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Freedom

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Freedom

By: Jonathan Franzen
Narrated by: David Ledoux
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About this listen

The new novel from the author of The Corrections.

Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul – the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbour who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter – environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, family man – she was doing her small part to build a better world.

But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz – outré rocker and Walter's old college friend and rival – still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to poor Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become "a very different kind of neighbour," an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street's attentive eyes?

In his first novel since The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom comically and tragically captures the temptations and burdens of too much liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the heavy weight of empire. In charting the mistakes and joys of Freedom's intensely realized characters, as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world, Franzen has produced an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.

©2010 Jonathan Franzen (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Literary Fiction Fiction Marriage

What listeners say about Freedom

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Excellent narration

Freedom is a wonderful book and this was excellent narration by David Ledoux. Highly recommend!

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Gives much more than expected.

Where does Freedom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my first Jonathan Franzen. Listening to this story, I became fully involved with the characters. Poor Patty and Walter expressed some of how I feel about life. Their frustrations and petty successes mimic much of what we all go through. This novel scared me, taught me, showed me how to articulate thoughts and feelings that I haven't been able to. It is marvellous! I recognised so much in it. Franzen's ability to express life through the eyes of a
the young and the middle aged is remarkable. He gets down to the nitty gritty; the book demands the reader to concentrate so as not to miss the smallest thing. Read it/listen to it and do yourself a favour. 5 stars.

What other book might you compare Freedom to, and why?

Franzen reminds me a little of Jane Austin - the clever understanding of the 'character'.

What does David Ledoux bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

David Ledoux brought the voices to life.....his ability to speak the female parts as well as the male parts was wondrous.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did have an emotional reaction to this book. I thought about it long after I had finished it. It made me feel empathy for the characters and feel involved in their lives. I wanted to shake them and hug them and shout at them...!

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Better than Good

Engrossing, a voice for this age and the next, all of it unfolding unexpectedly from what seems like a purely domestic/relationship-focused beginning. The narration is really engaging and entertaining, well performed dialogue which allows the subtle humour to pack a punch. I loved this novel and want other people to love it, too. Please do.

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David Ledoux - wow!

Franzen has an amazing ability to see people. In Freedom he expertly pulled Patty and Walter apart and puts them back together. If you read The Corrections and loved it you'll love Freedom too. David Ledoux's performance was outstanding. Worth every minute of the 24 hours.

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