This work shares many of the same themes as Franzen's more renowned books. It features messed-up individuals within dysfunctional families. As the story unfolds, you gradually come to like them more as you gain an understanding of what drives them.

The timing of the climactic event towards the end was somewhat outrageous and hard to believe. Fortunately, he refined and toned down that kind of crazy material in his later excellent books such as "Freedom" and "The Corrections".

Nonetheless, I still had an appreciation for this particular work. Despite its flaws, it offered an engaging exploration of complex characters and their relationships. It delved into the inner workings of these individuals and their families, revealing the often chaotic and unpredictable nature of human behavior.

Overall, while it may not have reached the same level of polish as his later masterpieces, it still had its own charm and value, making it a worthwhile read for fans of Franzen's unique style of storytelling.

The Devil's in the details.

This should indeed be Franzen's motto. Throughout the narrative, he intricately weaves in such minute specifics.

If these details weren't so perfectly fitting to the story as a whole, one could easily dismiss them.

Strong Motion has a great deal happening within its pages.

However, it doesn't quite gel as well as I had hoped.

Nonetheless, it is a strong novel, written in a luscious style.

It is highly recommended for those who are eager to discover what lies beyond The Corrections.

I would rate it a solid 4 stars.

And I look forward to reading Freedom soon.

When a WASP family inherits millions from a grandmother who died in an earthquake, all of their certainties are shaken.

Franzen, the great author, once again causes tremors with this passionate and surprising story, which lies between family satire and politico-ecological thriller.

The story is carried by sublime characters who add depth and complexity to the narrative.

As the family grapples with their newfound wealth and the implications it brings, they are forced to confront their own values and beliefs.

The earthquake serves as a metaphor for the upheaval that occurs in their lives, and Franzen masterfully explores the themes of family, money, and the environment.

With his vivid prose and keen insights, Franzen creates a world that is both familiar and strange, drawing readers in and keeping them on the edge of their seats until the very end.

This is a must-read for fans of literary fiction and anyone interested in exploring the human condition.

A great second novel!

I've been truly impressed with everything Franzen has written. His works always manage to capture my attention and keep me engaged from start to finish.

The only reason this particular novel didn't earn a full 5 stars from me is that I couldn't help but compare it to his previous masterpieces like The Corrections, Freedom, and Purity. Those books completely blew me away with their depth, complexity, and powerful storytelling.

However, this doesn't mean that this second novel is in any way inferior. It still showcases Franzen's remarkable talent as a writer and his ability to create vivid characters and engaging plots.

Overall, I highly recommend Franzen's work to anyone who enjoys thought-provoking and well-written literature. He's definitely an author worth checking out.

For some reason, I had the impression that this was a brand new book.

When I saw it online, I was extremely excited. However, when I actually got my hands on it, I realized that it was written in the 90s. I'm not entirely certain why that fact is relevant, but while I have always placed The Corrections at the top of my "must-read" list, I found this particular book to be less than captivating.

The plot seemed rather absurd. The characters were so self-absorbed and unlikable. Although the concept of corporate crime through pollution is a serious and real issue, the interactions among all these characters were so convenient and simplistic that nothing felt believable.

I did think that Franzen's portrayal of the ways in which we navigate interpersonal relationships, with the push and pull, was quite authentic. I could understand and believe that Louis would pursue Lauren until he won her over and then start to miss Renee.

Nevertheless, I was also quite frustrated with his blanket misogynistic remarks about women. There were numerous generalizations about the ways women age and lose their attractiveness, and most of the female characters seemed one-dimensional (while Franzen went to great lengths to develop Louis as a more multi-faceted character). Renee was the only female character with any degree of complexity, but in the end, she was still subject to Louis's desires and caretaking.

One final thing that bothered me was the random chapter about the raccoon. I understand that Franzen was attempting to be novel and innovative, but the anthropomorphism of this random raccoon did not come across as enlightened. Instead, it felt more like a writing exercise that amused him but disrespected the reader's attention and energy.

