FREEDOM: AUDIO BOOK REVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES

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 FREEDOM

The Audio Book
BY JONATHAN FRANZEN

READ BY DAVID LEDOUX

ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK:

To read more "About the Book", 

see the original post HERE

Macmillan Audio, August 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4272-1049-4, ISBN10: 1-4272-1049-7,
5 7/8 x 5 1/8 inches, Audio Run Time: 25:00
Awards: AudioFile Earphones Award

MY REVIEW:

Jonathan Franzen’s FREEDOM is a remarkably smart story that focuses on an upper-middle-class family from the Midwest, the Berglunds, and their musician friend Richard Katz.  Told from the point of view of the different characters, FREEDOM is a very real story of how life is for many people today. Although the characters in FREEDOM are best friends and family, and have been together over many years, they are mostly so self-centered that they really have no idea what the others are all about.  As I read, I realized that even if they all got what they think they wanted, it wouldn’t matter. They would still be unhappy and depressed, and I could relate as I know people just like that.

Somewhere I saw someone write about FREEDOM “What’s the big deal?“, and the answer was “The people”. How true this is! I found myself really not liking what these characters did or said, and yet I was so intrigued that I had to continue. At times I was even a bit uncomfortable because, for the most part, I agreed with Franzen as he used his characters to tackle the things that most of us dislike about our culture and society today. There are so many problems we have no answers for and perhaps I hoped to see how these characters might handle some of the same issues I read about, or even am somehow involved in, daily.

Patty and Walter Berglund are students at the University of Minnesota when they meet. This meeting eventually leads to marriage and they settle in what is at first, a rather shabby neighborhood in St. Paul. It is there that they raise two children. Patty is a former student basketball player who rebels against her mother who is a very involved politician and working mom back home. So Patty, of course, is a stay at home mom with amazingly too much time on her hands, and too much into her children’s lives. Walter is a lawyer who later becomes an environmental activist in response to his own rebellion against his alcoholic father. Both Patty and Walter had a relationship during college, and after, with Richard Katz, a rock and roll singer, who was Walter's former roommate. 

Patty Berglund is the main character in the story. Patty seems to spend the whole story trying to be loved. With an obvious lack of love from her parents, she first centers her “love” on her son Joey but when he grows up and no longer lives by Patty’s rules and in her desired image, she pretty much loses it. She later allows her old feelings for Richard to resurface, as she seeks this love and approval from him, and proceeds to have an affair with him. This is Walter's best friend which only reaffirmed my belief that Patty probably never loved Walter but used him as having a husband seemed to be what she needed at the time.

Walter Berglund reminds me of several men I know. He is just a really good guy, however, he is too good for his own sake. His relationship with Richard is almost like a competition. He likes Richard and considers him his closest friend, however, in some ways, Walter is jealous and hates Richard at the same time. It doesn’t, however, stop him from being loyal to his long time friend, even when Patty has the affair with Richard. I personally found Walter to be the most likable of the characters as I did think he had some redeeming qualities.

Richard Katz is a rock and roll singer and song writer, who has a way with women…all women, including Patty. He also winds up being Walter’s best friend, that is, as much as Richard is capable of being a friend to anyone. Richard for so long ignored Patty, but then winds up having an affair with her only to find out over the years that he really loves her. This is something Richard never knew he was capable of.

I found that although there were times when I wasn’t sure if I even liked certain parts, FREEDOM was still a very compelling, very real, and very extraordinary read. The characters seemed to become part of my life over the course of listening to the twenty-five hours of the audio book (which actually went by MUCH faster than I really thought giving credence to the fact that the book is one people say they can’t put down once they start). These characters were people who I wanted to know about and wanted to see what happened to them. Jonathan Franzen makes one more aware of how much influence love and family have over us, and how the choices we make for our own “freedom” may effect another person's life.

 GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO STEPHANIE AND THE GOOD

FOLKS AT MACMILLAN AUDIO BOOKS,
I HAVE TWO COPIES OF THIS GREAT
AUDIO BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

 

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HOW TO ENTER:

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+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT ENTRY OF MINE YOU HAVE ENTERED

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