Freedom - by Jonathan Franzen

The main character of this large book appears to be Patty Berglund. Her husband Walter figures prominently as well, as do several other characters. But Patty is the only one who gets to write portions of her own "autobiography", oddly in the third person.

Patty was an athletic young girl who got knocked off the track to a basketball career when she injured her knee. She changed her dreams, married Walter, had children, did her best to become a super housewife. She knew all along that she was not as nice as others thought she was, but there was much she did not know about herself.

Patty was originally attracted to Walter's best friend, Richard Katz. Katz was a musician, womanizer, who initially did not respond to Patty's hints. Patty, however, found herself increasingly attracted to Walter anyway. Walter was almost an anti-Richard. Thin, geeky, an environmentalist. Something in him, though, responded to something in Patty, the ex-athlete who was not much aware of the environment.

We follow Patty and Walter through many years, dipping into the lives of their children and parents as well. Until comes a time when something has gone out of their marriage and Patty is dissatisfied in general. She has become less and less fun to be around for just about everyone. In spite of which Richard is drawn to her.

What is "freedom" in this context? The freedom to do as we please? The freedom to be away from others, to be alone? We watch as Richard continues his self-destructive life, as free as can be. We see Patty and Walter's son free himself from the nest, then later engage make some questionable choices in his career, free from interference. Patty and Walter live their own lives, essentially free of each other.

Some reviewers have called this a novel of its time, and as I think of it I can agree. In a way, it sums up life today in the US for many in the upper middle class in a way that reminds me of John Cheever. There is a lot of humor but underlying that is real warmth. Something you don't see so much in Cheever.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin

 The title refers to a ditty used to teach Southern children how to spell Mississippi: M - I - crooked letter, crooked letter - I - crooked letter, crooked letter...

It's a story that had to happen in Mississippi or a similar southern state.

Two boys, growing up in the 70s, one black, one white, become friends. But secret friends, because such a friendship was not acceptable then. The two meet under curious circumstances and ultimately find they are connected by more than geography.

Larry Ott, the white boy, is a quiet bookish boy who is thrilled when the neighbor girl asks if he wants to take her to a drive-in. The date does not go as planned and the next day the town is out looking for the girl. Suspicion centers on Larry because he was the last one to see her. For years he carries around this suspicion and his future is changed forever.

Meanwhile, a thoughtless comment by Larry pushes his friend Silas away. The two grow up and get on with their lives, separately. Until another incident pushes the two together and at least some of the mystery of years before is solved.

It's a beautifully-written story that goes back and forth from the past to the present, letting the tension build slowly and the characters develop. To me it feels very real and very sad.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Wendy's Review

When she was awake, the senile, skeletal black lady in the bed beside Ina would watch him with eyes narrowed by suspicion, but not because of Larry’s past, he figured, but his skin color, a woman close to ninety whose family had left her here, and Larry would wonder how many wrongs she’d endured from white people in her almost-century of living. Sometimes he thought of Alice Jones, of Silas, how Larry’s mother had given them coats but not a ride in her car. How what seemed liked kindness could be the opposite. – from Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, page 181 -

Larry Ott has lived his whole life in a small town in Mississippi. Different from other boys, quiet, and a bookworm, he doesn’t make friends easily. So when Silas, a black boy, and his single mother move onto the Ott’s land into a tumble down cabin, Larry cautiously extends a hand in friendship. The two boys connect almost instantly, but hide their friendship from people who might not approve of it – especially Larry’s abusive, alcoholic father. Then the unthinkable happens. Larry takes the beautiful and worldly Cindy Walker on a first date to the drive-in, and the girl is never seen again. Suspicion that Larry is responsible for her disappearance follows him from that day forward, and his only friend moves away leaving Larry alone once again.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter opens twenty-five years after Cindy’s disappearance. Another local girl has gone missing and once again, the accusatory eyes of the town have fallen onto Larry. Silas has returned, working as a constable, and avoiding Larry while quietly doing his job. Old secrets are surfacing which will bring the two men back together again and may hold the key to the mystery of both missing women.

Tom Franklin’s Edgar Award nominated novel is both literary and mystery – a novel which takes the reader deeply into the South where racism infiltrates everything. Atmospheric and firmly anchored in place, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter moves back and forth from the mid-70s to the present, gradually revealing the characters and uncovering their secrets.

Larry Ott is a sympathetic character – a man who has been ostracized and rejected his whole life, but who has maintained his gentle nature and humanity through it all. Larry, it seems, symbolizes all those bullied children who only wish for one friend in a world which seems against them.

I sped through this novel which is somewhat predictable, and yet still manages to be wholly satisfying. The relationship between Silas and Larry is complex and takes center stage; the mystery seems almost secondary to the real story about two men, one black and one white, who share secrets and a past which informs their whole lives.

