Book Title: Freedom
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Thumbs: Way, way up
Summary: Freedom follows the lives of Patty and Walter Berglund and their two kids, Joey and Jessica. It’s a lot of back-stories, but primarily set during the time right after 9/11, ultimately dealing with many societal issues during that time. You experience Patty and Walter’s childhoods, how they meet and fall in love in college, and the highs and lows of their marriage. It’s a story of how everything in your life shapes who you are – good and bad.
**SPOILER ALERT**
For me, the best parts of the book were Patty’s journals. It really let me as the reader understand where she was coming from. Personally, I could never once blame Patty for her actions…not saying I would have made the same decision, but when presented all the information, I can’t fault her either. The only decision I thought that *may* have been wrong was not staying/sleeping with Richard that night in Chicago. BUT ONLY because I know how things turned out since she hadn’t. The not knowing what could have been stayed with her and almost completely ruined her marriage.
I found her relationship with her children quite…umm…interesting. She was clearly trying to be the parent she felt she never had, yet only to Joey. She over shared, which eventually resulted in him isolating himself from the family for a time. Yet, Jessica, the one she seemed to neglect (and oddly, I felt the book neglected as well), was the one who is with her in the end.
Talking with a few friends about the book, we all had varying opinions on the ending. Personally, I liked it. I liked that they ended up back together after everything. Maybe that’s me wanting to believe in fairy tales (although I feel this is VERY far from a fairy tale). I always thought Walter was who she was supposed to be with. I never once questioned that decision…I just thought maybe they weren’t given enough time to grow up and experience life before they were married. I think both just needed to find out who they were before they could be themselves with another person?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
I know this was one of Oprah’s book club selections, so there may be more in depth discussion questions there (I haven’t looked). These were just the ones that popped into my head.
If you read Freedom, what did you think? Did Patty’s actions make you angry? Could you sympathize with her? Do you think she should have married Walter? Any other decisions she made that you questioned or thought she should have done differently? What about her relationship with Joey – did you find it inappropriate? Did you see any parallels to Patty’s relationship to her parents and how Joey ultimately responds to his? What were your thoughts on the ending?
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Laura Schulte, a native of Little Rock, loves baseball (Rangers, Cardinals. Andrus, Pujols). And books. And movies. And did I mention baseball? |
