~What sets you free?~. Review on Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

I haven’t reviewed much contemporary fiction. Such an error on my part doesn’t suggest that there aren’t any good books written anymore. It is just that I have become too lazy to sift through the unappealing to finally find the diamond in the rough. I shall rectify my mistake immediately. What better way to make amends than to review one of the most, if not the most successful book of 2010 – Freedom,penned by Jonathan Franzen. For me, Freedomranks 2nd in my triad of my favourite books of 2010, which include – “C”by Tom McCarthy, Freedomby Jonathan Franzen and The Finkler Questionby Howard Jacobson, in that order.

At 562 pages, Freedomis not light work but it is not taxing either. Franzen takes his time to set the scene and his characters and then sets the wheels of chaos in motion. The most beautiful aspect of Franzen’s prose is his use of the aesthetic to convey the moral dilemmas of the characters, which is slightly Shakespearian. That doesn’t make Freedomhard to follow either – there is enough signposting for the reader to let him know that this is the flashback, this is the present and this is what is to come. Most importantly, I urge young Indian authors to read Freedomas an example of brilliant piece of writing, rather than get carried away by Chetan Bhagat. You don’t have to be overtly verbose like Hemingway to impress. Franzen’s prose is simple to follow. What we get is the simple tactic of showing a little, and holding a lot back, for all to be revealed slowly as the story goes on. Each line, each dialogue is an insight into the minds of the characters – what others think, what we as an audience make of them and what do they think of themselves?

Plot:

The book follows the dysfunctional family – the Berglunds. Patty and Walter Berglund are liberal-middle class, they have one son Joey, and one daughter, Jessica. Joey, the teenager that he is, wants to become independent and feels his parents are holding him back. He moves in with another teenage girl, Connie, to spite his mother and this puts a strain on the family and Patty and Walter’s relationship with both blaming each other for the debacle with Joey. The family moves to Washington. The second portion of the book tells us of Patty’s past. Patty decides to pen an autobiography to save her declining relationship with Walter.

Through the autobiography, we come to know that Patty was sports oriented and into basketball, unlike her artistic siblings or parents. She gets a basketball scholarship and meets Richard and Walter. Richard is the archetypical ‘indie’ rock musician and Walter is more of a nerd. Patty is obviously attracted towards Richard and Walter towards Patty. Failing to seduce Richard, Patty settles down with second best Walter, who is head over heels in love with her. We find out that Richard and Patty have an affair when she is married as Patty cannot let go of Richard.

Meanwhile Walter has problems of his own. His relationship with Patty has deteriorated. His assistant from work, Lalita, has fallen in love with him, and he suspects that he too has fallen for her. Joey, their son, has married his childhood sweetheart but the spark is gone from his life too. He is alienated from his parents and becomes attracted to Jenna, the sister of an old room-mate of his.

How do each of these respective characters get out of the respective messes that they find themselves in? Do Walter and Lalita find eternal bliss? Do Patty and Richard? Do Joey and Jenna? How important is a faithful relationship? What happens when Walter finds out about Patty and Richard and Patty about Walter and Lalita? Can this dysfunctional family really sort out its problems? Is there really something as eternal bliss? Read the book to find out and be ready for a rather poignant climax which pays tribute to one of the characters.

It is not unfair to compare Freedomto the film American Beauty.If you have seen and enjoyed American Beautythen you will definitely enjoy Freedom.If you compare, you will find that Freedomisn’t all that different in content to Chetan Bhagat. After all, here also there is sex, sexual promiscuity, satire of contemporary society and the lot. Then why Franzen and not CB? Well, the answer lies in the execution, as I’ve always stressed. Franzen is not concerned with the actual act of promiscuity, but rather the psyche that leads these characters astray. Why do these characters do what they do? Why are they so unsatisfied with where they are in life? What do they find in an affair that their partner failed to provide?

And finally, Franzen’s novel is an ode to existence in contemporary society.He acknowledges that contemporary society is hard to survive in, and people will make mistakes. No character is outright evil or outright good. Each character in the novel has their shades of grey. Freedomforces you, as the reader, to analyse where you are in life and where are you headed. It confronts you with the drudged machinery of an output based society that slowly but surely sucks the emotion out of you. You begin to take people you love and have spent so much time with for granted and things start to fall apart.

What is Freedom?Is it the realisation that you have emotions and you’re human? Is it forgiveness for mistakes? Is it the pain of loss? Is it confronting the one you love and telling them how you really feel? Is it getting rid of materialism and material possessions? Is it finally being satisfied with where you are in life and who you are spending life with? What sets you free? You be the judge.

I highly recommend that everyone buys this book. At Rs. 536 from flipkart, it is more than a worthy investment.