Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen (2021)

 

Rating: Excellent

Another family saga by Jonathan Franzen, this time it's the rather dysfunctional Hildebrandt family who live in suburban Chicago circa 1971. I'm one of the few people who haven't read the dysfunctional family saga The Corrections (2001), but I did read Freedom (2010), which was impressive. Crossroads is a massive novel, in terms of length but also thematically, covering religion, morality, trauma, drug addiction, mental illness and all the cultural baggage of the time, such as Vietnam and the counter-culture. Apparently it will be the first novel in a trilogy called 'A Key to all Mythologies', taken from George Eliot's Middlemarch (1871), being the academic work of Edward Casaubon, who is trying to link all mythologies to Christianity. The Hildebrandt family, apart from the youngest son, Judson, all feature prominently, with long sections dedicated to each in turn, focussing on their own particular struggles and world-view. Readers will have their favourites, and mine was Perry, a fourteen year old budding intellectual with narcissistic tendencies who becomes very dysfunctional indeed. Marion, the matriarch, is the queen of dysfunction, closely followed by her uptight and frustrated husband, Russ, who seethes with jealously toward a hip young minister, Rick Ambrose (Russ is a middle-aged minister at the first Reformed Church) and lusts after a beautiful younger widow, Frances. All have their moments in the literary sun throughout the novel, as do older siblings Clem and Becky. Franzen takes his time, giving his well fleshed out characters plenty of narrative space to deal with their issues. Ultimately it makes for compelling reading.

Crossroads is serious literary fiction and requires both concentration and dedication. Fortunately the novel is well worth the effort. The sentences are long, but not particularly showy, there's not much in the way of beauty here, but there is a great deal of psychological intensity in Franzen's prose, and that is something to both enjoy and admire. As with all great novel titles, Crossroads has multiple meanings, being the name of a Christian youth group that is at the centre of the novel, and where most of the protagonists find themselves at one point or another; it's also where American society finds itself as it begins to become more polarised and more secular. The world that Franzen builds is vivid, as are the struggles of the characters. Marion, in particular, is a traumatised and conflicted character, and the long section that delves into her past is disturbing and dark, so much so it's a relief to move onto the next chapter and another character. The age old problems of how to be virtuous and moral are explored via the struggles of multiple characters, but as Perry and Russ find out, easy answers are more often not forthcoming. Such universal themes are always fertile ground for novelists and Franzen certainly makes the most of it in Crossroads, so much so that at the end you are left wanting more. I'm hoping that the 'Key to all Mythologies' will be as rewarding as John Updike's epic Rabbit novels, that played out over decades (beginning in the sixties and ending in the naughties) and followed the same characters as they lived their very human lives. There's your challenge Jonathan Franzen, but I have no doubt that you are up to it, just don't take ten years to deliver the sequels, otherwise you will become Casaubon, which would be regrettable. 

Freedom - Jonathan Franzen (2010)

Rating: Excellent

I missed all the controversy over Franzen’s The Corrections (2001), the book that sold by the millions and was on Oprah Winfrey’s book club list. I simply wasn’t reading current literature at that time as I was indulging in my love for 50’s Beat literature and science fiction. Franzen infamously upset Oprah by airing his misgivings about having her book club sticker on his book because he was concerned that it would put off male readers and effectively halve his readership. That’s a whole other story but it worked in his favour when Oprah removed the book from her book club list resulting in great publicity and something like 1.5 million sales.

Ten years on and Franzen has ended up on the cover of Time and Freedom has been mooted as a novel for our times and that worn out American concept of “The Great American Novel” has been trotted out. I love large weighty tomes and Freedom is 576 pages of ink and pulp.

The novel opens with a condensed synopsis of the principle characters lives, the Berglund’s, from the perspective of their neighbors. A risky move and for me this section is initially unsatisfying, but later serves to provide great insight and perspective. Perspective is a key to understanding this novel, as Franzen presents different sections of the novel from the differing perspectives of the principle protagonists. This device works quite well and gives the reader several looks at the same events, creating a great deal of psychological insight in the process.

The Berglund’s meet in college in the late seventies and their lives are entangled with fellow student and would be rock star Richard Katz. Richard Katz is a dead ringer for 70’s New York punk/no wave Richard Hell. It wouldn’t surprise me, as all of Franzen’s music references throughout the book are spot on and very entertaining for those who know their musical history.

The novel follows Patty and Walter Berglund’s decent into marital problems, complicated by the continual reappearance of Katz. Walter, a left-winger and bleeding heart for all the ignored problems of the world, most notably the population problem, ends up involved with a coal company undertaking mountain – top removal.

Franzen skillfully weaves the character’s personal issues in and out of the universal issues, finding links between the two. Franzen builds strong characters and the portrayal of Patty’s depression is accurate and poignant. The frustrated and compromised lives of the Berglund’s plays out in almost excruciating detail.

Personally I found the character of Joey to be both revealing and entertaining. In true Family Ties tradition Joey rebels against Walter’s leftist tendencies by aligning himself with the right. Psychologically Joey is compelling. A rugged individualist with sky- high confidence, he is also under the thrall of his neighbor, Connie, who grooms him and seduces him at a young age. Their relationship provides some of the most entertaining passages and also some of the most intense and perverted sex scenes, something that may be distasteful to some readers.

Although Freedom is a bit long and could have done with some judicious editing, it really does provide significant insight into the last 40 years or so of western culture and history. Franzen’s highly attuned descriptive powers lend the novel a degree of intense realism that can either repulse or attract the reader – mainly the latter I found. Thoroughly recommended.