Why I Read (maybe)
This is a long rambling blog, but this time I promise that the picture has something to do with the blog – it’s supposed to “capture the absurdities of contemporary life”
It’s funny. Even though I am constantly thinking and talking about books I hate reading reviews. I generally scan over them to see what is getting the press. I may skim the ones about the books I have read or plan to read to see if they are favorable, but I rarely actually read a review. You would think that it would help me at work to read them (you know – so I can sell the books) but I really don’t think it does help. For one thing – and I don’t think this is a revelation – but, they generally ruin the plot of the book for the reader. Or at least they effect the way you read a book. You know, this one is about a family, or this one is about terrorism – when in fact the reviewer may have missed the point. And of course sometimes the plot of a book isn’t really the point, but still…
I’ve been watching the reviews of Jonathan Franzen’s new book Freedom though and I think I’ve been interested for a couple of reasons: First, the media buzz around The Corrections in 2001 was such a big deal that everyone seemed to have an opinion about Franzen – you know, he’s the one that snubbed Oprah. I personally thought that it was a good idea to snub Oprah, but the novel itself fell flat. But he made such a bang that you couldn’t help but watch. After all, what else in the literary world does anyone other than us care about. (I liked his essay from Harper’s) The second reason that I have been watching for reviews of Freedom is that I actually really liked the book. I read it on vacation and just ate it up. I liked it, but I’m not really sure why – maybe some of these smart people who get paid to write reviews can help me out, right? Well, the first one I heard was on NPR one day – the reviewer said that he didn’t like the book because of Franzen’s disdain for his characters. I’m not sure if I like that as a reason to give a book a negative review, but I guess I see his point. I’m not sure I agree – the characters are definitely imperfect but I’m not sure that I think Franzen himself dislikes them.
This week the print reviews hit in the New York Times and the cover of Time. The Time piece describes Franzen’s self consciousness – I happen to suspect that it’s a bit of an act – he’s just the to perfect nerd hero. (nerdy glassed, mussed hair, professor jacket, memoir about birding)
Here’s a quote from the NYT’s review: “it felt, at times, as if he were self-importantly inflating the symbolic meaning of his characters experiences”. Interesting and I guess I agree but don’t really mind. I think one of the most helpful thing I’ve read is that Franzen is trying to write the big American novel. It’s big and sprawling and covers a lot of ground. Again from the NYT’s review – Franzen’s characters capture “the absurdities of contemporary life”. Maybe it’s as simple as that – I like this book because I can relate. I’ve often suspected that a big part of the reason that I like books so much is a simple curiosity about other people.
Written by Joe
7 responses so far ↓
1 Ellis // Aug 17, 2010 at 6:42 pm
I really liked this blog Joe, and I agree with basically all of it.
I’m not sure I get the reviewer’s bit about Franzen’s disdain for his characters. I’m not sure that you can have an honest character that isn’t imperfect. I think what matters between an author and a character is whether or not you can tell the author is interested in him or her. It seems like it should have very little to do with what a character does or that character’s weaknesses or flaws, so long as the story and prose is clearly an honest work of art. I think an author’s refusal to judge a character is also really important, because if they are in touch with this thing called humanity, then they know that nothing human is really beyond anyone, and that they are at least tempted to do pretty awful things most of the time.
I’m not sure that it relates at all, but not long ago I watched that Noah Baumbach movie Margot at the Wedding, and there was simply nothing redeemable about any of those characters. They were all so annoying and mean-spirited and he did not give them even a moment of mercy or grace, not even a hint that there was more to these people than their meanness and stupidity. It was really hard to watch, and I did not enjoy it. The experience with those people simply was not worth the two hours I spent trying to care.
In keeping with your point, I think fiction is good when our curiosity leads us to satisfaction, when getting to know these “people” is worth the time and the effort. That’s why books are such a pleasure. I like the bit about “the absurdities of contemporary life,” because it touches on a lot of what Frederick Barthelme has brought to my attention in the last year: how meaningful the everyday really is, and how the things we probably deem small and simple are really loaded with the stuff of the heart.
I’m not sure any of this is pertinent to your blog, but this is what it got stirring in my head. I hope you’re well, and I miss you, friend.
