Only Happy When It Rains

I tentatively began Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Freedom, after hearing him talk about it on NPR’s “Fresh Air” and watching Oprah Winfrey rave about it on her show. I know it’s probably not cool anymore to like Oprah’s book selections, but I usually like the ones she picks. I read Franzen’s The Corrections a while back and found it depressing. I had to see how Freedom would measure up on the scale of pessimism and darkness.

The novel is the story of the Berglund family--particularly, the story of Walter and Patty Berglund’s marriage. My main criticism of this novel is the author uses too many words. He needs a different editor. He is talented at describing things, but I believe there can be power in restraint and brevity. (Yes, I was a journalism major in college and believe most of the time, the shortest way is the best way to tell a story.)

Anyway, the novel switches narrators throughout (which I liked) and is best when it is told from the view of Patty. Every member of the family suffers from depression at some point in the novel and at times, I just wanted them to stop putting themselves in bad situations and stop whining about it.

Despite the wordiness of the the book, I thought Freedom was well-written. I just don’t know that I enjoyed reading it all that much.