The first essay on David Foster Wallace and his suicide is the strongest in the book. It's poignant, engaging, and honest. It hooked me instantly.The problem is that the rest of the collection don't surpass, or even meet, this high bar. The interview with New York State comes closest and was genu...
whenever I fell I need to make sense of my life, just for today, or whenever I feel life is a bit to harsh I read Franzen. The sky is clear again, I feel somebody cares, I feel I can be at ease with my inadequacy, I realize the world is a vast place and that writers get out of their way to descri...
Quite a few of these essays are Franzen at his brilliant best; highly recommended. One excellent essay ("Farther Away" - well-crafted, moving); the others, disappointing.
An Opportunity to Make A Few CorrectionsI read “The Corrections” pre-Good Reads and originally rated it four stars.I wanted to re-read (and review) it, before starting “Freedom”.I originally dropped it a star because I thought there was something unsatisfying about the whole Lithuanian adventure....
Unless you are an employee of the New York Times, it has become uncool to admit to liking Jonathan Franzen.I don't know when Franzen's innate un-hipness became official. Was it when he announced his mixed feelings about his work being included in Oprah's book club? Was it when he wrote his essay ...
Mein Lieblingsroman des Jahres 2012 war Franzens "Die Korrekturen". Mein Lieblingsroman des Jahres 2013 war Franzens "Freiheit".Wird Franzen auch im Jahr 2014 seinem Spitzenplatz auf meiner Bestenliste behaupten können?Leider lautet meine Antwort dieses Mal: Nein! Auch wenn das Genie immer wieder...
How To Be Alone – a.k.a., How To Make Some Quick Cash Between NovelsFull disclosure: I love Jonathan Franzen, novelist. The Corrections and Freedom are two of my favourite novels written in the past couple of decades. And I can’t wait to read his new book, out this fall.But that’s Novelist Franz...
Franzen's freshman effort is striking. First, just one long gaze at the picture of Franzen on the back and it makes me think this kid must have been gnawing on ideas for this book in his mother's womb. Seriously, he looks like he might be wearing the same deodorant his dad gave him at puberty.Any...
Ambientada en la década de los cincuenta, cuando no se hablaba de las frustraciones sino que se ahogaban en martinis, “El hombre del traje gris” de Sloan Wilson se centra en Tom Rath, un hombre que lleva una vida idéntica a la de miles de hombres de aquella época. Tom Rath vive en Connecticut per...