I picked up a used copy of Strong Motion for eight dollars at my local used book store. It had dog-eared pages. Although I buy a substantial number of my books used when I can, dog ears are not something I encounter often. So it was a shock when I came to my first mutilated page. My guess is that a former owner was the type to simply use dog-eared book marks as the locations did not seem to mark favourite passages.
I have several authors that I am doing my best to read their works in chronological order, Jonathan Franzen is not one of them. I started with Freedom, which I borrowed from a friend, then moved on to The Corrections which is very popular and easy to find a used copy. So with Strong Motion I unintentionally read some of his works in reverse chronological order.
I do enjoy Franzen’s characters, they feel very well developed. In all three of his works that I’ve read the quality of his characters was pretty much on par. It’s been a while now since I’ve read his later works but my lasting impression is that the plot in his later novels is a bit more complex. More interrelation between the characters, and maybe more social commentary through character thoughts.
The longer I read Strong Motion the faster I started reading it, until unfortunately, there was no more. I look forward to picking up some more of his novels.