This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

I've just finished Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, which I loved. It's a focused, witty and acutely observational book, but that's not why I loved it. I loved it for the characters. It took me a while to realise why, but there was a major plot development near the end that left me genuinely upset. Upset about the consequences it would have for everyone involved. Their reactions and responses would be crystal clear, and I felt genuinely sorry for them, which to me is a rare reaction to fictional creations. The Berglunds and their friends are such beautifully drawn individuals that I just loved every minute I spent reading about their joy, their sadness, their decisions, their mistakes, their victories. It's all there in the title, because this is a book about people with the freedom to decide the path they take in life, and all the consequences those decisions will have. And it makes for hypnotic reading. A truly great novel.