Reviews

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

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nxnw4321's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

ferris_mx's review against another edition

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4.0

It's complicated, OK?
The book did a really nice job illustrating each character's internal thought process. Even though they are family, other people only see 10% of who a person is and what they are going through.

The comparisons with my own life are uncomfortable. The decision to stay or go. The children, each disaffected in their own way. And OMG, they are all so disaffected.

I felt a bit like the editor got tired near the end. Why else would "plangent" be used four times, and not for reduplicative purposes? Same with "lambent". The use of "testosterone" made me uncomfortable - I don't think it surges like that, or can be blamed in that way. And "boy hair"? nah thanks.

lisagernand's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

bbboeken's review

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5.0

For 2022 I set myself the challenge of reading at least one longer, slower book per month. I started with Franzen because I'd passed up on _The Corrections_ and then _Freedom_, and it's always motivating to start with an author's recent work. I thought I had to tackle this novel piecemeal, planning to read a shorter novel over two days, and sampling _Crossroads_ in between. While that started out fine, I found myself continuously drawn towards the tribulations of the Hildebrandt family, in so much that these past few days I focussed all my reading time on them. I was not disappointed.

There is nothing really *spectacular* about the story in _Crossroads_. The genius of this book lies in the way the plot develops, with its multiple iterations and viewpoints that thoroughly make sense, the evident outcome and the origins of it all. First surprising in adventure and experimentation, but soon the story turns out predestined for the inevitable familiarity of what is about to happen. Therein also lies the further strength of the novel: Franzen steers the Hildebrandts upon the path of determinism or at least cyclicism. History repeats itself, also on a microscale.

Added to the language, the mastery of the vocabulary, the eloquence, is the rhythm of Franzen's writing that flows almost like a stream of consciousness, reiterating in the points of view of the various characters.

If Franzen set out to write the great American novel, he is well underway.

jmbrown99's review against another edition

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5.0

A merging of sacredness and profanity in a simultaneously confounding, yet beatific manner.

First, this book encompasses - more than many - the death of modernity in through the lens of a progressive pastor’s family in the mid 70s. If stirring through dogma, theological/philosophical posits, and third-person diatribes aren’t your bag, move along.

When this book is on its best behavior, it strikes cords that I’ve never been able to adequately put into words.