Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen comes pre-approved. Michiko Kakutani's default approval in the NYT and literary success in general has come to him. He was just interviewed on Fresh Air — my first impression of who he is, as opposed to the buzzing, blooming publicity around his name. He is an interesting person, an interesting interview. I don't think he answered a single question Terry Gross asked. It was because he was trying to tell the truth, to feel out what he thought and that involved a journey, a journey that often wandered. The sure signature of a real writer — trying to figure it out. Unlike the typical media icon, he wasn't trying to find the apposite euphemism — to the precise contrary — he wanted to say what he felt, and tried to lasso it in words. He lost himself in his verbal searches, the audience the better for the indirection. There is a small chuckle underneath his interviewee personality — very different from the calloused cackle — the default tone of many in the public eye.
Norman Mailer once said that Franzen writes good sentences but they don't add up. Franzen presents in the same way — but there is something to be said for the additions even if they don't total precisely.