Everyone remembers the movie Titanic, right? There was this huge frenzy, "best movie ever", "must see" yadayadayada. Well, I didn't really want to see it. I knew the story of the Titanic, and it didn't end well. Just thinking about the panic of all those people about to become Popsicles, trying to save their children and loved ones- not my cup of tea. Yet... Huz and I found ourselves and our three year old at my parents house in 1998. A grand opportunity for a child-free date night. What to do? We somewhat reluctantly bowed to media pressure and bought tickets to the 7 hour torturefest that was Titanic. Somehow, we just couldn't leave, but I couldn't really watch either.
Well, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen was my Titanic in book form. "The best book of 2010" number one on NY Times bestseller lists, hitting a Kindle in the subway near you. And, I read it. Some days, being annoyed with myself for continuing to read. I never really liked any of the characters, and the fact that they didn't like themselves much either was no solution. I decided that the characters were not particularly unusual, or deranged or anything, but that the author sees them all in as unhealthy a light as possible. This is NOT a book for children. And, although I now feel guilty about having three children, and barn cats, and living near a field, and even about my own existence in causing the extinction of all species more worthy than the human one, I don't highly recommend this book for anyone. Unless you're in a mood to feel guilty about your existence too.
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