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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
This is some of the finest prose I have read in quite a while. It was also one of the mostly aptly titled novels of all time. The Corrections works on so many levels throughout. I enjoyed it every time a different type of "correction" made an appearance. Franzen absolutely captures the pathos of family members disrupted by modern social pressures. There were moments I laughed out loud from the shock of recognition, and times that I nearly cried for the same reason. It's tough to remain close to your family when you find yourself with different values, income levels, interests, and beliefs. Throughout this book, I felt that the core family were hovering on the edge of a breakthrough that would bring them all back into one another's arms. There was real love underlying their entire history with one another. Unfortunately there was also guilt, deception, and illness.
I enjoyed rooting for them and celebrating the small ways that they came together. I held out hope to the end that there would be a Christmas miracle. Alas, it wasn't to be. This story was just too real to allow for the happiest kind of ending.
I enjoyed rooting for them and celebrating the small ways that they came together. I held out hope to the end that there would be a Christmas miracle. Alas, it wasn't to be. This story was just too real to allow for the happiest kind of ending.
A funny/sad book about families and aging parents.
Jonathan FUCKING Franzen, you wrote the most dull and annoying and horrible characters but goodness can you write! The way he captures familial relations made me awestruck, but the book kept dragging and dragging that I wanted to gouge my eyes out. It refused to end! Beautiful writing tho. Ridiculous
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I've never read such fully-fleshed deeply recognisable characters in my life! the mom was MY mom - averting her eyes if forced to confront something distasteful about her adult children (then feigning ignorance if/when the aversion was witnessed), her obsession with a Christmas that will never live up to the fantasy in her head, her way of commenting aloud rather than straight out asking for help or asking for help but sandwiching it inside over the top compliments. But she also revealed character flaws in ME: long held grudges, passive aggressively favouring family members are acquiesce to her will, her utter, utter aversion to being judged and shamed.
the dad was a study of stoic masculinity: at first I mistook his early retirement as pride and a refusal to look weak in the face of an oncoming, unavoidable health shift (and when I discovered I was wrong, it was only about the focus, and not the reasons). In him I could recognise my husband's future; of being able to disassemble and fix objects your whole life long (the comfort of being provider and compass) and then new technologies come around and make their guts opaque and the resulting uselessness that settles around becoming hostage to consumerism - the only way out of a broken object is to spend...
the oldest son is in a marriage/death match with a woman who equally exasperates and invigorates him. is she really the terrible woman who makes him chose between his family of origin and her, who eavesdrops on his phone calls to his mother, who encourages their boys to slyly make fun of a formerly loved family tradition? or is this a version of her in his mind? the tension between *that* wife and the one who drives him out of his mind with desire explains the viability of any marriage that is still standing today!
About midway thru the book the reader is immersed in a dementia delusion happening in the father's head, and so it seems natural to bookend that with a fantastical story involving the mother - but not only is story real, the parents themselves are at the heart of an outlandish plot point when the father falls from the deck's ship (and survives)... Just when you think you've pinned down the style and substance of this character study, there is so much more!
Franzen writes satirically about capitalism and the markets, and his 'corrections' title references many possible permutations: to a manuscript, to a parental philosophy, to the market. His section about privatising the country of Lithuania was probably over my head but it's clear he can balance many themes while supposedly centering on this American family. I want to read everything he's ever done.
the dad was a study of stoic masculinity: at first I mistook his early retirement as pride and a refusal to look weak in the face of an oncoming, unavoidable health shift (and when I discovered I was wrong, it was only about the focus, and not the reasons). In him I could recognise my husband's future; of being able to disassemble and fix objects your whole life long (the comfort of being provider and compass) and then new technologies come around and make their guts opaque and the resulting uselessness that settles around becoming hostage to consumerism - the only way out of a broken object is to spend...
the oldest son is in a marriage/death match with a woman who equally exasperates and invigorates him. is she really the terrible woman who makes him chose between his family of origin and her, who eavesdrops on his phone calls to his mother, who encourages their boys to slyly make fun of a formerly loved family tradition? or is this a version of her in his mind? the tension between *that* wife and the one who drives him out of his mind with desire explains the viability of any marriage that is still standing today!
About midway thru the book the reader is immersed in a dementia delusion happening in the father's head, and so it seems natural to bookend that with a fantastical story involving the mother - but not only is story real, the parents themselves are at the heart of an outlandish plot point when the father falls from the deck's ship (and survives)... Just when you think you've pinned down the style and substance of this character study, there is so much more!
Franzen writes satirically about capitalism and the markets, and his 'corrections' title references many possible permutations: to a manuscript, to a parental philosophy, to the market. His section about privatising the country of Lithuania was probably over my head but it's clear he can balance many themes while supposedly centering on this American family. I want to read everything he's ever done.
