May 31, 2006
Review: Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen ::
books — tagged books, environment, fiction, Jonathan Franzen, love story, Massachusetts and Somerville
8:47 pm
I neglected to mention that two weeks ago I read my first post-JD novel. And I must say that Strong Motion was a great way to get into recreational reading, even if my foray was cut short by studying for the Vermont Bar.
But seriously: what a great book. Before writing this, I went back to check my review of The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen’s other, perhaps better-known book. And although it seems from that review that I enjoyed it much more than I remember, I have to say that Strong Motion was even better. In addition to the complicated characters and emotionally intense personal narratives, this book has a much more plot-centered structure, which I have grown to appreciate more as I’ve gotten older. Not only that, but the plot is particularly compelling: a corporation’s dumping of toxic chemicals into a four-mile deep shaft in Peabody, Massachussetts leads to earthquakes throughout the greater Boston area. So in addition to having the characters drive me ever forward in reading the story, I also had an impending environmental disaster to add to the tension. In the end, I didn’t even question whether such a situation were actually not scientifically feasible.
Throughout my adult life, I have been searching for novels that most accurately describe what I consider to be the Generation X condition. Although no author could render that condition perfectly, Franzen does come up with a compelling narrative, combining loneliness, advancing technology, abortion politics, environmental degredation, overconsumption, and unregulated business into a cohesive story that constantly makes me say, “yeah, this is what life is really like.” And what’s particularly amazing is that Franzen wrote this book back in 1992. I only wish I’d taken the time to read this book sooner.
January 11, 2006
Review: Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem ::
books — tagged books, brooklyn, fiction, jonathan lethem, nyc and tourettes syndrome
8:56 pm
So, it took me about seven years or so, but I finally read Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn. Lethem’s writing style fits well with my short attention span—he’s able to communicate a lot of information through is text, and keeps up the pace of his story-telling that also keeps me interested. His characters are also delightfully quirky and unpredictable, and I’m always interested to see what they will do next. Case in point: Lionel Essrog, the main character of the novel, is a private investigator with Tourette’s Syndrome, who grew up an orphan in Brooklyn under the care local criminal big-shot Frank Minna. Minna is killed early in the story, and Lionel spends the rest of the narrative investigating the murder. But Lionel’s verbal and physical tics, as well as his unskilled approach to investigation, lead to some bizarre interactions with other characters, which became the main focus of the story for me. Although the narrative structure of the story is definitely a Raymond Chandler-type mystery, I was so focused on the curious nature of Lionel’s character that I would lose sight of the storyline, until I hit a point that pushed the story forward and reminded me that the story did indeed have a structure, it wasn’t just a string of Tourretic interactions with the world. In that regard, it was really a perfect book.
At the end of the day, Motherless Brooklyn will not be on my all-time favorites list, but the book was perfect for our flight down to Alabama and back home. During that time I was able to really get involved with the quest of the story’s hero. But when I finished the book, I didn’t find myself thinking about it too much. In that regard I also found the book worthwhile—it exceeded every one of my expectations, but didn’t expect too much from me in return.
