The Berglund family made up of Walter, Patty, Jessica and Joey live in the Minnesotan suburbs (like many of Franzen's families). Walter, a passionate environmentalist from a struggling middle class family of hoteliers, has settled for a calm life with the woman he believe is the love his life and he is known by most people to be the nicest person they know. Patty, his wife and the daughter of a rich lawyer and a New York senator, was a champion basketballer in school until she busted her knee in college and since then she has become what she believe to be the perfect housewife. Jessica, their eldest, is all-in-all a overly well adjusted and calm individual whose life is much tidier than those of her family. Joey, the youngest Berglund, is a too cool for school type who starts sleeping with the elder girl next door when he is 13 and moved out of his parents' house and in with his girlfriend, her mother and her step-father when he is 16. Walter's best friend and a regular feature in his and Patty's life is Richard Katz a semi famous musician who cannot commit to a woman, a band or much of anything. The novel enfolds the long story of the Berglunds like a series of Russian dolls on the outer edge the opinions of their neighbours, then the next layer in Patty's retelling (in the third person) of her life story and at its core the stories of Walter, Richard and Joey. It is a struggle for each of these complex individuals to find themselves and, during a time where the American idiom was/is so focused on freedom, it is also an exploration of how we define freedom at difference times and in difference ways whilst constantly questing for some personal semblance of it.
There are many things here that are much like Franzen's other novels in particular The Corrections- the interesting family interactions, the characters who aren't the most likeable of people, Minnesota and the funny....and yes THE BRILLIANCE! When I saw Franzen at the Opera House there was much discussion of this novel being as it is last novel of his to be published. Franzen was impressed when it was noted that this novel is less biting and satirical than The Corrections as many critics/readers seemed to miss this. I have to say clearly they are dolts if they thought that was the path Franzen was retreading. The presentation of all of them shows an immense love of the characters and heartfelt desire to present them as real people going about their real lives, and there is none of the mild tone of mockery and observational distance that is present in The Corrections. The characters are no more likeable than the characters in The Corrections but Franzen is much nicer to them. Franzen does again also show his commitment to dysfunctional people- very clearly here as Jessica (the well adjusted Berglund) almost gets less page space than Patty's estranged sister, Abigail. I felt a connection to all of the principle players as they were just so real though I will say more so to Patty and especially to Richard (not sure what it says about me that for the second time after The Corrections, that I particularly like to commitaphobe who likes girls much younger than himself) than to either Joey or Walter. The book exploration of the theme of freedom is fascinating especially as the characters grapple with their political and personal ideals especially in a post 9/11 world.The prose is profound (AGAIN) and it is very funny, very beautiful and very heartbreaking in parts. I will now stop before I babble....I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book though it is a tiny millimetre behind The Corrections in my opinion but still AWESOME....
Currently halfways through Enduring Love by Ian McEwan so will have words on that soon and I'm also about to start on another book from someone I saw talking at the Opera House of late, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.
I haven't begged you all for a while but if you've been following the journey of the many books, PLEASE sponsor me (even a couple of bucks would be appreciated)-
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