The Great American (Midwestern Diaspora) Novel
Prototypically for a Great American Novel, The Corrections engages with the novel format itself by incorporating some of the trends and advances of contemporary literature while returning to some of the classic methods of storytelling. The book could be reasonably shoehorned into any of the following subgenres:
• encyclopedic novel (due to gratuitous details about non-narrative elements like biotech investments or medical disease and pharmacological fixes; as in Infinite Jest or Moby Dick)
• hysterical realism (ex. Lithuania’s government is completely sold off to overseas investors in an elaborate defrauding scheme; similar to DFW's Broom of the System or Zadie Smith’s work)
• Metamodernism and New Sincerity (ex. university students are surprisingly okay with a business co-opting the fight against cancer to get good press; like DFW’s repeated attempts to sublimate cliches in Infinite Jest or sincere and simple attention as sublime deliverance in The Pale King)
• social novel (due to the central focus being on family drama and development, especially as a commentary on the Rust-Belt, Midwestern families whose children move away for career prospects; similar to the social novels of Dostoevesky and Tolstoy)
However, it is Franzen’s loose engagement with each and synthesis of these subgenres which creates a fresh contribution to the Great American Novel.
The Corrections also takes on another prototypical focus of the Great American Novel: big ideas in America: the American Dream, individualism vs. collectivism, privatization and commodification of countries and personalities, the shifting moral and aesthetic tastes of society and how the university leads these changes, self-sacrifice and living for others as an identity. Thankfully, Franzen never loses sight of the character’s humanity. Franzen embeds all of these big ideas into a coherent family dynamic. Or put differently: Franzen finds a way to show a family simultaneously fragmenting and trying to repair itself in response to our complex, constantly shifting society. Thus, these big ideas represent the zeitgeist that families (especially middle-class, Midwestern families) have had to wrestle with in the last few decades (but especially in the 90’s, when most of the action takes place).
In this attention to the humanity of characters, Franzen’s novel can read as a strong screenplay, recalling screenwriters like Billy Wilder (The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard) or Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) who are experts at crafting tight, symbolically-laden dialogue and interlocking several parallel development scenes. Of course, some of this dramatic expertise probably harkens back to the episodic social novel a la Dickens. And indeed Franzen has talked about his intention to create a novel in the mode of the social novel and family drama a la Dostoevesky and Tolstoy. To come full circle, Franzen himself has mentioned his intention to revive some of this period's style and content.
The social depth and intricacy formed by Wilder, Weiner, Dostoesvsky, and Tolstoy can be especially appreciated on a second encounter; the same goes for Franzen. After finishing the book, I started reading again until the middle of the second chapter. There are many detail which later become meaningful in these initial scenes. For example, in setting the stage for a cross-country, family visit, one character cleans up a semen stain on a chaise lounge—among many other tasks. The small detail adds to the initial scenes sense of mood and place, but also foreshadows a whole scene later on in the book which becomes integral to our understanding of this character and his development.
This narrative craft and attention to complex characters makes for a compelling and satisfying read. When paired with Franzen’s more conceptual takes on the course of America and its ideals, the book becomes one of the high points in the last few decades of contemporary fiction.
Prototypically for a Great American Novel, The Corrections engages with the novel format itself by incorporating some of the trends and advances of contemporary literature while returning to some of the classic methods of storytelling. The book could be reasonably shoehorned into any of the following subgenres:
• encyclopedic novel (due to gratuitous details about non-narrative elements like biotech investments or medical disease and pharmacological fixes; as in Infinite Jest or Moby Dick)
• hysterical realism (ex. Lithuania’s government is completely sold off to overseas investors in an elaborate defrauding scheme; similar to DFW's Broom of the System or Zadie Smith’s work)
• Metamodernism and New Sincerity (ex. university students are surprisingly okay with a business co-opting the fight against cancer to get good press; like DFW’s repeated attempts to sublimate cliches in Infinite Jest or sincere and simple attention as sublime deliverance in The Pale King)
• social novel (due to the central focus being on family drama and development, especially as a commentary on the Rust-Belt, Midwestern families whose children move away for career prospects; similar to the social novels of Dostoevesky and Tolstoy)
However, it is Franzen’s loose engagement with each and synthesis of these subgenres which creates a fresh contribution to the Great American Novel.
The Corrections also takes on another prototypical focus of the Great American Novel: big ideas in America: the American Dream, individualism vs. collectivism, privatization and commodification of countries and personalities, the shifting moral and aesthetic tastes of society and how the university leads these changes, self-sacrifice and living for others as an identity. Thankfully, Franzen never loses sight of the character’s humanity. Franzen embeds all of these big ideas into a coherent family dynamic. Or put differently: Franzen finds a way to show a family simultaneously fragmenting and trying to repair itself in response to our complex, constantly shifting society. Thus, these big ideas represent the zeitgeist that families (especially middle-class, Midwestern families) have had to wrestle with in the last few decades (but especially in the 90’s, when most of the action takes place).
