mmmbooqz's review against another edition
3.0
hit and miss yet incredibly insightful collection. some essays excitedly universal, some super specific and a bit long to really continue. id be so excited to see this in a waiting room.
daniell's review against another edition
4.0
After digesting this collection of various essays from 2011-2006, a few things are clear:
-JF sees the world as a swirling mess of indefinite meaning, a bath of complex factors, an array of conflicting, unresolved tones. This more than anything else is the single meaning through which this book might be read.
-JF loves fiction and this collection includes many reviews of novels. After reading his reviews I am excited to read these suggestions. Seemingly all of the books reviewed were ambiguous in meaning, and this seems owing to his penchant for either ambiguity or ambiguous literature.
-JF is a much a novelist as a reporter, and many of these pieces are excellent articles of extended journalism in the theme of adventure-essay, the best one being his story linking the faux-animal driver cover to their production factory in China, to an economic tour or the region, to a brush with local bird watchers.
-JF likes birds. Another essay here covers the state of bird hinting in Malta and the veritable swirl of human complexity surrounding overharvesting, regional traditions of consumption, and the moral implications of it all.
-The flagship essay is great, claiming David Brooks' Sydney Award for 2011, and is a sustained meditation on loneliness, internal strength, and the natural world. Franzen is well-connected to the world of passion and feeling that his late friend DFW fought with till his death. Franzen's depiction of DFW is surprisingly unsympathetic, but neither is it mean, it's simply an observation of the man's life as one on a somewhat self-imposed island. The sense of salty desolation this essay impresses remains vivid to me.
-Second to "Farther Away" (the second selection) is the first selection, his speech to Kenyon College upon graduation. "Pain Won't Kill You" is his message, and for having no real action plan, no three-step agenda, and no conventional pieties, it is clear: life is pain, pain is coming to you in ways you will not expect and cannot foresee, and that is an okay thing; be of good cheer.
I recall attempting to read "How To Be Alone," a book of essays he published in 2003, and seriously disliking his sentence structures. He is much more readable in this collection, auguring nothing but an upward trend for his future output.
-JF sees the world as a swirling mess of indefinite meaning, a bath of complex factors, an array of conflicting, unresolved tones. This more than anything else is the single meaning through which this book might be read.
-JF loves fiction and this collection includes many reviews of novels. After reading his reviews I am excited to read these suggestions. Seemingly all of the books reviewed were ambiguous in meaning, and this seems owing to his penchant for either ambiguity or ambiguous literature.
-JF is a much a novelist as a reporter, and many of these pieces are excellent articles of extended journalism in the theme of adventure-essay, the best one being his story linking the faux-animal driver cover to their production factory in China, to an economic tour or the region, to a brush with local bird watchers.
-JF likes birds. Another essay here covers the state of bird hinting in Malta and the veritable swirl of human complexity surrounding overharvesting, regional traditions of consumption, and the moral implications of it all.
-The flagship essay is great, claiming David Brooks' Sydney Award for 2011, and is a sustained meditation on loneliness, internal strength, and the natural world. Franzen is well-connected to the world of passion and feeling that his late friend DFW fought with till his death. Franzen's depiction of DFW is surprisingly unsympathetic, but neither is it mean, it's simply an observation of the man's life as one on a somewhat self-imposed island. The sense of salty desolation this essay impresses remains vivid to me.
-Second to "Farther Away" (the second selection) is the first selection, his speech to Kenyon College upon graduation. "Pain Won't Kill You" is his message, and for having no real action plan, no three-step agenda, and no conventional pieties, it is clear: life is pain, pain is coming to you in ways you will not expect and cannot foresee, and that is an okay thing; be of good cheer.
