Freedom - Jonathon Franzen

Freedom

Jonathon Franzen

4th Estate

Freedom. It encapsulates people's hopes, dreams, aspirations, experiences and beliefs. It inspires and moves us. It rouses us into action. It can be manipulated, stripped, abused and denied. And whilst some go to extreme lenghts to gain it, most take it for granted.

Freedom is the story of Patty and Walter Berglund; their children Joey and Jessica; and their friend Richard Katz. Its a portrait of modern America - not the star spankle, clean cut version, but the ugly, selfish, wart-riddled society it has morphed into. It's a story of how individuals use their personal rights to deny others theirs. The ever increasing self-centredness of individuals and their refusal to put the needs of society before their own.

The dialogue is witty and razor sharp in its accurate portrayal of 21st century society. My one criticism however is the long waffling passages. Franzen likes to take the reader inside the protagonist's head. He walks us inside their shoes and we are privy to their every thought. This leads to long segments that slow the narrative and detract from the overall message of the book. I would have preferred to have the characters just take me on their journey rather than invite me to a therapy session that stretch beyond the customery one hour.

Thankfully towards the end, the narrative takes on a different pace. Franzen rewards the reader for their patience by giving them a sharp and highly satisfying ending. Yes the journey is at times arduous. Yes the characters are unlikable and at times infuriating. But atleast for this reader, the end made the journey worthwhile. 4 stars.

How I became A Famous Novelist - Steve Hely

How I became A Famous Novelist
Steve Hely
Black Inc

Pete Tarslaw is America's foremost literary opportunist. By day he works for for EssayAides, a service for wealthy kids that turns their gibberish into polished college application essays. But one day watching a daytime show interview a best-selling novelist, that he begins to wonder whether he can better utilise his talents to gain fortune and fame.


With dreams of attracting an audience of 'young women in little sweaters and tight jeans, pliant and needy' - and the second alterioir motive of upstaging his ex girlfriend at her upcoming wedding - Pete sets offto Barnes & Noble to browse through the genres. To his dismay he finds writing thrillers with their regular twists, rapidly moving plot line and veiled threats too exhausting. Literary fiction on the other hand he finds much easier. Believing that by manipulating the reader with 'wordy spackle', he can trick them into thinking there is great wisdom within the novel's pages.


Hely does not hold back any punches and no one is spared from his poison pen - not even Oprah. It is at times an uncomfortable read - a bookseller, author and literary tragic, I too have sighed over adjective-chocked passages. In fact in the future, I might just refer back to Hely's book, not as a satirical gib but a reference to becoming a famous novelist! 4 stars

Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie
Mitch Albom

The best selling memoir, chronicles Albom's visits to his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz, in the months before Morrie passed away from a Motor Neuron Desease.

Morrie Schwartz is an inspirational teacher and mentor, touching the lives of his students. Sixteen years as passed since Albom last seen his professor. He is reminded of the promise he made on his graduation to keep in touch and learning of Morrie's illness decides to visit him.


Visiting his old prefessor every Tuesday, Morrie's wit, wisdom and the joy he takes in living strikes a strong chord with Albom. Having moved away from the ideals he once held in college, Albom is witness to the values that although have not made Morrie rich, have remunerated him with a rewarding and happy life. Growing up, Albom once inspired to the same principals of happiness but has lost sight of them in his quest to become a successful sports reporter. Each Tuesday Albom learns a new lesson from his professor... the secrets of living a happy life.

This is not the type of book I normally choose to read. Picked by a member of our book group (she also picked Eat, Pray, Love), it smacks of smug, over bearing sentimental clap trap that makes Oprah fans salivate. There is nothing new to be learnt that we have not already been taught by Oprah in her quest to educate and better our lives. I have not seen the Albom-Oprah episode but can only imagine the visit was filled with lots of tear-jerking sentiments and heart-felled audience enthusiasm who despite having heard the same message a thousand times (afterall most of it is just commonsense), believe it to be far more powerful when received from the whispy last breaths of a dying man.

