Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Purity
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
A magnum opus for our morally complex times from the author of FREEDOM and THE CORRECTIONS Young Pip Tyler doesnt know who she is. She knows that her real name is Purity, that shes saddled with $130,000 in student debt, that shes squatting with anarchists in Oakland, and that her relationship with her mother her only family is hazardous. But she doesnt have a clue who her father is, why her mother chose to live as a recluse with an invented name, or how shell ever have a normal life. Enter the Germans. A glancing encounter with a German peace activist leads Pip to an internship in South America with the Sunlight Project, an organization that traffics in all the secrets of the world including, Pip hopes, the secret of her origins. TSP is the brainchild of Andreas Wolf, a charismatic provocateur who rose to fame in the chaos following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now on the lam in Bolivia, Andreas is drawn to Pip for reasons she doesnt understand, and the intensity of her response to him upends her conventional ideas of right and wrong. Jonathan Franzens Purity is a grand story of youthful idealism, extreme fidelity, and murder. The author of The Corrections and Freedom has imagined a world of vividly original characters Californians and East Germans, good parents and bad parents, journalists and leakers and he follows their intertwining paths through landscapes as contemporary as the omnipresent Internet and as ancient as the war between the sexes. Purity is the most daring and penetrating book yet by one of the major writers of our time.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
kricheal
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Mehso-so

I struggled with this one.

blurb
kricheal
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Starting this next

blurb
ARTDJG
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

🤠

1 like2 stack adds
blurb
Paperback.Propensity
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don't judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 3

#bookstoread #tbrpile

review
KSNAP
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Pickpick

Purity is an incredible hall of mirrors where all characters form a web of commonalities and similarities, and just when the reader thinks she has a handle on all those things, one character comes right out and scoffs at the idea that these coincidences mean anything. Do they or don't they? Franzen does not tip his hand. He's a magician and this book might hold his best illusion yet.

quote
BarbaraTheBibliophage
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

“[H]er mind was like a balloon with static cling, attracting random ideas as they floated by[.]”
― Jonathan Franzen, Purity

#quotsyaug19 #balloon

review
Sha0102
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Pickpick

Great book. Many plots that are perfectly arranged in a bigger one filled with secrets, manipulations and lies. His style is more coloquial and less polished but still a wonderful reading.

#Pureza #Purity #JonathanFranzen
#book #bookaholic #booklovers #ler #leitura #leitora #reading #instabook #instaread #instabooks #bookstagram #litsy #booklover #readingabook #amreading #books #vero #Sha2019

review
hungry_librarian
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Pickpick

I know Franzen has gone out of style but I still enjoy him. This is the only novel I‘ve managed to finish this summer! Franzen just kind of zings you with these perfect paragraphs which, looking back, make up for the lackluster ending. And at the time, drive you forward. This isn‘t going to be the book you call in sick to finish, but it‘s a delight in its own way.

blurb
Chili
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#MayPicChallenge @Syndelle777
Reading on the shore of Lake Superior. A little chilly and I definitely wouldn‘t go in the water. I love the big lake and wish I could read there every day.

BeansPage Lovely ❤️ 6y
Kristelh A beautiful day in Minnesota. 6y
Chili @Kristelh It was beautiful. A little chilly by the lake, only 46. I wish I could spend every day down there. 6y
Kristelh It was 73 here in Central Minnesota. While it was a perfect day, I do miss having the lake close by. 6y
Chili It was 62 up on the hill. Whenever I get over to Duluth I always have to go down and spend some time at the lake. It‘s beautiful and so relaxing. 6y
26 likes5 comments
quote
GripLitGrl
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

[H]er mind was like a balloon with static cling, attracting random ideas as they floated by.
#rosegold #balloons # mind #smile
Tags: balloon, mind, simile

blurb
ClairesReads
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#10authorrecommendations thanks for the tag @Redheadrambles I could probably easily have come up with another ten...but I love this squad! If you haven't done it already I nominate @ReadingEnvy @Libby1