Themes of the book include bullying, racism, and domestic violence. Readers should be warned, some of the language in the book is harsh and Franklin does not spare the reader the ugliness of racism. Despite this, the imagery and language never feel gratuitous because the idea of being different (whether it be due to skin color or something less tangible) is a strong concept in the novel. Larry is viewed as “scary” and strange because he is a bit of a recluse and prefers his books to socializing; Silas’s skin color keeps him in a less than responsible position on the police force.

Tom Franklin’s novel reminds me of another author whose work I have enjoyed: John Hart. Both men set their stories in the South and create damaged characters who are not well-accepted in society. Both authors weave the literary genre tightly together with mystery-suspense.

Readers who love both literary and mystery, will undoubtedly want to pick up a copy of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter.

Highly recommended.

2011 ALA Notable Books

Notable Books for Adults List, 2011

Fiction

Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass.

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

Next by James Hynes.

The Surrendered by Chang Rae Lee.

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.

The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel by Brady Udall.

Non-Fiction

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow.

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier.

The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness by Oren Harman.

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent.

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hourby Lynne Olson.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Just Kids by Patti Smith.

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson.

Poetry

Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty: Poems by Tony Hoagland.

Wait: Poems by C.K. Williams.

Freedom - Wendy's Review

“It’s all circling around the same problem of personal liberties,” Walter said. “People came to this country for either money or freedom. If you don’t have money, you cling to your freedoms all the more angrily. Even if smoking kills you, even if you can’t afford to feed your kids, even if your kids are getting shot down by maniacs with assault rifles. You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to fuck up your life whatever way you want to. - from Freedom, page 361 -

Jonathan Franzen’s latest novel Freedom doesn’t shy away from the politically incorrect; it doesn’t mince words; it certainly doesn’t extol the virtues of freedom. Instead, this is a novel which takes a hard, often cynical look, at middle America.

Patty and Walter Berglund are in many ways the typical middle-American couple. They live in the suburbs and have exactly two children (one boy and one girl). Patty becomes the traditional stay at home mom, and Walter is a successful environmental lawyer. But, despite the outside wrappings, this is a couple whose lives are far from perfect. Joey, their son, starts having sex early and then moves next door to live with his obsessed girlfriend; Walter’s best friend from college is a rock star whose propensity to disrespect women is actually an attractant rather than a repellent for Patty; and when Walter takes a job working with a big coal company whose idea of preservation first involves blowing the tops off of pristine mountains…all bets are suddenly off.

Freedom is a huge, sprawling book that follows the lives of the Berglunds and their closest friends and relatives for decades. Along the way there is humor, cynicism, love, betrayal, and the consequences of too much freedom. Franzen explores adultery, rape, teenage lust, environmental catastrophe, greed, and political shallowness. It all adds up to a rather negative, albeit amusing, look at contemporary America – especially that of parenting and marriage.

This was my first Franzen novel, and I was impressed by his characterizations and impeccable skill at the craft of writing. At times I found myself laughing out loud at Franzen’s sardonic sense of humor; but mostly I found myself marveling at the genius of his prose. Freedom is not a light read. It is a rather negative view of the American way of life – not all I agreed with, but many times the truth of the novel was hard to deny. The characters in this novel are hardly likable. Instead, they are flawed and use their freedom to mess up their lives and the lives of those they love. Despite not really liking any of the characters, I did end up liking the book.

Since finishing this novel, I’ve read some wildly disparate reviews of it. Some people love it; others hate it; some never finished it…and I see where not everyone will connect to Freedom. On the other hand, once in a long time a novel comes along which is truly an “American” novel from start to finish. I think Freedom fits the bill. Despite painting America with a negative brush, Franzen also provides an interesting perspective on what life is like in the 21st century. Whether readers agree or disagree with his conclusions, Freedom is an entertaining read.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy literary fiction.

The Lotus Eaters - Wendy's Review

California was infinitely far away. California was gone. Even her dreams were shaped by this land – rice paddies stretched flat to the horizon, mountains and jungles, fields of green rice shoots and golden rice harvests like rippling fields of wheat, lead curtains of monsoon rain, bald gaunt hides of water buffalo, and, too, Saigon’s clotted alleyways, the destroyed tree-lined avenues, the bombed-out, flaking, pastel villas, even their small crooked apartment with the peacocks and Buddhas painted on the door. The battered, loving, treacherous people. Her heart’s center, Linh. An undeniable rightness in ending here. - from the ARC of The Lotus Eaters, page 30 -

Helen Adams is an American photojournalist who arrives in Vietnam in 1967 as a scared, inexperienced freelance photographer. A woman reporter in Vietnam is not met with enthusiasm, especially from the men who make up the news corp and the soldiers in the field. Helen is expected to cover the human interest aspects of the Vietnam War, but instead she connects with Sam Darrow – a veteran reporter with a Pulitzer prize under his belt – and convinces him to take her into the field. She continues to position herself for combat coverage even when Darrow no longer seems willing to help her. Eventually, Helen overcomes the doubts of others and secures her place among the men…but there is a price to pay which Helen never anticipated.