Albom's memoir, however noble in its intention, still comes across schmaltzy and preachy. It might be a reflection of our society that we flock with such enthusiasm towards parables in the hope of unlocking the secret to life's happiness. Maybe if we are serious about change, we should stop looking to outside sources and take a quiet moment to reflect on ourselves. We might just find the answers already there. 3 stars

The Street Sweeper - Elliot Perlman

The Street Sweeper

Elliot Perlman

Vintage

On a busy New York City corner, four people, a street sweeper, an oncologist, a history professor and a little girl are clustered in a small group. From those who pass them on that busy corner, few if any have any idea as to what has led the group here. Yet these seemingly unrelated individuals from different walks of life are bound by a common history of struggle, bravery, and unexpected kindness of those who have come before them.

Recently released from prison, Lamont Williams is an African American janitor working on probation in an Manhattan hospital and seeking to locate the daughter he has not seen for the past few years. By chance on one of his shifts, Lamont befriends an elderly patient, Henryk Mendelbrot, a Holocaust survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau prison camp.

Whilst Henryk recalls the horrors of those dark days in Poland from his hospital bed, a few kilometers uptown, the historian Adam Zignelik, a history professor at Columbia University and the son of a civil rights lawyer, is on the cusp of a professional and personal crisis. Desperate for something to save him, he uncovers the remarkable story of a man who was determined to record the voices and stories of Holocaust survivors.

As the two men struggle to survive in the early 21st-century New York, their different paths converge in ways neither could have foreseen. Their stories span the 20th century, sweeping across continents and touching on pivotal historical moments, to finally bring us to the present. In the hands of a less skillful author, The Street Sweeper could have ended up a sentimental Holocaust or a preaching civil rights story. But Perlman's fresh approach and skill breathed new life into these well-visited chapters of our history. 4 stars

To Be Sung Under Water - Tom McNeal

To Be Sung Under Water

Tom McNeal

Abacus

The first time we fall in love, lasts forever.

Love is complex. It can uplift spirits and it can bring them crashing to the ground. Traversing between Vermont and Nebraska where her parents have separated to, Judith meets and falls in love with Willy Blunt. They separate, promising to wait for one another when she leaves for college. But now Judith is introduced to a different world and has new sets of friend. She meets Malcolm and consciously starts to let go of her past; starts to let go of Willy and the promises she made him.

In her mid-forties, Judith is living in California. She is married to Malcolm and together they have an intelligent teenage daughter. In her career, she's a successful film editor and puts in long hours to meet deadlines. By all counts, Judith has everything a modern career woman aspires to in the 21st-century. But Judith is not happy. She suspects her husband is having an affair; her daughter behaves distant and she feels threatened by the new breed of ambitious editors gunning for her job. As Judith becomes more disillusioned with her life, her thoughts return to happier days. And to Willy Blunt. At this point the author raises the philosophical question: if you had the chance to reunite with your first love, would you do it?

For Judith it means returning to Nebraska and track down Willy Blunt. She discovers Willy shrunken by life. Married with two sons, he has never forgotten Judith. Alone in the log cabin he has built, he confesses to her these poignant words.

For you, I was a chapter-a good chapter, maybe, or even your favorite chapter, but still, just a chapter-and for me, you were the book.

Although To Be Sung Under Water has all the ingredients of a sweet and tender love story, and although McNeal's writing is staggering, I could not find myself being drawn to the story or the characters. I understand that there are loves that never leave our hearts; feelings that no amount of time or distance can erode. But I failed to understand Judith. She has a comfortable life. Her suspicions over her husband's infidelity are unfounded and her relationship with her daughter can be resolved if she spends less time holing herself in her past and more time with her.

I had high expectations from To Be Sung Under Water. I really hoped to fall in love, to swoon, to be heart sick over the unrequited love. But in the end, the story failed to connect. 3 stars