In this attention to the humanity of characters, Franzen’s novel can read as a strong screenplay, recalling screenwriters like Billy Wilder (The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard) or Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) who are experts at crafting tight, symbolically-laden dialogue and interlocking several parallel development scenes. Of course, some of this dramatic expertise probably harkens back to the episodic social novel a la Dickens. And indeed Franzen has talked about his intention to create a novel in the mode of the social novel and family drama a la Dostoevesky and Tolstoy. To come full circle, Franzen himself has mentioned his intention to revive some of this period's style and content.
The social depth and intricacy formed by Wilder, Weiner, Dostoesvsky, and Tolstoy can be especially appreciated on a second encounter; the same goes for Franzen. After finishing the book, I started reading again until the middle of the second chapter. There are many detail which later become meaningful in these initial scenes. For example, in setting the stage for a cross-country, family visit, one character cleans up a semen stain on a chaise lounge—among many other tasks. The small detail adds to the initial scenes sense of mood and place, but also foreshadows a whole scene later on in the book which becomes integral to our understanding of this character and his development.
This narrative craft and attention to complex characters makes for a compelling and satisfying read. When paired with Franzen’s more conceptual takes on the course of America and its ideals, the book becomes one of the high points in the last few decades of contemporary fiction.
Най-накрая прочетох нещо от Джонатан Франзен и съжалих, че не се е случило по-рано.
Чудих се как да оценя книгата. Да, имаше неща в нея, които не ми допаднаха - ако се позовавах на това, нямаше да е пет от пет. Но всъщност "Поправките" ме караше да спирам и да размишлям, да се питам как е успял да опише някои конкретни неща толкова точно и достоверно звучащо.
"Поправките" бяха за мен осъзнаване. Бяха разбиране дори на най-най-баналните неща в живота ми. Заради всичко, през което ме накара да премина (и да си дам сметка), Франзен влиза с все сила в графата "следени автори", и то напълно заслужено.
- Казах, че не е нормално децата да се разбират с родителите си. Не е нормално родителите да са най-добрите ти приятели. Трябва да има някакъв бунт. Така човек се убеждава каго личност.
- Може би така се утвърждаваш ти - отвърна тя. - Но пък ти не си пример за щастлив възрастен.
***
Инид имаше навика, щом усетеше, че семейството е щекотлива тема за някого, да човърка в раната неуморно. Беше готова по-скоро да умре, отколкото да си признае, че децата ѝ са я разочаровали, но като слушаше за пропадналите чужди деца - за техните мръсни разводи, злоупотреби с алкохол и наркотици, глупавите им инвестиции, - се чувстваше по-добре.
***
Тук сърцето ѝ се изпълваше, сетивата ѝ се изостряха, но главата ѝ като че ли щеше да се пръсне във вакуума на самотата.
Скоро ще седна да напиша по-подробно ревю, защото книгата го заслужава.
Чудих се как да оценя книгата. Да, имаше неща в нея, които не ми допаднаха - ако се позовавах на това, нямаше да е пет от пет. Но всъщност "Поправките" ме караше да спирам и да размишлям, да се питам как е успял да опише някои конкретни неща толкова точно и достоверно звучащо.
"Поправките" бяха за мен осъзнаване. Бяха разбиране дори на най-най-баналните неща в живота ми. Заради всичко, през което ме накара да премина (и да си дам сметка), Франзен влиза с все сила в графата "следени автори", и то напълно заслужено.
- Казах, че не е нормално децата да се разбират с родителите си. Не е нормално родителите да са най-добрите ти приятели. Трябва да има някакъв бунт. Така човек се убеждава каго личност.
- Може би така се утвърждаваш ти - отвърна тя. - Но пък ти не си пример за щастлив възрастен.
***
Инид имаше навика, щом усетеше, че семейството е щекотлива тема за някого, да човърка в раната неуморно. Беше готова по-скоро да умре, отколкото да си признае, че децата ѝ са я разочаровали, но като слушаше за пропадналите чужди деца - за техните мръсни разводи, злоупотреби с алкохол и наркотици, глупавите им инвестиции, - се чувстваше по-добре.
***
Тук сърцето ѝ се изпълваше, сетивата ѝ се изостряха, но главата ѝ като че ли щеше да се пръсне във вакуума на самотата.
Скоро ще седна да напиша по-подробно ревю, защото книгата го заслужава.
Don't think I've ever disliked a family more than this one. A beautifully written nightmare of a novel.
This book has one of my favorite lines of all time (pg. 33):
...a feminist theorist who’d become so enraged with the patriarchal system of accreditation and its phallometric yardsticks of achievement that she refused (or was unable) to finish her dissertation.
That's my excuse too.
Classic.
...a feminist theorist who’d become so enraged with the patriarchal system of accreditation and its phallometric yardsticks of achievement that she refused (or was unable) to finish her dissertation.
That's my excuse too.
Classic.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes