Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

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  • Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

    This will probably be another thread of mine that will go unanswered, but - has anyone dove into Franzen's latest novel FREEDOM? It's been called a masterpiece and he was the first living writer to be on the cover of Time Magazine since forever. It seems to be all anyone is talking about in the literary world. I read some of his last book, THE CORRECTIONS and thought it was pretentious. Anyone reading it?

  • #2
    Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

    Actually, Stephen King was the first author on the cover of Time, and mostly in response to criticism about his winning the American Book prize. The JF article is mostly about the predicted death of the book, so not entirely about him, as such.

    I loved The Corrections and will buy Freedom. Not sure if "masterpiece" is ever appropriate for a contemporary text (unless you're talking about Cormac McArthy's The Road ) but his earlier novel really rocked my world when I read it. Having a father die after a long battle with Parkinsons disease (and undiagonised dementia) made it particularly poignant for me. But also, it was damn funny.

    (Apologies that I'm the only respondent so far. It's the kiss of death for threads, I'm afraid. One word from me and the subject seems to die a quick and painless death. But Franzen is one of the subjects of my thesis, so I couldn't resist a reply.)
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    • #3
      Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

      Considering The Corrections is still on my pile of to-read, I'm not sure when I'm going to get to Freedom -- maybe somewhere in the 2020's?

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      • #4
        Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

        Originally posted by jcgary View Post
        Considering The Corrections is still on my pile of to-read, I'm not sure when I'm going to get to Freedom -- maybe somewhere in the 2020's?
        TIC TOC TIC TOC...

        The Corrections is number 43.

        http://www.listology.com/list/1001-b...t-read-you-die
        Last night, Jesus appeared to me in a dream and told me that loving me is the part of His job He hates the most.

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        • #5
          Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

          Originally posted by jcgary View Post
          Considering The Corrections is still on my pile of to-read, I'm not sure when I'm going to get to Freedom -- maybe somewhere in the 2020's?
          If memory serves me, there's a David Hare script of The Corrections floating out there. You could go for the cliffs-notes version.

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          • #6
            Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM (SPOILER ALERT)

            Originally posted by omovie View Post
            This will probably be another thread of mine that will go unanswered, but - has anyone dove into Franzen's latest novel FREEDOM? It's been called a masterpiece and he was the first living writer to be on the cover of Time Magazine since forever. It seems to be all anyone is talking about in the literary world. I read some of his last book, THE CORRECTIONS and thought it was pretentious. Anyone reading it?
            I'll try not to make it too spoiler-y but I know some folks here are on Defcon One about spoilers, thus the warning.

            I liked it a lot, and I usually hate "masterpieces" (one exception: "Confederacy of Dunces"). You've got to get down and dirty with a book you're reading, enjoy it, and react to it. The whole "masterpiece" discussion is premature. Let it romp in the sun awhile before it has to go up on the dusty shelf and be taught by bitter English teachers.

            Finished "Freedom" Saturday. Been talking about it ever since. It's a fun read. My favorite thing about Franzen is also my favorite thing about Stephen King: long passages where you are inside the minds of various characters.

            Franzen's writing about a midwestern upper-middle-class family, Mom Dad son daughter, from about 1980 until last year. He details their failings in a blow-by-blow; and synopsizes their victories and moments of grace. This is a choice, I suppose, but it also has a whiff of condescension.

            The last third of the book gets into -- believe it or not -- Carl Hiaasen territory, with broader, more craven characters than the first two-thirds, and pages of social commentary woven in as exposition or dialogue. That's fine by me, I just did not see it coming. One of the main characters goes from being a stand-up guy to a tool, "off screen", so to speak.

            BUT: there's plenty of candy along the way, great snark, terrific little character sketches, pithy acidic observations, etc. Had a cold and read it straight through in a couple days.

            Of the two 21st century Time Magazine authors, I think Stephen King has more empathy and understanding of working class characters. There are three working-class supporting characters in "Freedom" and they're harshly and judgmentally drawn, bordering on condemnation. There's also an absurd racist character who pops up in a bar in West Virginia for the sake of the plot, as if to walk into West Virginia is to subject yourself to 1950's-style racist taunts. Ah, well.

            But, read it and enjoy it. It's a swell novel. Maybe it's a masterpiece, too.

            Here's one of many passages I loved (p 282):

            Though Abigail's apartment wasn't tiny, there wasn't one square inch of it unoccupied by Abigail. The cats patrolled it like her plenipotentiaries, depositing hair everywhere. Her bedroom closet was densely packed with pants and sweaters in messy stacks that bunched up the hanging coats and dresses, and her drawers were unopenably stuffed. Her CDs were all unlistenable chanteuses and New Age burble, shelved in double rows and wedged sideways into every chink. Even her books were occupied with Abigail, covering topics like Flow, creative visualization, and the conquering of self-doubt. There was also all manner of mystical accessories, not just Judaica but Eastern incense burners and elephant-headed statuettes. The one thing there wasn't much in the way of was food. It was now occurring to Joey, as he paced the kitchen, that unless he wanted to eat pizza three times a day he would actually have to go to a grocery store and shop and cook for himself. Abigail's own food supplies consisted of rice cakes, forty-seven forms of chocolate and cocoa, and instant ramen noodles of the sort that satisfied him for ten minutes and then left him hungry in a new, gnawing way.

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            • #7
              Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

              I wouldn't worry too much about spoiling a book around these parts. We don't read novels here. That's why we're screenwriters.

              But good stuff, Harry. I'll be getting it today or tomorrow. I was hesitating because I got the impression that the book would dedicate a good portion as an indictment of the social mores of white liberal families and their hypocrisy. That would have turned me off. But it sounds like it's more than that and hopefully Franzen gives a healthy dose of empathy rather than condemnation to his characters.

              BTW Harry, are you a pro writer?

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              • #8
                Re: Johnatan Franzen's FREEDOM

                I'm going to read FREEDOM. It's on my must read list.
                Excedrin Migraine. Red Bull. Fade in.

                Sinister Scrawlings

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