Freedom

I have just finished Jonathan Franzen's latest stab at immortality. The story itself is one that has probably been told a million times over. However, it is the way in which it is told that carries all the weight here. Its love of minutiae, its uncompromising honesty and its detachment from expected conventions have won me over. The characters in Freedom are not likeable, but they appeal to every side of us readers, and just won't let go until the last page. And I found myself, quite literally, enthralled.