Jonathan Franzen on “Freedom” (Video)

Jonathan Franzen confirms my suspicion, that no one should ask an author about his/her work. To his credit Franzen, I think, recognizes this, when he characterizes himself as a professional interviewee and an amateur writer. Still that doesn’t stop him from drawing an analogy from friendship to political freedom. It’s part of the Aristotelian framework, but alien to American traditions.

Franzen is also particularly unpersuasive when he strays into a critique of American foreign policy. Heather Hurlburt takes a much more troubling turn when she considers the relationship between militarization and democratization.


Filed under: bhtv, Eurasian Balkans, Military, Politics, USA Tagged: freedom, heather hurlburt, jonathan franzen, shahid buttar, the guardian