Wow, it seems that you actually think I made a point. Anyway, the disdain thing is kind of funny. I don’t think he was trying to say that the characters were unlikable – although that was my first reaction – I think he was saying that Franzen doesn’t like his characters. Which is different but I’m not sure that it’s legit – it seems to be more a criticism of Franzen than of his book.
I really like what you said about the meaningfulness of everyday life. I totally agree. Glad you’re learning so much from Barthelme.
Miss you dude.
3 Pat // Aug 19, 2010 at 5:18 pm
You know, Joe (these first three words sound like something straight out of the mouth of Sarah Palin), Franzen’s self consciousness is probably not an act. If he appears to be his own best nerdy hero, then the author of that article probably presented him as such. Your description of the book itself makes me want to read it as well as the extraordinary write up with front page coverage in Time magazine this week. Lev Grossman, the writer of the article, compares Franzen’s writing with that of Dickens and Tolstoy whose characterizations engage the reader so that we are reluctant to put a book down and certainly never want it to end. Sometimes, reading about a book can be nearly as much fun as reading the book. It’s like jumping into a swimming pool, completely immersing oneself into the experience of reading, reading about reading, writing, writing about reading, the writer, the reader, the characters, the plot, the physical book, the book club that reads the book, even the dust jacket. Throw them all into the pool and swim through it, feel it, submerge and then come up for a breather and dive down further. Everytime you submerge, you experience something new, something someone said enlightens, brings fresh ideas, engages us in the deepest sense of engagement. All of the input matters, makes it fun, makes it all worthwhile. Your comments as well as Lev’s make me want to read this book and I certainly would have if only I had a review (advanced reader) copy.
4 Joe // Aug 20, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Maybe the nerd hero stuff was kind of harsh. But the idea didn’t actually come from the Time piece. I’ve actually held that opinion for a while and it just sort of popped out irresponsibly. But I really do think that he’s working a certain image….
5 susie // Aug 23, 2010 at 9:25 am
hey! hey. i remember reading franzen’s little memoir a few years ago…what was it called? anyway, joe, i completely agree regarding the nerd hero thing. the book got on my nerves, the image he endeavored to portray for/of himself seemed way too contrived to trust/believe/enjoy, and i put the book down halfway through – and it’s a small book, AND i never do that. that said, i always wanted to read the corrections and the new one looks good too.
6 Joe // Aug 23, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Hey Susie – I’m glad you know what I mean – and I think I mean it, but I reread the essay from Harper’s this weekend. (it’s in HT be Alone) and I’m thinking of retracting the whole blog except the part where I say I like the book. You should check the essay out – I actually feel bad about the nerd hero thing. He actually sort of addresses the issue in the essay.
7 Pat // Sep 24, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Here it is, a summer like day, the second day of official autumn, the day after a miraculous full moon. In my opinion, an almost perfect day. Like an almost perfect book. Yesterday I finished reading Freedom. I can’t think of any reason to criticize it and many reasons to herald it as one of the finest of this decade. I believe that Franzen absolutely adored his characters. Not because they are lovable. They are so human that we see their malicious motives, their less than stellar choices and their place in a world that is always chasing after freedom of some sort but often fails at the task. He asks of us: What is freedom? How can we be free if so much of our behavior is genetically predetermined? What makes freedom so alluring? Are we free if we leave the people we may love or once loved and can live without? The conversational possibilities of freedom in a book club gathering could be endless.
There is not a whole lot of moment to moment physical action in the book but so much emotional tension, enough to bring forth laughter, tears, hate, gratitude, anticipation to keep it moving along without a hitch. Yet it is not a sentimental or mawkish or cynical book. It’s a book about the world we live in today and he gets it so well you wonder from whence cometh such fine genius. The reader never focuses on the author, though. This is a book about people viewed in every direction if not from a parallel universe and the dirty stuff didn’t come out in the laundry. Not to give any of the plot away, I will just finish this little blog to say this book makes me want to live next door to Patty and Walter Berglund but perhaps not next to the Carol and Blake. Thanks, Joe, for suggesting this as a very good read for those of us compelled by curiosity.
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