Book of the week: Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen’s new book is an absorbing look at the ‘last, confused years of the Age of Aquarius’
Jonathan Franzen has always written his best novels when he resists the urge to dissect America and goes back to “basics”: anatomising family life, said James Walton in The Daily Telegraph. He did this brilliantly in the “all-conquering” The Corrections (2001), and he has done so again in his equally superb sixth novel. Part one of a trilogy titled “A Key to All Mythologies” (a reference to Mr Casaubon’s “famously futile life’s work” in Middlemarch), Crossroads is set in the early 1970s, in the fictional Illinois town of New Prospect.
It centres on five members of the dysfunctional Hildebrandt family: Russ, a “liberal Christian pastor”; Marion, his downtrodden wife; college student Clem; and his teenage siblings Becky and Perry. “Moving from one character to another with unhurried efficiency, Franzen inhabits all of them with total conviction and a Middlemarch-like ability to know more about them than they know themselves.”
At the heart of the novel is a progressive youth group called “Crossroads”, which is presided over by a charismatic young pastor named Rick, said Thomas Mallon in The New York Times. Although it’s based at his church, Russ himself has been ejected from the group, having used “sexually frank” language while counselling a teenage girl.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Humiliatingly, however, his children still attend, though their motives for doing so aren’t especially pure: Becky is there because she fancies the guitarist; Perry sees an opportunity to deal drugs. In the background, larger issues loom – the Vietnam War, changing sexual mores – but these don’t unduly disrupt Franzen’s family saga. “Nicely textured”, and full of “nimble” dialogue, Crossroads is an absorbing look at the “last, confused years of the Age of Aquarius”.
Personally, I found it an uneven book, said Claire Lowdon in The Sunday Times. While the “granular characterisation” is predictably brilliant – Franzen is nothing if not the “bard of the backstory” – the plot is marred by a lack of momentum; then, late on, Franzen implausibly “brings all his characters to a big personal crisis at exactly the same moment”.
I disagree, said Xan Brooks in The Guardian: this book is a “pure pleasure to read” from start to finish. “One hopes that Franzen’s trilogy will stay the course, chasing the Hildebrandt family through the 1970s, past Watergate and the energy crisis, all the way to Ronald Reagan’s brash new American morning.”
4th Estate 580pp £20; The Week Bookshop £15.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - March 16, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - pointed commentary, Haiti in trouble, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the RNC's MAGA takeover
Cartoons Artists take on RNC funding, Lara Trump, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Trump's presidential run: a bad bet for Republicans?
Talking Point The GOP is taking a 'big gamble' on former president's 2024 White House bid
By The Week UK Published
-
Properties of the week: properties with income potential
The Week Recommends Featuring a converted windmill and a country house with medieval origins
By The Week UK Published
-
Angelica Kauffman: 'shrewd and entertaining' exhibition
the week recommends One of two female founders of the Royal Academy, time was 'not kind to her reputation'
By The Week UK Published
-
High & Low: John Galliano – rise and fall of the 'ignominiously sacked' fashion genius
the week recommends Forced out of Dior in 2011, he has since engaged in a 'process of rehabilitation'
By The Week UK Published
-
Starter for Ten: 'very fun' musical adaptation of One Day author's debut
the week recommends 'Top-notch' cast combined with 'energetic and fun' songs makes for a 'feel-good' show
By The Week UK Published
-
6 well-thought-out homes with libraries
Feature Featuring a Tudor Revival in Texas and a condo with illuminated bookshelves in Illinois
By The Week Staff Published
-
Rebecca Serle's 6 favorite books about interpersonal relationships
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by J.D. Salinger, Dolly Alderton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Príncipe: an island paradise off the west coast of Africa
The Week Recommends The remote island isn't easy to get to, but the journey is 'well worth it'
By The Week UK Published
-
Recipe: pistachio, lemon and coriander seed cake
The Week Recommends The unconventional coriander seeds 'make the flavours sing'
By The Week UK Published