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“I think Franzen accomplished something great with this book. I don't want to type anything that would spoil the book for anyone else who may happen to come to your page so I will speak in generalities. I felt that Franzen succeeded in allowing the readers to feel for his characters even as they made decisions that hurt others (I even found myself, reluctantly, feeling for Patty and empathizing with her). You could see the internal debates that they were having. You could see them through their own eyes and through the eyes of the others around them (In this regard, I especially liked the way he reintroduced the neighbors from the beginning of the book). Most importantly, you could really see the growth and development of the character and you could feel their humanity (speaking of generalities!).
The only shortcoming, and I wasn't all that bothered by this, was the "voice" of Patty in her diary. I saw a lot of people commenting on this in reviews. The diary didn't read like it was written by Patty especially when it went into dialog. I was not sure if we were actually supposed to reading the diary itself or what the diary was intended to say. Like, what Patty would have said if she could have gone back, recorded her conversation and her feelings at the time she felt them with respect to certain things (eg. the dealing with her family and the sale of Ray's house). Otherwise, pure magic in my mind.
Without getting too personal, I found the whole story of Patty and Walter's relationship (the whole book, I guess), the ups and downs, so true to life. I would be careful not to recommend this book to certain people who's own relationships have gone in a similar direction because I think I might cause a lot of pain. For me, I was in a strange way cathartic to see something like this written so poignantly and beautifully. To see someone draw upon that pain but also to be able to show not only the pain but the way that a person's life experiences, both good and bad, become so embedded in that person that it makes that person who they are and what they become. For these reasons, and more, I found the book to be a real triumph.”