I recall attempting to read "How To Be Alone," a book of essays he published in 2003, and seriously disliking his sentence structures. He is much more readable in this collection, auguring nothing but an upward trend for his future output.
geirertzgaard's review against another edition
3.0
Essays av det som mange omtaler som USAs fremste forfatter (Philip Roth bl.a.), og på sitt beste er dette tekster som overgår det aller meste jeg har lest i litterær kvalitet: En miljøseie til Kina, eller til øya Alejandro Selkirk utenfor kysten av Chile, en tekst om forfatteren Alice Munro, eller et forsøk på å få til et personlig intervju med staten New York, språklig avansert og utbroderende i ren og skjør ordgytende eleganse. Men innimellom og i andre essays blir det så elegant og ordgytende at bokstavene står i veien for teksten. Også sammensetningen av essays er ujevn, jeg klarer ikke finne bokens røde tråd annet enn at Franzen har samlet ulike tekster som er samlet fordi det er mulig, ikke fordi de har en sammenheng.
Framzen er ekstremt dyktig, men det er forskjell på dyktig og riktig.
Når det er sagt: Denne boken vil vokse og vokse på meg, og om et år vil det å ha karaktersatt den virke meningsløst.
Framzen er ekstremt dyktig, men det er forskjell på dyktig og riktig.
Når det er sagt: Denne boken vil vokse og vokse på meg, og om et år vil det å ha karaktersatt den virke meningsløst.
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
4.0
This is a nice book of essays from Franzen. The "title track" is a 5 star piece detailing the author's physical journey to a place about as far away from anything as it is possible to get and simultaneously his emotional journey to the farthest away reaches of the human soul, to that place that his friend and colleague David Foster Wallace must have reached shortly before taking his own life. Franzen's literal and figurative wanderings don't hold all the answers, but they do bring some amount of peace and understanding.
Several other of the essays are very good and I am looking forward to reading some of the books reviewed by Franzen in this collection.
Several other of the essays are very good and I am looking forward to reading some of the books reviewed by Franzen in this collection.
maryparapluie's review against another edition
4.0
There are a number of essays in this collection that are among Franzen's best-- unfortunately, mostly these are weighted in the first half of the book... and a lot of the rest feels a little like erudite filler. Which is not to say that the filler isn't interesting, it's just not as compelling and fully realized as the best pieces. Full of Franzen's ruminations on the role of fiction and what makes fiction good and which authors are undervalued today.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
Here is a story about Jonathan Franzen: I read [b:The Corrections|3805|The Corrections|Jonathan Franzen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355011305s/3805.jpg|941200] several years ago, perhaps just after it was at its zeitgeistiest. Yes that's a word. What are you looking at.
Anyway, I remembered really liking it, and several years later when I found myself contemplating a fairly limited audiobook selection at my parents' home library, I checked out an audio version of the Corrections and listened to most of it on a trip. It was not as good as I remembered it being, but I thought, well maybe now my tastes are more SOPHISTICATED. I had listened to something like 9 of 10 discs of it and then had to return it to their library. I decided to get the audiobook from my home library so I could finish the last disc. Then I realized that my parents' library had the ABRIDGED version and the real version was at least 20 discs long. I was unwilling to dedicate the time to listening to the entire 20 discs, but I think that The Corrections was probably at least as good as I had remembered it being. Jonathan Franzen uses a LOT of words, but by God, he earns them.
******
OK I wrote all of that as a note when I added this book but before I started listening to it
like
is Jonathan Franzen parodying himself?
Like
when he goes to China to investigate the factory where his puffin golf club cover is made, because he loves birds sooo much...
...
is that for real.
When he suggests that maybe if David Foster Wallace had gotten into birdwatching, he wouldn't have committed suicide...
is that for real??
There are some good essays in this collection, but I think I already read them all on the internet already, and then there are just like A BILLION OF JONATHAN FRANZEN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT BIRDS.
I used to feel bad for Franzen because he was forever going to be known as DFW's less-talented friend but now I think I feel bad because he's so obsessed with birds??
Oh I forgot there are also some hilariously crotchety thoughts in here about technology, like literally he is mad when people end cell phone conversations with "Love you!"
Go put a bird on it, Franzen.
