Just completed
Freedom by
Jonathan Franzen - voted by Oprah's Book Club as the 2010 selection of the year. An interesting novel about the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota where Barrier street is the home to the Burglunds, Monaghans, and the Paulsens. The story focuses on the lives of each Burglund - Walter, Patty and their two children Joey and Jessica. Growing up in the suburban sprawl affects each character's thoughts and actions - like saving the endangered warbler, or Joey's Republican sentiments. Each struggles for upward mobility - sometimes sacrificing middle class values and ethics to achieve anything. What each strives for, on a subconscious level, is Freedom - from their very surroundings that form a fence, (sort of a "Barrier") - defining their limitations. For example, Patty limits herself by becoming a housewife, only later to realize that it's not the love of her life. Joey aims for the upper class, but limitations within his own self pull him closer to Connie, and he settles down at a very young age. Franzen leaves a nice ending for the birds - which symbolize the presence of nature in the modern world - this theme recurrs over and over in the novel - almost reminiscent of the Mockingbirds of
To Kill A Mockingbird ("it's a sin to kill a mockingbird...") - All in all...a pretty interesting read! More books by FSG -
here.
