REVIEW: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul—the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbor, who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter—environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man—she was doing her small part to build a better world.
But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz—outré rocker and Walter's college best friend and rival—still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become "a very different kind of neighbor," an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street's attentive eyes? (Via Goodreads)
Review
When I think about Freedom the first word that comes to mind is epic. Freedom is a very long book, over 24 hours in audible listening time, that spans decades in the lives of one family and the people surrounding them. It is expansive and impressive in its scope of storytelling, but if there is one thing that Freedom proves it is that not all epics are worthy of the time.
This was my second time listening to this book and I did come out of it with a slightly better view of it then I did the first time, but it still was not a great experience. While thinking about this review I have had a tough time fully forming my thoughts, I don't fall into either of the two main camps of "Oprah is always right, this book is amazing" or "I can't believe so many people love this trash." Looking at my feelings overall I think I fall closer to the "trash" team than the "amazing" team, but I think I am still somewhere in the middle.
I do not like a single character in this book, the only one I come close to liking is Jessica but I am pretty sure that is because we know basically nothing about her. For whom I hate the most it is a really close match between Joey and Lalitha. We get a large amount of Joey narration throughout the book and he does improve towards the end but Lalitha is just viscerally terrible every time she is mentioned or speaks. Part of the reason I found her so odious is likely due to the just awful voice put on by the otherwise wonderful David LeDoux.
Other than the lack of likable characters the other main complaint I see is the directionless, rambling plot. While I would agree the plot is both those things I rarely got out and out bored while listening. Throughout I kept imagining this story in miniseries form, something that really improved it in my mind. I hope this does eventually become a miniseries (ala Years and Years), I believe a story of this scope would translate to that medium than the written word.
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