Libby1 Thanks for the nomination, @ClairesReads . I have some thinking to do! 7y
ClairesReads @Libby1 it took me a bit of thinking too! It's hard to narrow down 😊 7y
Redheadrambles @ClairesReads Ooh love this list. I haven‘t read Chris Cleeve and only one Joyce Carol Oates - the new book of hers looks interesting 7y
See All 9 Comments
ClairesReads @Redheadrambles side note I am so thirsty to read that new JCO- it looks rad! Ps what one of hers have you read??? She's so prolific it's hard to keep up 7y
Redheadrambles @ClairesReads I am pretty sure I read The Falls - many years ago - honeymoon angst at Niagara Falls 7y
ClairesReads @Redheadrambles oh she has so many good ones! And good short stories too 7y
Redheadrambles @Clairesreads Ghosh if a Read Harder task is “read a book about reproductive rights by a female author “ we so have our Buddy Read 😀 7y
ClairesReads @Redheadrambles 😂😂 we so do!! 7y
32 likes9 comments
review
Spiderfelt
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
This post contains spoilers
show me
post image
Bailedbailed

I was enjoying this book, engaged in the characters and the story until the German step-father seduction began. I couldn't bear to listen to it. Moving on to other things.

5 likes1 stack add
quote
ChrisBohjalian
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Late to the party, but #Allin.

34 likes1 stack add
blurb
Angelala007
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Franzen gets mixed reviews. I loved The Corrections. Freedom was forgettable. So far this one is holding me. 👽

Simona I loved Corrections, liked Freedom and Purity was disappointment ... 7y
24 likes1 comment
review
Talewaggingreads
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Bailedbailed

Phew. Reading reviews made this bail much easier. Maybe I just don't get it, or, is there anything to get? Gratuitous sex was too much to schlog through.

review
TheCueCard99
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Pickpick

Themes of secrecy and privacy in the Internet age make Franzen's novel an interesting read. Like his protagonist Pip Tyler! See review at www.thecuecard.com

blurb
Simona
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

1. Never crack the spine.
2. Tea.
3. Character in a fantasy novel.
4. During the evening.
5. Own a bookstore.

#bookishwouldyourather

Kalalalatja 👏👏👏 7y
69 likes1 stack add1 comment
quote
Simona
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

On your request @Tiffy_Reads - p.27 of my current read for #teasertuesday I just couldn't pick only 2 lines 😳

50 likes1 stack add
quote
Simona
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

An interesting paradox, indeed.

Abailliekaras Turn on the light, Jonathan. 7y
Simona @Abailliekaras If I tell you his decision, that would be a spoiler 😉😘 7y
60 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
JillR
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

The second book I've given up on in just two weeks 🙈. I don't know what is happening! I really tried with this one but it wasn't keeping my interest, and I'm just too busy to keep slogging on with it. Off to search for something easy that I might actually finish...

review
Meganbub
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Panpan

This was: tedious, pretentiously verbose, insane. HATED Anabel. Hated hated. I was originally going to be generous and give this a so-so but I'm just too mad that I spent so long reading it just to be so aggravated by it.

6 likes1 stack add
blurb
JillR
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

I was on a real reading roll until the Gunslinger Interlude. Now I think I've got reader's block. I'm really trying with this one though!

blurb
Meganbub
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
6 likes1 stack add
blurb
Kristelh
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Just finished Purity by Franzen. It was remarkable for the similarity to Infinite Jest. I was told that IJ has much influence in literature and am discovering how true that is. Encouragement to keep on reading IJ. #infintiejestbuddyread, @JenP

Spiderfelt That's also a great reason to read Purity. I love seeing parallels and influences in literature. 8y
5 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
AlastairLuft
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Bailedbailed

Really tried on this one, but found that I just didn't care about the characters or what happened to them.

blurb
Kristelh
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Currently reading.

britt_brooke I just downloaded Moonglow from Overdrive so we're about to have 2/3 of the same current reads. 😁👍🏻 #greatminds 8y
Kristelh @britt_brooke , Moonglow is sooo good. 8y
britt_brooke @Kristelh I need to start it soon. It will be my first Chabon. 8y
Kristelh @britt_brooke it's my third Chabon and I've liked them all. 8y
britt_brooke @Kristelh 👍🏻👍🏻 8y
8 likes5 comments
blurb
LornaDH
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#litsypartyofone after I take Isla to an Easter egg hunt at school.

blurb
laurenkferguson
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

This has been on my #tbr for too long but man after scanning some goodreads and litsy reviews it's really putting me off.... oh well here goes nothing!

blurb
JenP
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#riotgrams #onewordtitle
I love Franzen's writing but have yet to read this book. I think it's because I find the cover off putting though not sure why.

