Crossroads is the first installment of three in Franzen’s A Key to All Mythologies trilogy.  His deep analysis of a Midwest family flailing through the 70s felt both dense and fresh at the same time.  

 

At 580 pages, Franzen is not at a loss for words.  His loquacious need to penetrate to the soul of these characters puts the family’s messy dynamics on full display.  With none of the characters being particularly likable, it’s their flaws that captivate.  Pride plays a key role in hampering the transformations I anticipated, even as the characters themselves long for inner goodness while battling imperfection and temptation.  But full redemption seems to be just out of reach to both the family unit and the characters singularly.  Even so, Franzen manages to stick the ending, leaving me with the perfect mix of hope and skepticism. 

 

With peak messaging, Franzen adeptly portrays the crossroads of good and evil while utilizing secondary themes of religion, morality, sex, drugs, infidelity, and politics.  Through these explorations, the backdrop of the 70s with its cultural revolution and political turmoil becomes vivid in detail. 

 

At times the work felt overwhelmed by its own ambition.  But the flawlessness of the writing held me tight until the final page.  

 

This book begged for conversation, and my enjoyment of this novel was greatly heightened by my buddy read with @shobizreads @myinfinitetbr @bigskybooks and gang!