Something I wasn’t aware of when I read this book (I’m not quite sure how I missed it) but other potential readers may want to know – this book is meant to be the first in a trilogy. I came across that piece of information before I finished the novel but after I was well into it. Knowing that helped me to understand the end of this novel, which feels less like a conclusion and more like a chapter break. Because, essentially, it is […]

So this is the latest Jonathan Franzen novel, and what I can say about it is that it’s definitely a Jonathan Franzen novel. I think all of his novels are definitely Jonathan Franzen novel, but he’s one of those writers who generates a lot of preconceived notions (some fair; some not), but he’s been pretty consistent. I highly recommend that anyone who likes Jonathan Franzen, anyone who doesn’t like Jonathan Franzen but is willing to be have that idea challenged, and anyone who likes Jonathan […]

I don’t recall as much about Freedom as I do The Corrections, but this book, the up until soon most recent Jonathan Franzen indulges in some of Franzen’s best and worst habits. There’s whole sections of this book that read like the “Chip in Eastern Europe” section of the Corrections writ large. I mention that because I know several people who love that book and hate that part. One of my most discerning professors held that opinion. The story here is Great Expectations. Purity does […]