Libby1 Gorgeous kitty. 😻 8y
JenP @Libby1 thanks. He doesn't like the attention to be focused anywhere other than on him. He snuck into the photo 😸 8y
TheLibrarian Love your kitty!! ❤️ 8y
See All 11 Comments
BookishTrish I detest Franzen and liked this book. I say go for it! (edited) 8y
JenP @TheLibrarian he thanks you! 8y
monkeygirlsmama I know nothing about the book, but your kitty looks epically sweet and cute. 8y
shuva The cover seems to associate women with purity. A categorisation which perhaps you don't like (I know it annoys the heck out of me...) 8y
shuva Having said that, it's on my TBR 😁😁 8y
Hobbinol Your cat can't believe everyone's talking about the book when he's so freakin' gorgeous! 8y
BookHermit I made it halfway but I blame much of my annoyance on an unfortunate audiobook chapter shuffling incident. I may pick it up again some day and read it from the beginning. I loved 8y
48 likes11 comments
blurb
PNWBookseller85
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#onewordtitle (s) and also some amateur spine poetry? 😸 #riotgrams

Kalalalatja 👌 I like it! 8y
64 likes1 comment
blurb
LisaJo
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

#ReadJanuary #SignedBooks Parnassus in Nashville was having a Jonathan Franzen lecture. I drove up I65 to attend that lecture! After the lecture was a signing. I stood in line to get my book signed and when I got up to the table Mr. Franzen asked me who I would like the book signed to and I said my name: Lisa Jo. Then I said, no E in Jo. He looked up at me and said, "Of course no E, you're a girl." So Franzen, so awesome.

LauraBeth 💕 8y
Coleen As someone whose name always gets misspelled (& mispronounced), I am happy for & with you. 😊 8y
30 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Macnjen
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Panpan

Kill me now. Audiobook. Tons of triggers, out of order, sooooo long, so irrelevant. Author tangents to socialist politics. Confusing. I think the author tries to love how smart he really is. His characters are so weak. Ugh. This author won't get another chance from me. #litsyAtoZ

Reviewsbylola I will never read another Franzen either. 8y
mjdowens Ugh. The book was just as bad. I had no idea what the hell was going on and just finally didn't even care 8y
Macnjen I had the same thoughts! I'm so glad I'm not alone in that thinking!!! (edited) 8y
26 likes3 comments
review
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Panpan

My first Franzen, so not fair to judge but here are my takeaways: doesn't like/understand women much, thinks they all have Daddy issues and men are mostly cowards with Mommy issues, dude can write and very effectively hold you hostage to the story but is sorely in need of an editor who's not afraid to yell CUT THE SHIT! There are moments of brilliance but on the whole found it just exhausting, deeply cynical, and kinda pointless.

Reviewsbylola I read and hated The Corrections. Then I saw the crappy stuff Franzen had to say re: women and Oprah's book club. Not for me. 😝 8y
Ericmanciniwriter Yea that's basically how I feel. He writes such great sentences but he doesn't seem to ever like his characters; he just uses them to explain what he thinks is wrong with America/the world/etc 8y
See All 22 Comments
Hooked_on_books I've never read him, but great review! 8y
KVanRead @Reviewsbylola at around p.400 the sexism was really getting to me so I googled and yah, the stuff he's said certainly didn't help. 8y
KVanRead @Eamann Well said. That's it exactly. 8y
KVanRead @Hooked_on_books Thanks! Felt good to vent.😂 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great review...and I will just add this one to the NEVER read pile. 8y
KVanRead @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Thanks. I hate to malign his sometimes brilliant prose but you have sit through a whole lot of bloat not to mention sexual creepiness. 😳 8y
BookishMarginalia I have never been able to read more than a few chapters of his books. Glad to see it's not just me! @Reviewsbylola @Eamann @KVanRead (and he was just so ungracious about Oprah -- jeez, she has made him tons of money and given him lots of exposure. Be appreciative and suck it up, guy!) 8y
SuperPunkNinja Your review is consistent with what I've heard about his writing. I've heard so many negative things about him at this point that I'm biased and wouldn't even consider reading his books. 8y
KVanRead @BookishMarginalia Too true! 😂 8y
KVanRead @McShelfington I somehow managed to go all this time without knowing much except the acclaim for The Corrections, and his bird thing but partway through this I started thinking man this guy's a jerk and apparently I'm not the only one!😂 8y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Well, I just dropped this off my GR TBR-sincerely I was on the fence when I put it there. So, thank you. There's too many fantastic reads out there to waste time on something I don't think I'd be into. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @KVanRead Don't worry... it was never really high on my list, or even on my list at all really. Something about him/his books never really appealed to me. So for me, no loss at all. 8y
Reviewsbylola I totally agree. That whole thing just made him look like a pompous ass. @BookishMarginalia 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Ive been reluctant to let The Corrections and the other one off my TBR, but I think I can finally break up with Franzen now. Thanks for saving me a lot of time! 8y
Zelma That sounds about right! 😆 dude can write but there are too many issues to wade through to enjoy it. I read The Corrections and it could have had the same review. 8y
KVanRead @JanuarieTimewalker13 Too true. There are more good books than we'll ever have time for. @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I actually have The Corrections on my shelf but it may be going back to Goodwill unread, especially now that I have @Zelma 's take on it. I don't think I have the psychic energy to sit through that again.😂 8y
laurenkferguson I've only just finished the first part and already it seems clear he's trying too hard to write about feminism and women's experience in general when he doesn't really understand what it means. Soooo frustrating 8y
KVanRead @laurenkferguson Yup. Totally agree. 8y
44 likes22 comments
quote
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Just when I think I can't take this book, he delivers a fabulous bit like this.

