Formerly, A Great American Novelist

Presented to the CWLC by Robin Stanford on November 21^st, 2023.

Jonathan Franzen is a famous American novelist and essayist. Early in his career, critics glowingly described him as a Great American Novelist and compared him to Tolstoy. Twenty years later, he is now considered as one of America’s more divisive novelists, and critics seem reluctant to admit they enjoy his work. His controversial reputation can be traced back to public spats with Oprah, the American Audubon Society, and other writers.

Franzen writes big, social novels: family sagas that address current trends and critique American culture and politics. His fiction is realistic, with recognizable characters and events. The plots follow an unhappy family or a family in crisis. The story lines are told from multiple points of view, with each family member adding to the story and revealing secrets. His novels are tragicomedies, employing humor and satire.

Franzen writes clean prose. He tries to filter out everything except what it means to be that person at that moment. Actions are described minimally, and he avoids over-use of similes and extended metaphors as they make the reader stop and think about the writing. He strives to keep the prose invisible, with the focus on the story. Some critics contend he strips away too much.

His autobiographical essays have a humorous, conversational style. His other essays are well researched, with good critical analysis and structure, but can be overloaded with information.  I found some of them hard to read. The content sometimes gets him into trouble too. His essays are designed to provoke and they succeed too well.

Franzen’s essays may not be for everyone, but I encourage you all to try reading his novels, if you haven’t already, and decide for yourself if you like his style.