In Freedom, Franzen reminds me of Updike ‘s laboring over a character with winding but irresistible narrative.
The theme: too much personal freedom i.e. one’s own apps and features weigh heavier than a loosely connected modern Jewish family.
Fiction helps us forget our pain-filled reality. And Freedom did just that for me.
With a garden variety of themes: from eco-politic to petropolitic, interracial to inter-generational affairs, menage-a-trois to suburban sterility (trapping a neighbor’s strayed cat to protect wildlife birds), this book is an eye-full.
For someone who graduated from Harvard, but decided to pursue literature, Franzen himself personifies what personal freedom was all about: to fulfill one’s destiny at all costs.
The odds of succeeding at fiction (on par with Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer ) in our digital world is close to nil.
To stay on top of the best sellers’ list is even more remote a possibility.
His prose was lucid and thought process so fluid that I could hardly find where I last put down the book.
In the end, I almost did not want to leave the Walter-Patty’s family hanging. I have become so connected with that family. In between covers, I have moved to Austin and back to Palm Beach. I have read Freedom from three different libraries, and in both large and small prints.
Just as the characters acted and reacted in a chain of unintended consequences, so do we, mixtures of good and bad, love and hate. Family members just happen to draw them out without warning or permission. Jewish or universal, we are who we are. Grant us serenity to be wise while preserving the freedom to be ourselves. No way out, but also no other way but.
Lug the book to the beach and get to know Walter, Patty, Joey and Jessica. And daughter-in-law Connie too. You can leave Richard Katz out, since he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with us anyway. I think of Jeff Bridges with his guitar for this character. Can’t wait for the mis-en-scene. Be warned! a book of that length will probably make a 2-hour feature by Hollywood‘s standard.
Thang Nguyen 555 