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My favourite book

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This is my favourite book of all time.
As of December 2021, Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen is my favourite book of all time. I may be a slow reader but after a decade of consistent reading this has been the best novel I have read.
Reviews elsewhere online:
/ cxnp5ofa4uv
/ 4275539400
Totally floored by this book, I read it for two months very slowly. In this book review I try to explain why this book is so important without revealing much of the plot. The plot doesn't capture the power of this book, and knowing just the basics will give you a sense of what to expect. It's so much more than the sum of its parts, I simply cannot convey the experience with words justly. The best I can do is explain on a deeper level what I think this book represents, and I do my best here!
(Just in case anyone disputes whether I really mean that this is my all-time favourite book [sounds clickbaity], you can see on my GoodReads page that I have ranked, in descending order, my favourite books. It's in a list showcased in the middle of my profile, best-to-worst from left-to-right. I've made 400+ ratings and reviews on GoodReads, so it's a long record of everything, I wouldn't break that consistency for a youtube video!)
You can find me here, always happy to chat:
GoodReads: / oolevityoo
Twitter: / levitybooks
Instagram: / levitybooks
My * ratings mainly reflect my estimate of accessibility/likeability to a general audience. Sometimes I award 5*s to less accessible books that I think have important messages and good morals.
* = Dislike (not recommended) ("failed")
** = Okay (recommended to select audience) ("flawed")
*** = Like (recommended to general audience) ("fine")
**** = Really like (strongly recommended to select audience) ("focused")
***** = Love (strongly recommended to general audience) ("fervent")
#crossroads #jonathanfranzen #franzen #bookreview #levitybooks

Опубликовано:

21 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 8

@LauraFreyReadinginBed 2 года назад

I love this book too, and you're right, the usual critics have been notably silent this time! I found it very powerful myself, even though I don't have the same personal connection of going through a spiritual journey. Let's just hooe he actually finishes the trilogy!!

@levitybooks3952 2 года назад

Glad you really enjoyed it too, I hadn't yet checked in to see whether the big Franzen fans also loved Crossroads! I almost wish someone would write a newspaper article like "Can Franzen write women now?" but I imagine that would set us back a few years in the old 'discourse'. Also glad Crossroads resonates with those not also going through a spiritual journey as it is genuinely difficult to know how biased my view is because of that, or also whether less religious Franzen fans didn't get alienated by the religious themes in the book (even if there's incredibly dark scenes here to almost balance it out). Out of interest, has Franzen ever written darker scenes than those about the mother's secret or Perry's camp scenes? I've only read The Corrections, some of his essays and excerpts of his other books, so I can't completely tell if that was new for him. I almost felt like the book suddenly became a horror story and Franzen was almost 'out of character' writing those parts (though I then even somehow loved them for that).

@LauraFreyReadinginBed 2 года назад

@@levitybooks3952 Yeah, there have been a few dark scenes, but the Perry stuff, and I would say Marian story, were dark for him. I'm about to do a blog post on my definitive ranking of all his books, so watch for that…. all post on Instagram too!

@thevibrantvixen 2 года назад

This book is a masterpiece. Absolutely. Judas, very interesting. Thank you for your thoughts! Happy reading to you.

@joniheisenberg6691 Год назад

I agree wholeheartedly. It is a masterpiece!

@ahbooks3 2 года назад

It's always so special when we have such an intense response to a book. It seems like you picked up Crossroads at a perfect time. I've been intrigued by the cover and premise but felt that I shouldn't read it until I have read the Franzen I already own ( I think I might have The Corrections). I've made a note to watch First Reformed as well. It was on my radar when it was first released but I never got around to it. I don't know whether you've watched 'Midnight Mass' by Mike Flanagan. It's a horror series on Netflix, but it is so much more than that. A remote fishing village experiences a resurgence in faith following the arrival of a new priest. I found it to be a very gentle and respectful exploration of faith and the lack of it.

@levitybooks3952 2 года назад

I'm not someone who gets very loud and excitable about something I love but I just get really connected and deeply involved in seeing it from every angle I possibly can and talk about it calmly and freely for a very, very long time! I don't know if I can capture my love for books on video as easily as most internet content creators, my energy is very internalized! I think reading The Corrections would definitely be a better idea (Purity and Freedom have more mixed reviews). In a way Crossroads feels like an 'improved' version of The Corrections to me and is so uncannily similar that I think Franzen has it in him to write one perfect story based on the stories he has come across in his life, and Crossroads is a reattempt at what he tried to do in The Corrections but with the space and maturity it deserves (given that, based on just Crossroads, it feels like he's packaging in almost a lifetime of observations into a narrative). First Reformed is very heavy-going so watch it in a place when you feel safe and happy (you might need to go to my seal video afterwards aha). I hadn't, I will look into it. I'm interested in exploring books and films about the church now and am considering starting a theology series (including authors like Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor, Simone Weil, Søren Kierkegaard). We'll see!

@joniheisenberg6691 Год назад

I adored this book. I cannot understand why it has not received more recognition.