Friday, December 3, 2010

Book Club 2010, FREEDOM

This past wednesday night was the meeting for the Mama's Book Club where we discussed the end of 2010 pick, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen...

Even though I had given a couple of months notice for this particular book club pick, I found myself scrambling to read this book whenever I could! Last Tuesday night, I was speed reading through pages here + there, skipped directly to reading the last chapter...then finally, I googled a Cliff's Notes synopsis to make sure that I had grasped all of the basic story line. No, it wasn't a requirement to have read the entire book before the meeting, however, I did all of this reading, scrambling + searching because I wanted to know what happened in the story. I read the first 1/3 rd of the book, but hit a wall where I didn't have much interest in finishing it. I found that I really couldn't identify with the female character, Patty. Maybe she reminded me of people I have known; a sporty type with "white collar problems", meets a nice guy in college {who she later marries}, but eternally carries a flame for her husband's "bad boy" musician friend... continually gravitating toward friends + love interests who are "not good for her". You know the type, a self-saboteur.
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Perhaps there is a bit of a Patty in all of us...maybe a part we don't really like? Or a part of ourselves that we have been lucky enough to outgrow and leave behind? In any event, the book Freedom was well written, that is for sure. It is clearly a big old call out; about life...lives in general. And while the story line {in my opinion} wasn't all that gripping, it was a truthful depiction of just how complicated life can be. The idea that we are all made up of layer after layer of thought, emotion + experience, all of which contributes to what makes us think, feel and act the way we do.

Reading a book ans discussing among freinds is most certainly always a good thing.

Thanks for reading + for sharing your thoughts!!

xo.




5 comments:

  1. so you did get something out of the book - that is what we really want, isn't it? whether it is to ponder, to laugh, to be entertained or to learn... your picture with your son reminds me of how i got through some harry potters - you know, when you literally couldn't put it down? i would sit at the side of the tub during baths and read... they were happy in water and playing - i was there - all was good! hope your next book grips you...

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  2. @mairedodd
    LOL, so true about that wonderful time reading with the babes...don;t thinkless of me, but I TORE throught eh twilight series right after I delivered the little man...total mind vacation...

    Although there were some who liked this book, I was not a big fan. When I am hooked on a book, I literally devour it, but this was work. I'm hoping someone might have read it and might convince me otherwise :) Maybe I'll try to pick it up at another time.

    The next book by David Sedaris looks intriguing though!!
    a.

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  3. confession - i tore through them too - you are right, they were a mind vacation... i read all of them, em stopped after a while (how seriously embarrassing is that? she and i both cringe a bit about it)... i was missing harry potter and had reread tolkien already... and i hadn't yet been introduced to lisbeth... have you read 'reading lolita in tehran'?
    was wanting to work in my studio space tonight - but there are too many peeps in the house for me to get centered...

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  4. @mairedodd
    Sometimes a friday night just needs to be a friday night when there is all kinds of buzzin about :)

    I have one more lisbeth to read...saving that for the winter break. I've not read Lolita, but will look into it for sure!
    a.

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  5. I have read Reading Lolita in Tehran and loved it. Such an interesting window into that world. Actually I was thinking about suggesting it to my book club...I want to reread it.

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