Overall, I found the book to be boring at times, not very engaging, and longer than it needed to be. There were some poignant moments, but ultimately, it felt as if Franzen was more interested in showing off or indulging himself rather than communicating anything of real value to the reader.

3 - 4 stars.

It was truly interesting. As I was reading, I could vividly picture Evanston and the suburbs of Boston. The descriptions were so detailed that it felt as if I was actually there, walking the streets of Evanston and exploring the charming suburbs of Boston.

The author did a great job of bringing these places to life. The architecture, the scenery, and the people all came alive in my mind.

I could imagine the beautiful houses, the tree-lined streets, and the friendly neighbors. It made me want to visit these places in person and experience them for myself.

Overall, it was a great read that left me with a strong impression of Evanston and the suburbs of Boston. I would definitely recommend it to others who are interested in these areas or who enjoy reading about different places.

Although Strong Motion (1992) failed to achieve critical acclaim or financial success, it serves as an early testament to Jonathan Franzen's talent as a writer in the realm of literary fiction. He has been fortunate enough to receive the support that enables him to focus on his work, a luxury not every writer enjoys. However, this doesn't mean I believe he has led a charmed life - no one does.

While reading Strong Motion, I could sense the groundwork being laid for the ambitious The Corrections. I thoroughly relished my journey back to the time before he became renowned. His unique style draws the reader into its currents and eddies, rapids and waterfalls, and the still waters where it runs deep. Honestly, I couldn't put it down. It infiltrated my daily thoughts with its trembling anxiety until I picked it up again, and before I knew it, it was over much too quickly.

Seismic shifts of the earth, seismic shifts of the spirit - of the self. I always appreciate Franzen's layering of ordinary humans and their extraordinary individuality. Human uniqueness, no matter how flawed, is a beautiful thing. I'm grateful that we aren't all cut from the same cookie cutter, although I'm sure some people would prefer that we all fit neatly within their comfort zone. It's disconcerting how judgmental we can be towards one another on a daily basis.

Strong Motion strikes a chord by highlighting how much we often dislike ourselves. Our perceived imperfections and self-doubts make us an uncomfortable bunch. Our upbringing, religions, and private thoughts entangle us in knots of conflict between dreams and realities. We squirm in our own skin, restless with the need to belong, to be, to believe, to live - afraid of death, of being alone, of the dark both outside and within. Human disasters, love and greed, strong motion/strong emotion - these are the aftershocks of humanity from which none of us can emerge unscathed. There is no cookie cutter life, no one is perfect, no one is above it because of wealth, and no one is beneath it because of poverty. It's one big, beautiful mess that defies easy definition. Are there such things as happy endings? Life goes on...

I couldn't truly engage with this choppy and extremely long novel. I had fallen deeply in love with Franzen's more successful books such as "Freedom" and "The Corrections", and thus decided to explore some of his older works. I didn't have a great liking for "Purity", and I liked this novel even less than that. I'm uncertain about what it is regarding Franzen's style in this book, but in contrast to his later books, my emotions remained completely unaroused. I had a difficult time comprehending the characters and their motivations. As a result, I was constantly a bit taken aback and couldn't really empathize with them. This is unfortunate for a story that places such a heavy emphasis on a tragic love story.

The other major pillar upon which the novel rests is Franzen's classic Collection of Topical Issues. In this instance, those issues encompass reproductive rights, religion, corporate corruption, environmentalism, and land development. Unlike "Freedom", I didn't feel as though I learned much about any of those topics in this jerky, cold, and self-indulgent novel. There were indeed some funny portions and the plot is rather interesting, if only it were condensed to approximately one-third of its actual length. But as it is, this is not a novel that I would recommend, not even to Franzen fans.

I really made a great effort to get into this book. I started reading with great anticipation, hoping to be drawn into its fascinating world. However, after reading five chapters, which amounted to approximately 200 pages, I finally had to give up.

