DLR LIBRARY BLOG

Freedom

By

Jonathan Franzen

Freedom is an extremely well written novel, with some beautiful descriptive prose. The novel gives us a panoramic view of an American middleclas family.

The narrative moves fluidly between the four narrators and the overlapping of the narrative means a wonderfully rounded version of the story emerges. The characters are strongly written, and like people you meet in real life they have the ability to make you laugh, cry, they are annoying and irritating. Sometimes leaving you feeling extremely frustrated and sometimes breaking your heart. 

Franzen is an extremely gifted writer and the book is a pleasure to read.

However while reading Freedom, I found myself occasionally distracted. Waiting for the bolt of recognition to understand all the hype. Freedom has received rave critical reviews and the book has been hailed as The Great American Novel and the Book of the Century. Now that I have finished Freedom I still have three questions:

Did I enjoy this book?........YES 

Is it a good read?................YES

Does it deserve all the hype....NO

This is a purely personal point of view and perhaps should not detract from the enjoyment of the book, or the excellence of the writing.

Freedom is a good book, and I would recommend it.

 Despite all the hype.

Elaine