The unknown harm inflicted by people through love.

Franzen's characters make your heart feel heavier the longer you read them. The older they grow, the more psychological damage accumulates, and the more messed up they reveal themselves to be.

7 years on from my first read, and wiser in love than I was then, I now feel the claustrophobia, the futility and the hurt of this story with increased intensity. Sudden death. The pain of long love. Avoidance and anxiety. The futility of trying. The concluding chapters drew occasional tears.