Crossroads
question
Invitation to discuss
Andrew
Jan 08, 2022 07:43PM
Hi all,
This is my first try to reach out to fellow readers on Goodreads, so apologies if I'm doing it wrong or starting a new discussion when there's already one going.
I just finished Crossroads and want to a mind dump and see if anyone is interested in chatting.
1) Starting with what I imagine is a classic M.A. in Literature question: what is this about? God, more specifically Christianity, more specifically Protestantism? Salvation? "Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior"? (I've never read such vivid, intense descriptions of experiencing grace/"seeing God"--whether sober or high--than here). Authenticity, whatever that means (e.g. Russ's anxieties about being a fraud)? The power dynamics of family--e.g., the final scene, where Becky seems to have gained the "upper hand" vis-a-vis the family, and in particular, Clem? (I wasn't even aware there was a contest!)
2) Speaking of which, why does Clem (and his relationship with Becky)--other than Judson, he has the least amount of space in the book--conclude the story? Isn't it strange that someone who's absent for most of the book--literally in number of pages and geographically (in another hemisphere!) wraps up the book? What did I miss? Is it something about his moral absolutism? What does he "represent"?
3) Is it me, or was anyone else bothered by the wild mood swings of every main character? One minute someone is experiencing an epiphany, feeling like the epitome of goodness, etc., then they walk into the next room and they're practically whipping themselves in self-hatred...
4) Did anyone besides me sometimes lose track of the motivations of individual characters: who they were "for" or "against", why they were doing what they were doing, etc.? 2/3s of the way in, I felt like each character had done a 180-degree turn at least 2-3 times!
5) As a fan (I've read most of his novels), Franzen's lens on the world and his characters is familiar to me; I'm going to throw out some adjectives and you can tell me if you agree: hyper-literate, neurotic, keen-eyed, cynical, self-hating. In The Corrections (still probably my favorite), it's only in the last fifth of the book, IMHO, that the characters are redeemed: Chip somehow "corrects" on his adventure in the Baltics, Gary "corrects" by cutting his hand, Enid "corrects" by declining to take the pill (she wanted the real thing or nothing). My experience of Crossroads is that the redemption is even more elusive: each characters' redemption is still subjective and internal: for example, Becky's low opinion of her parents, when they themselves have apparently rediscovered their faith and their passion for each other (convincing or not, by the way?) Is this stance/attitude a defining characteristic of a Franzen book?
Thanks in advance to any fellow JF fans who reply!
This is my first try to reach out to fellow readers on Goodreads, so apologies if I'm doing it wrong or starting a new discussion when there's already one going.
I just finished Crossroads and want to a mind dump and see if anyone is interested in chatting.
1) Starting with what I imagine is a classic M.A. in Literature question: what is this about? God, more specifically Christianity, more specifically Protestantism? Salvation? "Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior"? (I've never read such vivid, intense descriptions of experiencing grace/"seeing God"--whether sober or high--than here). Authenticity, whatever that means (e.g. Russ's anxieties about being a fraud)? The power dynamics of family--e.g., the final scene, where Becky seems to have gained the "upper hand" vis-a-vis the family, and in particular, Clem? (I wasn't even aware there was a contest!)
2) Speaking of which, why does Clem (and his relationship with Becky)--other than Judson, he has the least amount of space in the book--conclude the story? Isn't it strange that someone who's absent for most of the book--literally in number of pages and geographically (in another hemisphere!) wraps up the book? What did I miss? Is it something about his moral absolutism? What does he "represent"?
3) Is it me, or was anyone else bothered by the wild mood swings of every main character? One minute someone is experiencing an epiphany, feeling like the epitome of goodness, etc., then they walk into the next room and they're practically whipping themselves in self-hatred...
4) Did anyone besides me sometimes lose track of the motivations of individual characters: who they were "for" or "against", why they were doing what they were doing, etc.? 2/3s of the way in, I felt like each character had done a 180-degree turn at least 2-3 times!
5) As a fan (I've read most of his novels), Franzen's lens on the world and his characters is familiar to me; I'm going to throw out some adjectives and you can tell me if you agree: hyper-literate, neurotic, keen-eyed, cynical, self-hating. In The Corrections (still probably my favorite), it's only in the last fifth of the book, IMHO, that the characters are redeemed: Chip somehow "corrects" on his adventure in the Baltics, Gary "corrects" by cutting his hand, Enid "corrects" by declining to take the pill (she wanted the real thing or nothing). My experience of Crossroads is that the redemption is even more elusive: each characters' redemption is still subjective and internal: for example, Becky's low opinion of her parents, when they themselves have apparently rediscovered their faith and their passion for each other (convincing or not, by the way?) Is this stance/attitude a defining characteristic of a Franzen book?
Thanks in advance to any fellow JF fans who reply!
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Hey!
Finished the book about a week ago, and I think it was fantastic.
One of the things that make Franzen novels extremely special is that they are "about" many things: about emotional processes, about God, and societal commentary. Specifically for this book, I think each character can represent some form of American approaches to religion:
Clem is a moral absolutist, atheist.
