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A review by perfect_leaves
Purity by Jonathan Franzen
5.0
It took me a while to get through Purity because I had to worry about work in school, but in the moments I could spare I drank this text like water. When I received a copy (I got it from a giveaway at school), I heard that Franzen is a controversial author. Some love his novels, others hate them. I suppose I fall into the first camp. The book was hefty, clocking in at nearly 600 pages, but the space isn't filled with empty phrases. Franzen chooses his words carefully, and it's obvious he spent time crafting sentences that deliver maximum emotional effect. Some sections of Purity feel like unnecessary plot detours at first, but Franzen masterfully ties all of pieces together in a way that is unexpected but not unbelievable. Each character is robustly dynamic, even those that don't necessarily receive a lot of screen time, er... page time.
Purity isn't for everyone. A quick scroll through the rest of the reviews will review the split opinions on Franzen's newest work. In an interview (I don't remember which, I heard it back in November, when I first received the book), Franzen acknowledged that this novel is a departure from his previous work. If you liked the novels about family and such, this might send you running for the hills. Sure there's a family in this one as well, but it's not exactly functional.
My only complaint is that Franzen wraps up the novel rather hastily. Towards the end, is seems like Pip's manner of speaking changes drastically as she attempts to confront her parents, which changes readers' perceptions of her character. I'm not sure whether the change in vernacular was an attempt to show Pip had grown up and was coming into her own. If it was, it was a disastrously failed attempt. The last section felt a little bit rushed, as if Franzen ran out of ideas and didn't really know how to end the story. While I'm not at all satisfied with the ending, the first 500 or so pages enthralled me, I can forgive the lazy ending.
Purity isn't for everyone. A quick scroll through the rest of the reviews will review the split opinions on Franzen's newest work. In an interview (I don't remember which, I heard it back in November, when I first received the book), Franzen acknowledged that this novel is a departure from his previous work. If you liked the novels about family and such, this might send you running for the hills. Sure there's a family in this one as well, but it's not exactly functional.
My only complaint is that Franzen wraps up the novel rather hastily. Towards the end, is seems like Pip's manner of speaking changes drastically as she attempts to confront her parents, which changes readers' perceptions of her character. I'm not sure whether the change in vernacular was an attempt to show Pip had grown up and was coming into her own. If it was, it was a disastrously failed attempt. The last section felt a little bit rushed, as if Franzen ran out of ideas and didn't really know how to end the story. While I'm not at all satisfied with the ending, the first 500 or so pages enthralled me, I can forgive the lazy ending.