Anyway, I remembered really liking it, and several years later when I found myself contemplating a fairly limited audiobook selection at my parents' home library, I checked out an audio version of the Corrections and listened to most of it on a trip. It was not as good as I remembered it being, but I thought, well maybe now my tastes are more SOPHISTICATED. I had listened to something like 9 of 10 discs of it and then had to return it to their library. I decided to get the audiobook from my home library so I could finish the last disc. Then I realized that my parents' library had the ABRIDGED version and the real version was at least 20 discs long. I was unwilling to dedicate the time to listening to the entire 20 discs, but I think that The Corrections was probably at least as good as I had remembered it being. Jonathan Franzen uses a LOT of words, but by God, he earns them.
******
OK I wrote all of that as a note when I added this book but before I started listening to it
like
is Jonathan Franzen parodying himself?
Like
when he goes to China to investigate the factory where his puffin golf club cover is made, because he loves birds sooo much...
...
is that for real.
When he suggests that maybe if David Foster Wallace had gotten into birdwatching, he wouldn't have committed suicide...
is that for real??
There are some good essays in this collection, but I think I already read them all on the internet already, and then there are just like A BILLION OF JONATHAN FRANZEN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT BIRDS.
I used to feel bad for Franzen because he was forever going to be known as DFW's less-talented friend but now I think I feel bad because he's so obsessed with birds??
Oh I forgot there are also some hilariously crotchety thoughts in here about technology, like literally he is mad when people end cell phone conversations with "Love you!"
Go put a bird on it, Franzen.
adamvolle's review against another edition
4.0
As a newly-converted environmentalist I found myself feeling particularly receptive to a lot of these pieces.
awood5's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this on audio book which was certainly not the move. His reviews are actually quite good but it feels weird to read one review after another, especially on audio book. Farther Away and David Foster Wallace were my favorites, and I have developed a sort of interest in birds' issues thanks to Franzen.
m1r's review against another edition
2.0
okay franzen che ammetti di essere un vecchio lamentoso, ma a tutto c'è un limite.
shirohige's review against another edition
3.0
Me gustó mucho este libro, ya que al ser un compendio de ensayos y reseñas sobre un sin fin de cosas que apasionan/atormentan a Franzen. Abre varias puertas a cosas leídas, vistas y reenfoca en un ángulo que se me hace digno de abordar.
Por ejemplo: como plantea la creación de los personajes de su obra cumbre '[b:Las correcciones|88309|Las correcciones|Jonathan Franzen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1424026487s/88309.jpg|941200]', el análisis que hace de '[b:Escapada|12475618|Escapada|Alice Munro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1329844817s/12475618.jpg|2040369]' de Alice Munro -y que probablemente me obligue a releerlo- o el sin fin de libros que reseña, desde clásicos como 'El Jugador´de Dostoievski a libros que quiere reivindicar como ' El hombre que amaba a los niños'.
Más no se queda trabado en el análisis de lecturas sino que busca sentido literario también en otras fuentes: desde su amor por la observación de aves (un tema que trata no con poco temor ante la intensiva disminución poblacional de estas en el mundo), ese leviathan ambiental en que se ha convertido China, o claramente en el relato más personal y que tiene que ver con la muerte de su amigo [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1466019433p2/4339.jpg] .
Si me detengo en este último es el que mejor balancea- y puede servir como muestra- el espíritu de esta colección. 'Más Afuera' cuenta sobre el viaje del escritor a la Isla Alejandro Selkirk del Archipielago Juan Fernandez, donde deposita parte de las cenizas de su amigo, así como dedica no poca parte de su tiempo al avistamiento de pájaros y -cómo no- a la lectura.
*En unas líneas dice que el pan blanco chileno es fome ¡Jonathan Franzen no cachái nada!
*Acá algunos extractos que me gustaron:
"Intentar amar a toda la humanidad puede ser una empresa loable, pero curiosamente se centra en uno mismo, en el bienestar moral y espiritual de uno mismo. Mientras que para amar a una persona concreta, e identificarse con sus esfuerzos y alegrías como si fueran propios, uno tiene que renunciar a una parte de sí."
