The kids are all right but the parents are ogres: Franzen's Freedom

On 2nd reading, the 2nd chapter of Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom," which recounts the date-rape of Betty (Emerson) and the shockingly callous reaction of her parents is harrowing and terrific - and it sets up a trope for the novel, in fact for Franzen: parents (even grandparents) are horrible and self-involved, though somehow the kids (most of them) are all right. The novel, at least the first 120 pp., is primarily about Betty and Walter Bergland, and the section after Betty's date rape takes her as far from her uncaring presence as she can reasonably get, off to college at U Minnesota, where she's a b-ball star. I still can't fathom why her Westchester-liberal-high-achieving parents would find some status perks in that, but so be it. Franzen deftly tells the complex story of Patty's emotional life in college - one of those complex stories that form the basis of so many great songs: she has a crush on a striking but worthless musician, his erstwhile roommate (Walter) falls for Betty and doggedly pursues her, she's uninterested until she realizes what a shit the roommate is, then falls into Walter's arms. These things don't usually work out that well - it's obvious that she's settling for a love without passion. Walter, too, is from a horrible family - both he and Betty are constantly overcompensating, being "nice," trying to get the recognition from someone, anyone, that they never got from their parents. There's a lot going on in this very rich novel - yet because Franzen writes so well and is so clearly focused on telling a good story and exploring the depths of character and place, it's very easy to read and totally engaging.