daisyporter's review against another edition
4.0
Five stars for the youth group drama; three for the birdwatching.
natetheworld's review against another edition
3.0
As always, this is not a book report. Rather, it is an opportunity to discuss some ideas that stuck with me while reading “The Discomfort Zone” by Jonathan Franzen.
A Personal History
Looking back on your own life is more than a mere reflection. As you age, it is an opportunity to question major milestones and events. It is a chance to take stock of these experiences both good and bad in an effort to see how they shaped you. As you review, these moments interweave themselves together into the story of you. For those of us who choose creative endeavors, our art is an attempt to make meaning of these moments and share them with the world. They influence everything we write, paint, act, sculpt, sing, and express. By sharing them, we attempt to free ourselves while letting others in to experience our true selves. If we are really good, others will see they are not alone in the joy and moments of tumult in this world. “The Discomfort Zone” by Jonathan Franzen is an attempt to do this. In it, I found an author I could relate to on a personal level; one of my great hopes when consuming art in any form.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan
A Personal History
Looking back on your own life is more than a mere reflection. As you age, it is an opportunity to question major milestones and events. It is a chance to take stock of these experiences both good and bad in an effort to see how they shaped you. As you review, these moments interweave themselves together into the story of you. For those of us who choose creative endeavors, our art is an attempt to make meaning of these moments and share them with the world. They influence everything we write, paint, act, sculpt, sing, and express. By sharing them, we attempt to free ourselves while letting others in to experience our true selves. If we are really good, others will see they are not alone in the joy and moments of tumult in this world. “The Discomfort Zone” by Jonathan Franzen is an attempt to do this. In it, I found an author I could relate to on a personal level; one of my great hopes when consuming art in any form.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan
maryparapluie's review
4.0
I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Franzen himself-- always a selling point. This memoir, of sorts, is divided into six chapters that weave somewhat thematically in and out various parts of Franzen's life. I could imagine some people finding this book narcissistic, but as a fellow introverted nerd from the Midwest, I found his descriptions very familiar. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts characters, and his chapter on his experiences with the German language was just great.
dommdy's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I much prefer his fiction. Also, it just dead ends. I hate that.
mcboak's review against another edition
3.0
I think I imagined more of a sequential retelling of Franzen’s life, but this memoir goes back and forth in time a lot. It includes quite a few people, which makes it easy to get them mixed up. It also covers his thought processes as they relate to what phase of life he was in, much of the time relating it to literature and language. With that, it could get a little dense, but only one portion of the book was heavily geared towards that.
shumska's review against another edition
3.0
kroz šest priča, franzen reflektira o svojem djetinjstvu i mladosti, veliki naglasak bacajući na utjecaj obitelji i obiteljsku situaciju koja je, manje-više, utjecala na njegove izbore i odluke. za razliku od franzenove "čistoće" ili "korekcija", ovdje nije ni približno toliko raskošan, samouvjeren ni dominantan, makar je stilski prepoznatljiv pa će njegovim obožavateljima ovo biti sasvim zadovoljavajuće djelo.
smatram da je puno jači u formi velikog romana u kojoj njegovoj igri riječima, likovima i situacijama nema granica, ili pak u esejima gdje se vidi puna raskoš njegovog mišljenja. u usporedbi s takvim djelima, ovo je manje upečatljivo, ali svejedno vrijedno čitanja.
smatram da je puno jači u formi velikog romana u kojoj njegovoj igri riječima, likovima i situacijama nema granica, ili pak u esejima gdje se vidi puna raskoš njegovog mišljenja. u usporedbi s takvim djelima, ovo je manje upečatljivo, ali svejedno vrijedno čitanja.
haimson's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this as an audiobook on the way back from Bloomington. It was pretty entertaining, just a lot of stories about Franzen's childhood and adolescence. Once he gets to be a grownup though he gets super obsessed with bird watching, which is not exactly the most fun thing to read about. And he seriously goes on about it. Also, he expresses very conflicting views about environmentalism throughout the book, which makes it a little hard to figure out what exactly he is trying to say. He does sound like a pretty bad boyfriend for the most part in his stories about relationships, but, it's good that he's being honest instead of just painting himself in a good light. Memoirs sometimes make me somewhat embarrassed/nervous for the author, because I can imagine how rough it must be for your entire family and all your exes to read all your intimate thoughts about them. It reminds me of writing zines/songs and being freaked out all the time knowing that everyone knows all this stuff about me. This is also a memoir that mentions alot about books that Franzen read in college, which was cool because it was all German literature, and made me kind of want to study German again.