Nebklvr How did you get it to blur?! 8y
Nebklvr Hmmm...haven't read this ... 8y
KVanRead @Nebklvr I chose the 'focus' option in photo editing and then the 'linear' option to select the text. 8y
Nebklvr @KVanRead Thanks! I have been missing blur! 8y
45 likes4 comments
quote
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

"The feelings of prey in the grip of a wolf's teeth were hard to distinguish from being in love." Were they really, though? I kind of doubt it. Call me crazy but this is not at all what love feels like. Ugh. So cringey! I'm starting to find Franzen's treatment of this character really hateful.

Libby1 Blech. 😬. I agree. 8y
See All 10 Comments
mrsh62010 Don't ya just love it when men write women this way...... 8y
Leelee.reads I remember feeling euphoric, not painfully terrified, first falling in love. I would not compare it to being caught in wolf's teeth. 😒🐺 8y
KVanRead @mrsh62010 Yah, I'm halfway through and he seems to be deliberately making her into some kind of idiot savant. I'm hoping there's gonna be a worthwhile point to it... 8y
KVanRead @Leelee.reads Agree. Pretty messed up. 8y
Leelee.reads The more I think about the phrasing and connotations, the more bothersome it is! Why use the word "prey" at all? And are women so consumed by emotions that even positive feelings become negative? Like we are ensnared by our overwhelming, dangerous emotions. Good grief. It's ridiculous writing. ? 8y
cariashley Agree agree agree. Interested to hear about what you think of this book overall once you finish. 😐 8y
KVanRead @Leelee.reads There's a context for the prey thing but it's still pretty ridiculous as is a lot of stuff in this book. @cariashley I feel like I'm on a seesaw with it so far. I'm keep wanting out and then he sucks me back in. 8y
36 likes10 comments
quote
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

saresmoore Holy smokes. That paragraph packs a wallop! 8y
KVanRead @saresmoore I know, right? I'm still reeling! 8y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

"...tech problems are easy and human problems are hard." Yup. Cue the robots.

32 likes1 stack add
blurb
KVanRead
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Starting this one today...a birthday present from my sister last August.? Planning to use #birthdaychallenge to make a dent in #TBRmountain Any German speakers want to help me out with this line? Google translate says "Who always wants evil and always creates the good" ?

obviateit In Faust, the Devil always strives for the bad, but produces the good. I haven't actually read it, but I think that's a direct quote in your book. 8y
Sarah83 Yes. Google is right. If you need help with single words you can also use www.leo.org. I use it for my translations as well. Is it a modern herman 8y
See All 7 Comments
Sarah83 German edition or an old one? 8y
KVanRead @obviateit @Sarah83 aha! That makes sense. Thanks. It's an English paperback edition, but has this line in German at the start. 8y
Ericmanciniwriter It bugs me when English books use snippets of foreign languages without translation - seems to happen with French a lot 8y
KVanRead @Eamann Funny you should mention French because I always like it when that happens since I get to feel pleased that I know what it means but now I'm getting payback for my hubris with him tossing around all this German.😂 8y
36 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
at.petrina
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Finally a moment of peace to indulge...

