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Jonathan Franzen is big on detailed explaining. He explains in detail what his characters are feeling. And he explains what these feelings mean and how they shift the constellations of the inner life of his characters. If he wasn't so big on explaining this would be a 450 page novel instead of a 650 page novel. Arguably it'd also be a more accomplished novel.
Empathy is probably the most important quality a novel has to create if it's going to hook you. This is more of a challenge if the characters are deeply unlikeable which is initially case with Purity. Secrets. Andreas has an overpowering mother and an unknown father. He also has an explosive secret; Pip also has an overpowering mother and an unknown father and she is a person from whom secrets are kept. Purity is a novel about the power secrets have. The plot is sometimes implausible but when a writer writes as well as Franzen it's very easy to suspend disbelief.