myself liking them in the
beginning; charmed by Patty's cheerful and contagious enthusiasm to everything, and Walter's steadfast focus on his beliefs - then went to finding them quite
unbearable as they fumbled through their sometimes simple, and other times melodramatic lives; and finally rooting for them to get it together towards the end
when it becomes apparent that although they bring out the worst in one another,
they are also well-suited in their complicated and poignant emotions.
An average read that has made me
curious about his first novel 'Corrections'.
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