The Lotus Eaters is part action-thriller, and part love story as Helen finds herself torn between two men – Sam Darrow (who is most at home in the middle of a war), and Linh (a Vietnamese poet who mourns the loss of his country). It is also a story about identity and love of country, about the horror of war and about what makes us human.

The novel begins in 1975 in Saigon as frightened South Vietnamese citizens and Americans attempt to flee the city in front of the North Vietnamese takeover. Fast-paced, tense and graphic…the first forty pages had me glued to my seat. Soli takes no time to develop a sense of place and history with her characters driving the narrative. I was immediately hooked, and I wanted some back story on Helen and Linh. Soli did not disappoint. She sets the stage, then takes the reader back to the mid-sixties when Helen first arrives in Vietnam. From there, the story moves forward.

Soli writes with authority and takes the reader inside the minds and hearts of her tightly drawn characters. The war scenes, including devastated villages and patrols through the jungle, capture the emotion of war. But, what is remarkable about Soli’s writing in The Lotus Eaters is not the story of war but the story of a country and its people, and the definition of “home.” Despite the burned out fields, Soli manages to also capture the beauty of Vietnam as Helen grows to love the country.

This is what happened when one left one’s home – pieces of oneself scattered all over the world, no one place ever completely satisfied, always a nostalgia for the place left behind. – from the ARC of The Lotus Eaters, page 277 -

This is a mesmerizing novel on all levels. The Lotus Eaters is haunting, evocative and marvelously written. Helen’s growth as a character found me empathizing with her and fearing for her safety. But it was the character of Linh who really captured my heart – a man who loses family and country, and yet still finds the poetry in life.

In case you have not yet figured it out, this is a novel which I can highly recommend…especially for readers interested in the Vietnam War era. Unlike many novels which cover this unpopular war, Soli focuses not on the politics, but on the people most impacted…and it is that which makes The Lotus Eaters unique.

Read a guest post by the author.

Room - Wendy's Review

After nap we do Scream every day but not Saturdays or Sundays. We clear our throats and climb up on Table to be nearer Skylight, holding hands not to fall. We say “On your mark, get set, go,” then we open wide our teeth and shout holler howl yowl shriek screech scream the loudest possible. Today I’m the most loudest ever because my lungs are stretching from being five.

Then we shush with fingers on lips. I asked Ma once what we’re listening for and she said just in case you never know. - from the ARC of Room -

Jack’s mother has lived seven years in a tiny room after being kidnapped at the age of nineteen. Jack’s birth (the result of repeated rapes), gives her a new purpose for her life – that of mother. Room is Jack and Ma’s story which begins on the morning of Jack’s fifth birthday. Narrated in the unique voice of Jack, the novel follows the characters from the limited life of captivity, to the overwhelming and chaotic Outside world and freedom.

Emma Donoghue deftly creates Jack and Ma’s world within an eleven by eleven foot room. Their days are surprisingly interesting, with Ma creating imaginative games for them to play together. But there is an underlying tension, made more poignant by the fact that it is through a five year old’s eyes that we see the story unfolding. Jack is no longer an infant. He is a smart, curious boy who asks a lot of difficult questions. His mother has allowed him to believe that the world does not exist except for the room in which they live, an alternate reality which eventually must be corrected if they are ever to escape Room.

I must admit that the first 40 pages or so of this novel took some getting used to…Jack’s voice is odd. But once I allowed myself to be fully inside Jack’s world, the book began to resonate with me. The daring escape attempt is perhaps one of the most suspenseful and nerve-wracking scenes I’ve read in a long, long time. Ma’s inner turmoil is perfectly captured through the eyes of her observant son – even though he does not fully understand it. What begins as a story of captivity evolves into a deeper novel of mothering, love, hope and the resilience of the human spirit.

It takes a talented writer to write entirely from the point of view of a child – and Donoghue pulls off this feat seamlessly. The relationship between mother and child is beautifully revealed on every level. Donoghue’s ability to draw the reader in and emotionally invest them in the story is brilliant. Room was recently shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize…and it is a well deserved nomination. Original, enthralling, haunting, and memorable Room is a novel I highly recommend for readers who enjoy literary fiction.