1 like2 stack adds
blurb
Simona
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Jonathan Franzen - Purity
Virginia Woolf - Orlando
Maxine Hong Kingston - The Woman Warrior (in Slovenian language it's just one word and it's literal translation)
Albert Camus - The Stranger

#photoadaynov16 #onewordtitles

MemoirsForMe Thanks for teaching me this awesome new Slovenian word! 😊💪🏻 8y
Simona @UwannaPublishme You are welcome 😘 and it's important word! 8y
64 likes2 comments
blurb
Queenofeverything4
Purity | Jonathan Franzen

Having a hard time getting into this one. Reading it because there is a book club I would like to join and this is the book for this month. But, have out it aside for now.

2 stack adds
blurb
Queenofeverything4
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Library or book store. I'm going to start Purity soon and used it to post this non book picture. Lucky enough to still have a Barnes & Noble near me. So may have closed. I love a bookstore but also understand that, with all the digital reading I do, I'm part of the reason so many bookstores have closed. #somethingforseptember #septphotochallenge #Day12

blurb
LauraJ
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

We don't use any books at work. 😤 However, I did start up a book swap several months ago. It's interesting to see what my neighbors snap up and what they ignore. #workplacebooks #somethingforsept

Biljana What do they ignore? 8y
LauraJ @Biljana Travel guides, reference books and YA. 8y
25 likes2 comments
blurb
Mariadawnjames
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Halfway through this... A slow burner but I'm pressing on with it 👌🏻

review
Zoe_reads_books
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Panpan

I read "Freedom" a few years ago and really enjoyed it, unfortunately I didn't feel the same way about "Purity." It felt like Franzen took all the what he is usually criticized for and doubled down on it. I thought some of the themes Franzen explores, especially the idea of actually being moral vs. just want to appear moral, were interesting, but these ideas weren't executed the well. It also suffered from being about 200 pages too long.

MrBook Great review. It seems you represent how most people think about this book compared to his others 😊👍🏻. 8y
BookHermit 🎯 I also enjoyed Freedom but bailed on this one after two sincere attempts to get through the audiobook. Can't fault the narration so I have to blame Franzen for failing to sustain a interesting and relevant premise. 8y
Zoe_reads_books @BookHermit Honestly the only reason I finished it was because I read it for a book club. We decided to read The Corrections next, which I'm not super excited about but I've heard a lot of good things about that book. 8y
7 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
erinreads
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

I was telling my husband about the #augustphotochallenge and he wanted to participate in the stacking, hahaha. This is a his (left) and hers (right) #TBR pile for the near future. Completely different taste in books, but we make it work. 😛 #augustofpages #bookstacks

Merethebookgal How fun! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa That's great! The couple that stacks together, stays together! 😀 8y
britt_brooke Love it! 8y
BookishMarginalia 💜💜💜 8y
25 likes5 comments
blurb
Giantsizegeek
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Wife shopping, me reading Purity on a Kindle with a strawberry lemonade iced tea in a nearby Starbucks. When she's done I will pick her up, door to door service.

review
bookshopsc
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image
Pickpick

If there was any doubt that Franzen is the best living American novelist, this crushes it. In addition to deeply drawn characters, unsurpassed erudition, & astounding prose, PURITY offers a drum-tight, globe-spanning plot. Nobody pushes harder into characters to reveal their flaws (& virtues), or more inventively dissects the preposterous aspects of our culture. I laughed, I squirmed, I gasped, but mostly I stayed up into the wee hours.-Rico

50 likes12 stack adds
blurb
NikkiA
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
post image

Really didn't need to add anything else to my TBR pile but LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS! Also, there's wine, so that's nice :)

MrBook An intoxicating combination indeed. 8y
Simona @NikkiA This one is in my TBR for months now 😳 8y
38 likes5 stack adds2 comments
review
Rebbles
Purity | Jonathan Franzen
Bailedbailed

I really wanted to like this book because it's Franzen and it's set in the Bay Area, but at this point in my life, I just need chapters. And less millennial angst. Reading about a lost twenty-something - in loops because I could never figure out where I'd left off - wasn't working for me.

GuiltyFeat Really? I have found Each of Franzen's last three novels to be fine, fine pieces of work- both artful and entertaining. 8y
3 likes1 stack add1 comment