I.. don't know how I feel about this book. Every time the story changed I found myself upset that I couldn't follow the previous story, and couldn't get into the next one. Until that story ended, and then I realized I was loving it and wanted more. Repeat.

I don't know if I loved this book or hated it or found it amazing or boring. I.. I think I liked it. But I'm also glad I'm done with it.

I'm so conflicted.

As with The Corrections, Franzen does a good job of writing cuttingly about middle class America, but it’s hard not to see it as over-the-top. Regularly poignant, clever, funny, and even a bit gruesome, it’s a very good, insightful piece of writing, but the endless stream of extreme occurrences, actions, and emotions could just be a bit much. Absolutely worth a read to enjoy the style and commentary, and will speak to this century’s American experience, just not top-tier personally.

Can't decide to give this three or four stars. I found the characters pretty irritating. Some pretty interesting but sometimes obnoxious rants on society. It should make for a good discussion.

A victim of too much hype?

I liked it, think he's a brilliant writer, but it didn't blow me away like I thought it would.

Franzen is damn good at writing female characters, so he goods kudos for that.

There were some plot points that strained credulity for me too.

I liked it better than The Corrections, but still not a huge fan of his - not sure why!

Let me say first that reading Freedom was a real challenge because I was unable to relate to any of the characters within. Not a single one inspired any loyalty. Patty is a spoiled brat who can’t stand to lose. Walter is a wimp who lets everyone in his life walk all over him. Jessica is a ghost in her own house. Joey is a bit of a douche. Richard’s an ass. Carol’s got no class. Connie is weird. Blake is an idiot. There are more characters and I could go on but you get the point. I realize that nobody’s perfect. We all have flaws and maybe that’s something Franzen is trying to draw attention to. Be forewarned that the closest you will get to a hero in this book is Walter and the most proactive thing he does is to kidnap his neighbor’s cat. This happens when you are 99% of the way through the book.

So what is Freedom about? Hmmm, the name of the book is Freedom, there are extended passages that focus solely freedom as a concept, and ample examples of misapplication of freedoms. All of this information and what I really get is that the book is about how the young break away from the old. How children fight instinctively against the values of their parents only to return to them after learning some very hard lessons. You can have your freedom but if you abuse it, the world will punish you harshly.

Patty’s mother, Joyce, was born into a poor Jewish family. When Joyce grows up she chooses a well-off gentile as a mate. While Joyce and Ray have four children together it is Patty’s opinion that her mother was never prepared for family life and this is the reason that she runs away to the state capitol to become the assemblywoman in support of “open spaces where poor children can go and do Arts at state expense.” None of the children are raised with any knowledge of their mother’s Jewish heritage. Now fast-forward in time and Patty marries someone who’s poor, has never known privilege, and is a hard worker. Patty also, despite being ultra-competitive, decides to shun the professional life in favor of being a stay-at-home mom in suburban St. Paul vs. Metropolitan New York. In this capacity she is involved in every facet of her children’s lives. In other words, she’s the exact opposite of her mother. It is only after Walter ejects Patty from his life and the death of her father that she and Joyce are finally able to talk. This pattern seems to repeat with each of the major characters, and continues in the examination of extended family histories. Franzen intimates that this is the natural course of things, hence the comparison to Walter’s beloved migratory birds.

The references to freedom as a concept are numerous and there is a trickle down effect that influences every aspect of the characters’ lives. I have seen an interview with Franzen on CNN, filmed shortly after Time had him on the cover as “The Great American Novelist” where he spoke of the influences of his own family history and its interplay, within the context of Freedom, with post-9/11 politics. It is no accident that the first overt reference to freedom is the inscription on one of the buildings at Jessica’s college: “Use well thy freedom.” For much of the second half of the 20th century the first taste of freedom kids got was the college experience. In Franzen’s world at least, every character seems to make the wrong choices. Walter chooses Patty despite numerous red flags. Joey is sucked into a scam that sucks money away from the troops in Iraq. For Patty this issue continues well into her middle age. She reflects on her “cherished freedom” to get away from it all at the lake house and her “more general freedom that she could see was killing her. . .” She continues in this pattern of self-pity most of the way through the novel and only finds her footing after the death of her father.

Joey provides some of the best fodder for the freedom discussion. He essentially divorces his parents at 16 and moves in with the neighbors. At one point he seems to experience regret but realizes that “he’d asked for his freedom, they’d granted it, and he couldn’t go back now.” His rebellion extends to his political beliefs causing him to become a tried and true republican. He is heavily influenced by his friend Jonathan as they debate the state of Israel: “That’s why we have to try to bring freedom to all the Arab countries. But you don’t start that by selling out the only working democracy in the entire region.” This debate continues when Joey meets Jonathan’s family. Joey argues “Isn’t that what freedom is for? The right to think whatever you want? I mean, I admit, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes.” Jonathan, at first, is only echoing his family’s sentiments at the beginning of their friendship but he becomes increasingly more aligned with democratic ideals as the story proceeds, eventually becoming part of Joey’s conscience along with Walter.

There are some relatively funny sections in Freedom but the majority of the work is fairly serious. My initial impression was that I didn’t like the book but it certainly does provide a lot to think about. Do we measure a work’s value simply on how much we enjoy it? For some maybe, but I also truly believe that if a book makes you work and forces you to think about and then confront issues regarding the human experience that provides a greater value than simple escapism. In this respect, I am glad that I committed to finishing Freedom. And who doesn’t appreciate the occasional chapter based on excrement and infidelity? Either way, I guess Franzen has at least forced me to recognize that I must someday read War and Peace to gain a full appreciation for Freedom. Franzen touches on several other themes throughout the book: commitment, personal morality, the individual vs. the corporate, and overpopulation. The list goes on. I don’t rank the book in my top ten but am, ultimately, glad that I read it.