Although this blog is mainly about science fiction, I sometimes read pure literature just to see what the other side is up. Jonathon Franzen is one of my favourite non-genre authors and here is a review of Purity, which I just finished reading.
Purity is literature with a plot. The plot revolves
around secrets with the two main secrets being Purity’s search for the
identity of her father, and the cover-up of a murder. The novel follows four
main characters: Purity, Andreas Wolf, Tom and Leila. Purity is a recent
university graduate in search of journalism job. She was raised by a controlling,
but loving, mother who always got her own way and would argue for
hours about the most trivial matters. Andreas Wolf is modelled on Julian
Assange, complete with his own version of Wikileaks. Wolf was raised in East
Germany and was a reluctant escapee when the wall came down as East Germany
was a seemingly perfect place to keep his secrets. Tom is the owner and editor of
an investigative journal. While Leila is a hard-nosed reporter who works for Tom. They are lovers, even though she is married.
When Pip is offered a job by Wolf that requires her to relocate
to his secret base in Bolivia, the lives of the four main characters go from
circling each other to intermingling. But each of them is so caught up in their
own sense of what is morally right they find it hard, in some cases impossible,
to share their lives with others. While Franzen's critically acclaimed novel The
Corrections was all about people trying to hide their true selves from the
world, in Purity the characters, for the most part, are controlled by secrets.
As usual, Franzen divides the novel into lengthy sections
told from one of the four character’s points of view. So Franzen spends a lot
of time in the heads of his characters as they attempt to justify what they are
doing while reminiscing on what they have done. I particularly found Andreas
Wolf’s life as a church councillor in East Germany compelling as he tried to
keep under the radar of the Stasi, even though his father was a high ranking
East German official. When Andreas "escapes" from East Germany, his secret ensures
he is never free.
But the story revolves around Purity and her search for
the identity of her father. Her strict upbringing by her mother and lack of a
father leaves her longing for a father figure. This leads to a desire for a
relationship with older men, be it the older married man living in her share
house, or perhaps Andreas Wolf, or... While searching for her father and love,
she leads an otherwise aimless existence ruled by cynicism.
I very much enjoyed being in the heads of the main
characters. Their search for an ethical meaning to life had me often contemplating my own
machinations on life. As I read, I pondered the possible consequences of their secrets being
exposed and was frequently surprised with what happened. While not in the same
class as The Corrections, Purity is a very entertaining and thought provoking
read.
