My bookclub finally got me to read Freedom by Jonathon Franzen, and that is what I’ve been slogging through for the past week. I never would haven chosen to read this book on my own, despite all the hype. Almost 600 pages later I feel that I wasted a good many hours of my life reading it. Tedious is the word that keeps coming to mind.

Is this the great American novel? I really really hope not. I found it to be so cynical and depressing and preachy. There wasn’t a character in the book that I cared about. Franzen has a skill for manuvering through some difficult emotional times in peoples lives and bringing them to life on the page, but really, there is not a single likable person in all these pages.

I didn’t really see the point of it all. My advice -save yourself some time and read three really good 200 page novels instead -you’re really not missing a thing here.