Mark’s Reviews > Freedom > Status Update

Following the first section/chapter, I thought that maybe I was unduly harsh toward Franzen after reading The Corrections. After (almost) slogging through Patty's autobiography, I wonder if I wasn't harsh enough. Dialogue's stilted as a house in the Mekong Delta. The archetypal characters defy all rambling efforts to elicit an emotional response, unless scoffing counts. Introspection-less jocks don't write like that.