Last night I finished reading Jonathan Franzen’s new book, Freedom.  I read the book on my iPad in only about three days, which is pretty quick for a nearly 600-page book.  Franzen is a great writer, and his observations about popular culture and the mindset of those trying to navigate it are both spot-on and very entertaining to me.  But overall this book didn’t really do it for me.  (Unlike his last book, 2001′s The Corrections, which I thought was incredible and highly recommend.)

First, this book seems like it tried to do too much.  You’ve got a complicated environmental land preservation deal gone wrong, an Iraqi weapons deal (!), cross-country moves from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. (which didn’t really add much to the story, I didn’t think), and a whole universe of bitter, depressed people:  the bitter, depressed aging, sex-addicted musician who finally achieves some relative success late in life, a bitter, depressed husband and wife who treat each other horribly and have very dysfunctional relationships with both of their children, a depressed and seemingly suicidal college roommate, a depressed and seemingly suicidal neighbor and girlfriend, etc., etc., etc.  The book, as much as it also harps on the concept of freedom, could have just as easily been titled Depression.  

And that’s the second problem I had with the book – none of the characters are especially likable.  You might start out liking one of the characters, but by the end of the book you’ve realized that they, like everyone else in the book, is screwed up and basically not a good human being.  I just didn’t like anyone, and wasn’t pulling for anyone, and that makes for a long-feeling 576 pages.

Finally, the book itself is just very depressing to read.  Basically nothing goes right for anyone, and even the things that do go “right” end up being morally or ethically compromised and wrong.  It’s essentially just a big exercise in chronicling the despair of our modern existence.  I didn’t feel positive or upbeat when I finished the book.  And I’m not saying that you need to feel positive or upbeat after reading every single book, but I really just didn’t see the point of the whole exercise.

I think that Franzen is a brilliant writer, and one of the reasons I finished the book so quickly is because I enjoy reading his style of writing, and his cultural observations, so much, but this book just wasn’t the best vehicle for that style or those observations for me.  Apparently I’m in a small minority, however, because every review I’ve read of the book has been extremely positive.