Becky is becoming an evangelical kind of christian right prototype.
Marion is saved by religion institutions, and basically represents catholicism.
I am less confident what the other characters represent as I am not American nor christian, but that's one take I have. I also think the book revolves around the question of what it means to be a good person, and explores the concept of God in this context. Every character has a different motivation for their choices, but most of the time - God or religion is not really the actual motive even when "getting closer to God" is the decision they end up making (take Becky for example - she basically wanted to be closer to Tanner, and then had a revelation. Marion finds God as a means for structure in her life, so on). As always with Franzen, characters are flawed - though I didn't see a real 180 degree turn in any of them.
Last point I have to make - this is a first part of a trilogy depicting the family across 3 decades. My guess is that the book ended with Clem, Beck and Grace in order to set the stage for next novel (taking place 20 years after the events of Crossroads)
I personally think this is my favorite Franzen novel - because of how well the characters are written, because of the theme that got me thinking (being a complete atheist), and the way that I could really feel like I was in a 70s American suburb, even though I wasn't born there and not even an American citizen.
Finished the book about a week ago, and I think it was fantastic.
One of the things that make Franzen novels extremely special is that they are "about" many things: about emotional processes, about God, and societal commentary. Specifically for this book, I think each character can represent some form of American approaches to religion:
Clem is a moral absolutist, atheist.
Becky is becoming an evangelical kind of christian right prototype.
Marion is saved by religion institutions, and basically represents catholicism.
I am less confident what the other characters represent as I am not American nor christian, but that's one take I have. I also think the book revolves around the question of what it means to be a good person, and explores the concept of God in this context. Every character has a different motivation for their choices, but most of the time - God or religion is not really the actual motive even when "getting closer to God" is the decision they end up making (take Becky for example - she basically wanted to be closer to Tanner, and then had a revelation. Marion finds God as a means for structure in her life, so on). As always with Franzen, characters are flawed - though I didn't see a real 180 degree turn in any of them.
Last point I have to make - this is a first part of a trilogy depicting the family across 3 decades. My guess is that the book ended with Clem, Beck and Grace in order to set the stage for next novel (taking place 20 years after the events of Crossroads)
I personally think this is my favorite Franzen novel - because of how well the characters are written, because of the theme that got me thinking (being a complete atheist), and the way that I could really feel like I was in a 70s American suburb, even though I wasn't born there and not even an American citizen.
Missed this discussion but people may be interested to know that Jonathan Franzen will be Honored with F. Scott Fitzgerald Award
Festival Moves to New Location
The 27th annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival will be at a new venue this year:
Montgomery College Theatre Arts Building
51 Mannakee St., where it will honor author Jonathan Franzen with the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature.
The award has been presented to some of America’s most distinguished writers, including Richard Russo, Annie Proulx, Norman Mailer, Pat Conroy, John Updike, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Powers.
The festival will take place at Montgomery College on Saturday, Oct. 21. This year’s theme is “Mental Illness in Fiction.”
The festival will host other events throughout the month, such as a celebration of Fitzgerald’s birthday, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, with a performance by the Rose Theatre Company of “Devotedly, With Dearest Love: A Dramatic Reading Drawn from The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald,” at the Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda.
Top prize winners from the festival’s adult and student short story contests will introduce and read from their entries from 6-7:45 p.m. in the first-floor reading room of Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave.
A free festival event, “Readings in Honor of Jonathan Franzen,” co-sponsored with the Writer's Center, will be held 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 at the Writer’s Center.
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival was established in 1996 to celebrate the centenary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birth and the city where Fitzgerald, his wife and daughter are buried — the festival is co-sponsored by the City of Rockville and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc.
The festival is for writers, book lovers and Fitzgerald fans. For more information and to register visit our web site at fscottfestival dot org.
Festival Moves to New Location
The 27th annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival will be at a new venue this year:
Montgomery College Theatre Arts Building
51 Mannakee St., where it will honor author Jonathan Franzen with the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature.
The award has been presented to some of America’s most distinguished writers, including Richard Russo, Annie Proulx, Norman Mailer, Pat Conroy, John Updike, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Powers.
The festival will take place at Montgomery College on Saturday, Oct. 21. This year’s theme is “Mental Illness in Fiction.”
The festival will host other events throughout the month, such as a celebration of Fitzgerald’s birthday, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, with a performance by the Rose Theatre Company of “Devotedly, With Dearest Love: A Dramatic Reading Drawn from The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald,” at the Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda.
Top prize winners from the festival’s adult and student short story contests will introduce and read from their entries from 6-7:45 p.m. in the first-floor reading room of Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Ave.
A free festival event, “Readings in Honor of Jonathan Franzen,” co-sponsored with the Writer's Center, will be held 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 at the Writer’s Center.
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival was established in 1996 to celebrate the centenary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birth and the city where Fitzgerald, his wife and daughter are buried — the festival is co-sponsored by the City of Rockville and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc.
The festival is for writers, book lovers and Fitzgerald fans. For more information and to register visit our web site at fscottfestival dot org.
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