Reading is supposed to be a source of enjoyment, a way to relax and escape into different stories. But this book was anything but that. It felt like a never-ending slog, with each page being a struggle to get through. The plot was convoluted and hard to follow, and the writing style didn't engage me at all.

I found myself constantly losing interest and having to force myself to keep reading. After a while, I realized that I was just torturing myself by continuing. So, I finally made the decision to stop and move on to something else. It was a difficult choice, but I knew it was the right one for me.

Maybe this book just wasn't for me, and that's okay. There are so many other great books out there waiting to be discovered, and I'm looking forward to finding ones that will truly capture my imagination and make reading a pleasure again.

Seeing as he has a new book coming out this fall, I thought it would be a good idea to finish off the last of Franzen's fictions that I hadn't read. Franzen's first novel, The 27th City, was a large, unfocused, and sprawling work. It had very occasional beautiful sentences or passages that kept the reader going, but overall, it was a complete mess. Strong Motion, on the other hand, is his first novel that actually functions as a novel. The narrative focus is sharper, the plotting is a bit more developed, the characters are a little better drawn, and the dialogue is a bit sharper.

However, for me, this is still a far cry from strong literature. The depressive social realism that Franzen depicts so beautifully in his later novels comes across as amateurish and overbearing here. Everyone in Strong Motion seems to just vacillate between bitterness, bitchiness, and unhappiness because they are just bitter, bitchy, and unhappy. The sense of place and history that he uses so perfectly to develop the flaws and disappointments of the characters in The Corrections and Freedom just isn't there in this novel.

And this isn't helped at all by his heavy-handed narration, which has moments of real beauty but also gets bogged down too easily with eye-rollingly bad imagery, tiresome jeremiads about how we've become monsters, and sudden digressions into New England history. All of these things help create a long, dense novel, but at the same time, they hide how boilerplate the actual plot is (when it eventually bothers to develop).

Some writers' style and skills emerge fully formed from their earliest work, and we never really see how they change or grow or what their early years were like. I think one reason Franzen is so respected and venerated as a novelist is because he didn't start out strong. His first two books are long, dense, overwrought, and often quite embarrassingly ineffective. Franzen could easily have spent the rest of his career churning out books that were as under-emotional and over-intellectual as this one, but instead, he managed to reinvent himself as a writer who uses sadness to create empathy, insight, and understanding, rather than just wallowing in it.

I have a deep affection for Franzen. What I cherish the most about him is the remarkable way in which he constructs his characters.

He has an extraordinary talent for breathing life into them, delving deep into the very essence of what makes them function.

His ability to create complex and multi-dimensional characters is truly captivating.

Franzen's works are always a pleasure to read, as they offer a profound exploration of the human psyche and the intricacies of relationships.

Each character he creates is unique, with their own set of flaws, desires, and motivations.

His writing style is engaging and immersive, drawing the reader in and making them feel as if they are a part of the story.

Whether it's a novel or a short story, Franzen's work is always worth the time and effort to read.

He is a master of his craft, and his contributions to the world of literature are truly significant.

I look forward to reading more of his works in the future and continuing to be inspired by his talent.

I initially despised the first third or so of this book.

Louis was truly a despicable character, lacking any redeeming qualities. It was so bad that I couldn't fathom a reason to continue reading about him or any of the other characters, who were neither likeable nor understandable.

However, my background in seismology piqued my interest when the earthquake part of the plot emerged. I had never expected to come across a book that actually discussed beach balls (in the seismic context).

The situation changed drastically when Renee Seitchek entered the scene. From that moment on, I became truly engaged.

Although it's not the finest book I've ever read, the writing is exquisite, the plot (eventually) becomes compelling, and in the end, I'm relieved that I endured the beginning.

It goes to show that sometimes, even when a book starts off poorly, it can still surprise and captivate you if you give it a chance.