"En abstracto es posible imaginar y proponer cuanto existe bajo el sol. Pero el escritor siempre está limitado por aquello a lo que realmente es capaz de dar vida: hacer verosímil, hacer legible,hacer digno de simpatía, hacer entretenido, hacer convincente y, sobretodo, hacer singular y original."
"La intimidad, para mí, no consiste en mantener mi vida oculta a los demás, sino en ahorrarme la instrucción de las vidas privadas de los otros."
"Uno lamenta no haber estado allí, del mismo modo que lamenta no haber montado en trineo con Natasha Rostov."
"La literatura transgresora, secretamente o no, siempre se dirige al mundo burgués del que dependen. Como lector de narrativa transgresora, uno tiene dos opciones: o se escandaliza o escandaliza a otros por el hecho de no escandalizarse."
"Los maniacos, los esquizofrenicos y los depresivos a menudo tienen las convicción de que absolutamente todo en su vida está colmado de significado, tan colmado, de hecho, que localizar,
descifrar y organizar el significado puede anular el acto mismo de vivir."
Por ejemplo: como plantea la creación de los personajes de su obra cumbre '[b:Las correcciones|88309|Las correcciones|Jonathan Franzen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1424026487s/88309.jpg|941200]', el análisis que hace de '[b:Escapada|12475618|Escapada|Alice Munro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1329844817s/12475618.jpg|2040369]' de Alice Munro -y que probablemente me obligue a releerlo- o el sin fin de libros que reseña, desde clásicos como 'El Jugador´de Dostoievski a libros que quiere reivindicar como ' El hombre que amaba a los niños'.
Más no se queda trabado en el análisis de lecturas sino que busca sentido literario también en otras fuentes: desde su amor por la observación de aves (un tema que trata no con poco temor ante la intensiva disminución poblacional de estas en el mundo), ese leviathan ambiental en que se ha convertido China, o claramente en el relato más personal y que tiene que ver con la muerte de su amigo [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1466019433p2/4339.jpg] .
Si me detengo en este último es el que mejor balancea- y puede servir como muestra- el espíritu de esta colección. 'Más Afuera' cuenta sobre el viaje del escritor a la Isla Alejandro Selkirk del Archipielago Juan Fernandez, donde deposita parte de las cenizas de su amigo, así como dedica no poca parte de su tiempo al avistamiento de pájaros y -cómo no- a la lectura.
*En unas líneas dice que el pan blanco chileno es fome ¡Jonathan Franzen no cachái nada!
*Acá algunos extractos que me gustaron:
"Intentar amar a toda la humanidad puede ser una empresa loable, pero curiosamente se centra en uno mismo, en el bienestar moral y espiritual de uno mismo. Mientras que para amar a una persona concreta, e identificarse con sus esfuerzos y alegrías como si fueran propios, uno tiene que renunciar a una parte de sí."
"En abstracto es posible imaginar y proponer cuanto existe bajo el sol. Pero el escritor siempre está limitado por aquello a lo que realmente es capaz de dar vida: hacer verosímil, hacer legible,hacer digno de simpatía, hacer entretenido, hacer convincente y, sobretodo, hacer singular y original."
"La intimidad, para mí, no consiste en mantener mi vida oculta a los demás, sino en ahorrarme la instrucción de las vidas privadas de los otros."
"Uno lamenta no haber estado allí, del mismo modo que lamenta no haber montado en trineo con Natasha Rostov."
"La literatura transgresora, secretamente o no, siempre se dirige al mundo burgués del que dependen. Como lector de narrativa transgresora, uno tiene dos opciones: o se escandaliza o escandaliza a otros por el hecho de no escandalizarse."
"Los maniacos, los esquizofrenicos y los depresivos a menudo tienen las convicción de que absolutamente todo en su vida está colmado de significado, tan colmado, de hecho, que localizar,
descifrar y organizar el significado puede anular el acto mismo de vivir."