Like stories of narcissists? You'll love this.

I loved the two previous Franzen books and looked forward to this. However, right now I am struggling to put into words my feelings about this book. It is enough for me that I had to keep making myself listen - it felt like hard work rather than a pleasure to continue. I didn't like any of the characters, they were all annoying or loathsome or both. None of their characterisations rang true to me - they all seemed contrived to the point of being incredible. Much has been said of Franzen's inability to write women but the men were no more or less credible here.

The narrators were all fine except for the ridiculous way the Germans, when speaking German to one another, spoke in 'Cherman' accents.

There was of course some lovely writing (and some not-so lovely writing - what, no editors?) and a couple of laughs but overall, a struggle for this listener..

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10 people found this helpful

great characters

all of the characters in this book are given so much time ( too much for some) I expect but I thought it held onto the storyline whilst you get to delve into their minds and thoughts. great.

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Greatly enjoyed it.

An interesting story told with wit and compassion. The characters are believable and the plot is good fun. A good listen, well performed. I recommend it and look forward to trying more of Jonathan's work.

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Purity

The he section.in the GDR was the best for me but I found that it dragged after that and could have been 49 instead of 56 chapters

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Unnecessarily long

It was too long in so many places and that really reduced my enjoyment overall. I was dying to get some parts over with as quickly as possible so I could get back to the story!!

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1 person found this helpful

Superb all the way through

Where does Purity rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

By far the best novel I've listened to. Having different narrators makes a great difference.

What other book might you compare Purity to, and why?

I suppose in its sweep and deliberate contemporaneity it demonstrates the same ambition as Updike with his Rabbit Angstrom quartet. At least one hopes for more.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narrators were convincing, a story only comes alive when told with conviction, I hope future books will utilize several narrators as it really makes the story live

Any additional comments?

Franzen's mastery of his craft is really impressive. Great stories, believable plots, delightful one liners 'the daily pleasure of being appalled at the world' convey genuine insight.

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Subtle Masterpiece

Frantzen is a genius in how he draws the reader into his story. He makes as little waves as possible in the story but the tiny surprises and curveballs weave a narrative that leave us with amazement and glee. Thank you for another subtle masterpiece, Mr Frantzen!

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Nice twist

I enjoyed listening to this story ... Very well presented and I would recommend it to others.

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5 stars all the way

Like his previous novels I loved Purity. His writing is sublime. He gets under the skin completely and manages to get all the complexities and nuances of human beings and their relationships. While he tackles some major issues of today’s society.

The reading performances were also outstanding which means a lot when you listen to audiobooks.

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An amazing, well-thought story of human families

Would you consider the audio edition of Purity to be better than the print version?

Yes, I consider the audio edition better than the print version, thanks to the good narrators knowing how to colour their voices according to the emotion of the characters in the book. I have a little doubt about Mr D. Baker's narration. At times, he was putting unneeded emphasis on points that I think he should not have.
I enjoyed very much listening to Mr Robert Petkoff's German accent - it was very well done. It was a pleasure to listen to Mrs J. Lamia; she knows very well when to lower her voice and when to colour it accordingly.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the different 'duet-stories' coming out of real human families; I liked the mother (Penelope/Annabel) -daughter (Pip) relationship living in California; I liked the Journalist businessman (Tom) -mature reporter lady (Leila) relationhip living in Denver; I liked the mother (Katja) - son (Andreas) relationhip living in East Germany as well as the other people's stories throughout the book and how amazingly well the author intermingles the stories together.
The author is very good of giving his dilemmas to the listener/reader without spelling the quetions out loud: 'google-research vs journalim'.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I enjoyed very much reading the story of life of Andreas while growing up in East Germany. The social, family and political environment around him was very vividly and realitically depicted by the author. It made me feel as I was living in the same house with Andreas or being in the same churche where he was staying.
The author also depicted the German family very well and amazingly realistically. Clelia's tough and heartless mother reminded me of the cruel stories in the classic German childrens' book "Der Struwweltpeter" that demonstrates with pictures the exaggurated catastrophical consequences of childrens' misbehaviour.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, I had an emotional reaction but not so much of sadness or happiness but rather of anger. Anger of the unfair way Purity was treated by everybody around her and especially by her family, mainly her mother and father. The mother that was an impossible character, a spoiled kid kind of, and a father who kept secret from his daughter his relationship to her while shouting to her about the spyware she had installed in his computer.
While the author at many places was describing the dialogues between the impossible mother (Penelope) and her daughter or between the impossile girlfriend in the beginning, later wife (Annabel) and her boyfriend/husband, he was clearly showing the irrational and completely twisted charachter of Penelope/Annabel. And he was doing it very well. So well that I wanted to shout out loud. I wonder: why did he chose a woman to have such an irrational and impossible character?

Any additional comments?

The story to me reminded me of an Oedipudian complex and an unnatural coincidence of a daughter desparately seeking her father and extraordinarily fall and live under the same roof as her father himself.

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