Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen

Crossroads

By Jonathan Franzen

  • Release Date: 2021-10-05
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 610 Ratings

Description

Jonathan Franzen’s gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.

It’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless—unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who’s been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

Jonathan Franzen’s novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.

A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen’s gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.

Reviews

  • Crossroads

    4
    By F.Magary
    A little opaque, sometimes, for those who are more secular in experience, but worth reading--another corner of American life revealed.
  • Nobody to like

    4
    By SydneyBur
    So many characters to dislike. Well written but a burden to live with those characters.
  • Mediocre

    3
    By JNoinDC
    I did not like any of the characters all were in some form or other pathetic
  • A Book You’ll Love and Hate

    2
    By GLC2551
    Engrossing and then torturous. Interesting and then repetitive. I enjoyed it but also felt twisted and confused. I’d recommend it - even though it is very long - just to be able to hear other opinions.
  • Deep examination of family dynamics

    5
    By Levinius
    Masterfully decomposed and broken down characters - each with their unique back stories made me relate to each one of them, and be understanding of their motives and actions.
  • Morose from the very outset.

    2
    By Fearless Branding
    Overwritten. Even the first two pages are glum and depressing. Why go further?
  • Meh

    3
    By soloteachertraveler
    I really wanted to like this more than I did. Intriguing story with truly unlikable people at the heart of it. And one of those books with too many words cluttering up the story. I like multiple perspective chapters which this definitely has… But just not as fabulous as I wanted it to be. Love the 70s and a lot of that I remember. Just truly dislikable people.
  • Good read!

    4
    By Barbinthe505
    This novel tells a good story about members of a family from several points of view. Jumps around in time but is engaging and makes you want to know what choices the characters will make at critical points in the family’s unraveling. I do wish the characters were a bit more sympathetic but still found them fascinating.
  • Tired rhetoric.

    1
    By Connie Newlin
    😳
  • Fantastic

    5
    By el0527
    Genuinely one of the best books I have ever read. The characters are captivating and you feel so deeply for them that you can’t stop reading.