Paperback, 653 pages
English language
Published April 10, 2002 by Harpercollins Pub Ltd, HarperPerennial.
The Corrections is a 2001 novel by American author Jonathan Franzen. It revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern couple and their three adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-20th century to "one last Christmas" together near the turn of the millennium. The novel was awarded the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. The Corrections was published to wide acclaim from literary critics for its characterization and prose. While the novel's release preceded the September 11 terrorist attacks by ten days, many have interpreted The Corrections as having prescient insight into the major concerns and general mood of post-9/11 American life, and it has been listed in multiple publications as one of the greatest novels of the 21st century.
Is this Updike for the early twenty-first century? I loved the backbone of the corrections that the individual family members tried to make in their lives, against the background of the market 'corrections'.
A richly moving, yet very amusing, chronicle of a family dealing with the vicissitudes of old age and trying to make a mark in early middle age.
This is a genre that just isn't for me. Franzen was recommended by my boss, but this is absolutely not working for me.
I hated the characters, especially Gary and pre-Lithuania Chip, with a passion. I kept groaning about Enid and Alfred and how unnecessary difficult they made their life. The most accomplished seemed to be Denise, and after what she did, that success doesn't come easy. I think I like her, though.
I almost stopped reading this after I'd started, as it seemed just a mite too clever. But the well-written sentences and plot are compelling, even as they teeter between floridness and cynicism, and I enjoyed it more the more I read. I found myself chuckling out loud at times. But I ultimately felt the balance tipped towards cynicism too much throughout for me to say that I really enjoyed this novel. I wonder where the author stands in relation to his characters -- is this just a complete farce?
Maybe better to read when naivety of youth gives you a slightly thicker skin when it comes to family ties and relationships. Crushingly well observed and described.
What a relief. I just finished this book. If I hadn't been reading it for a book group, I would have abandoned it after about 50 pages. But I felt obligated to finish so that I could discuss in the group why I hated it so much. It was a painful read. I could only read about 10 pages at a time before I feeling so disgusted and wanting to take a shower, and switched to some other book.
To be fair, the Denise story, I only somewhat disliked it. And the section in Lithuania was ok as well, although pretty ridiculous, another plot line where I thought why in the world are we here? Yes, I'm talking about you, the woman on the boat from Chadds Ford, among so many other plot bits which just left me thinking, oh please.
Of course, a bigger issue was basically hating every …
What a relief. I just finished this book. If I hadn't been reading it for a book group, I would have abandoned it after about 50 pages. But I felt obligated to finish so that I could discuss in the group why I hated it so much. It was a painful read. I could only read about 10 pages at a time before I feeling so disgusted and wanting to take a shower, and switched to some other book.
To be fair, the Denise story, I only somewhat disliked it. And the section in Lithuania was ok as well, although pretty ridiculous, another plot line where I thought why in the world are we here? Yes, I'm talking about you, the woman on the boat from Chadds Ford, among so many other plot bits which just left me thinking, oh please.
Of course, a bigger issue was basically hating every single character in the book and wondering why anybody would bother to write a novel with all of them in it. Does art have to be so dire to be considered important and good? After wallowing in the horror of Chip's life, I thought, good, I'm through that. But then we get into the awfulness of Gary and Caroline's life after that. Then why their parents had such an awful life. All of them tinged with strange undercurrents especially sexual ones. Then Denise, well, that one somehow wasn't quite so awful. Perhaps Franzen couldn't quite figure out how to fill her with the same sorts of awfulness the rest of the characters ooze.
The last 1/3 of the book didn't really redeem the rest of it, but I was able to read it in larger chunks without wanting to tear the book to pieces quite so much. I suppose the last few pages is supposed to redeem some of the characters but by then I just didn't care. I wanted it to be over and for them to be out of my life.
I see this book has gotten a real mix of reviews, mostly five star with a few one star and not much in-between. I guess it is a challenging book, in that I spent almost every minute reading it wanting to not read it anymore. Does that make it art? Or even important literature? I don't know. I'm just glad I'm done and I have my life back.
This was an amazing book. In my opinion, it was extremely well written, entertaining and assuring since it documented the story a family even more messed up than my own extended one. (Mom, you don't count as messed up!)
Excellent characters, tight plot line. In short, it was a truely great read that I couldn't put down.
