tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post6518078656036512023..comments2023-05-29T11:36:32.736-04:00Comments on The Wingchair Traveller: Patty Berglund, Just Another Bored Housewife?: A Review of Jonathan Franzen's FreedomSusan E. Harris-Gamardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02762043866907370527noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-90217706341301855262012-07-10T11:20:50.678-04:002012-07-10T11:20:50.678-04:00Thank you for your input, and for citing the passa...Thank you for your input, and for citing the passage about genetics (I've been looking for it for awhile). I think my review focuses on Patty because she is whom I identify with the most in the novel. I think the beauty of this novel is that there are so many various interpretations of it. It's strength lies in its exposure of the problems of our contemporary society, not so much the solution to those problems.Susan E. Harris-Gamardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02762043866907370527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-80149154885538401872012-07-10T09:41:55.728-04:002012-07-10T09:41:55.728-04:00Good review, thank you. I don't agree with eve...Good review, thank you. I don't agree with everything but hey, that's your take and it's interesting, though the novel does not boil down to Patty alone, but to freedom really and the fundamental question: who is free? We see loads of people trying to achieve freedom and very few succeed. <br />The reference you mention in the article (about defect genes etc.) is on page 558 (paperback edition), just at the beginning of the chapter called The Fiend of Washington.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-37208581611255667102011-06-19T11:00:21.446-04:002011-06-19T11:00:21.446-04:00Thank you for your input. I truly believe that Fr...Thank you for your input. I truly believe that Frantzen, while being a realist and trying to highlight certain societal problems of our day, is also an optimist at heart. Anything I have read about him or heard him speak or write has convinced me of this. Sometimes, with his writing, it is necessary to let it sit and ruminate for a while before an understanding of his work takes hold. Hope it does for you.Susan E. Harris-Gamardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02762043866907370527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-9078938649163061202011-06-19T00:14:24.031-04:002011-06-19T00:14:24.031-04:00I read Freedom in two sittings and was left feelin...I read Freedom in two sittings and was left feeling confused and angry and kind of infatuated with Patty. Reading your interpretation, and preferring for the sake of my sanity, dismiss my take as a hastily fashioned view informed by a blurred stare at the pages (cuz reading 500pages in two sittings is really disorientating). But thank you for demonstrating another take on Patty and the tragedy that I saw it as. Thanks for the elucidation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-17974285703762183442010-10-18T14:19:47.995-04:002010-10-18T14:19:47.995-04:00Thank you, Avid Reader. Have you read freedom yet...Thank you, Avid Reader. Have you read freedom yet? I hope I didn't spoil anything for you ...Susan E. Harris-Gamardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02762043866907370527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3317851637687489569.post-72270595837864584532010-10-18T14:14:38.243-04:002010-10-18T14:14:38.243-04:00This is a fascinating review. I love your comparis...This is a fascinating review. I love your comparisons of Patty and Emma. I've just finished Madame Bovary and my thoughts of Emma are similar to yours.Melissa (Avid Reader)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02119628715475021774noreply@blogger.com