When acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen publishes a book, people perk up. And review it. Heavily. Purity, his latest book, has been reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, and New York Magazine, among others. Numerous copies of the book adorn the windows of bookstores/coffee shops (because who just goes to a book stores without coffee anymore). Though clearly over-reviewed, the book deserves yet another one. It’s just that compelling.
What strikes the reader most remarkably at first is the book’s relevance. As opposed to another Holocaust historical fiction or another Hollywood celebrity memoir, this book deals with some of the central issues that are really facing society.
Pip, the nickname for the main character named Purity, lives in a house with Occupy squatters in Oakland and works for an Assange-like figure named Andreas Wolf on his Wikileaks-esque Sunlight Project. Franzen acknowledges this connection by mentioning Assange multiple times in the book. He understands that we will see the similarities. In fact, he expects it.
One interesting part of Franzen’s writing is his perspective style. When he writes, he writes only from the perspective of the character that is the focus of that moment. This is significant when there are multiple subplots that merge together. The reader finds out information by piecing random parts from different narrators’ brains together, but the narrators are unaware of the information. The reader gets to watch the characters discover what they already know. The reader knows the answers to Pip’s quest before she does and gets to watch her piece together certain things. Additionally, towards the end, someone lies to Pip about something of major importance and the reader realizes this while Pip does not. As far as the reader knows, Pip goes on living her life with this lie and not knowing it’s a fallacy.
Another technique that Franzen uses to compel the reader is his use of backstories when the plot is about to get exciting. When Pip is about to embark on her journey to work for the Sunlight Project, Franzen goes on a detour to explore the backstory of Wolf, the leader of the program. Again, when the action is about to heat up with Pip, Tom and Leila, the text goes into Tom’s backstory. This way, Franzen can keep you on your toes because you’ll sit through another one hundred and fifty pages if you’re curious to see what will happen.
This is also evident in his use of overarching mystery. Pip’s lineage is confusing, how Annagret convinces her to join the program is odd, and why is she even there to begin with. These are all issues that Franzen keeps looming in the background, waiting to weave in with increase prose and dexterity. I can’t explain it because it would spoil the book, but it’s worth the read.
Where Franzen sometimes loses the reader is when his main characters all sound just like him. When reading Purity next to his last book, Freedom, it becomes apparent that some of the major characters are thinking alike, and they’re matching Jonathan Franzen. There’s even a minor character in this book who’s trying to write a grand novel which he insists must be quite long. That can certainly be true of Franzen, whose Purity is 563 pages.
Additionally, some of Franzen’s own opinions on social media, big government, politics, marriage and other issues come out through his characters. It becomes less clear to the reader over time who is speaking to you–the characters, or the characters as Jonathan Franzen.
Overall, this book was a fantastic read. With beautiful prose and a compelling plot line, Franzen looped me in and took me for a wild ride. Though there were parts in this almost 600-page epoch that weren’t as page-turning as I may have liked, after a certain point, the plot demanded my attention and involvement.
Through its relevance, backstories, and perspective, Purity lured me in to take a look at America through the eyes of a just-graduated college student (a position not far from my current one). Pick it up and you won’t put it down.