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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
i barely remember this book because i read it so long ago but i remember it being hard to put down.
I really enjoyed this book. Franzen is one of my favourite writers and this is his masterpiece.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book - did not want it to end. Amazing writing!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i loved this book so much that i was sad when i finished it. i'm amazed by franzen's ability to capture such dysfunction in a literary work.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my first Franzen and I thought it was the one I was most poised to like. It had been pitched to me as a book about unlikable characters and a family at odds, which I usually enjoy. And it didn't here, but something about the combination of the length with the fact that everyone is so miserable in their own unique ways made it hard for me to get through. I would read 50 pages I was really into, and then the focus would shift and I would find it slow going. I know and respect what this book was doing, I just don't believe it needed all 653 pages to accomplish it. Every time the POV shifted to Chip I thought about giving up on the book completely, but near the end I was actually angriest at Gary and Caroline.
Read this for my book club. Or tried to. I probably shouldn't leave a review since I only got to around page 100. It was compulsively readable, but I realized I felt absolutely miserable and tense after spending a few minutes with this book. It was a paean to misanthropy.
Any book that has so many unlikeable characters, such as this one, is tough to get through. This was a slow read, and the story took long detours where a major character would disappear for over 100 pages. The plot was quite jumbled, but it did pick up steam at the end.
In a sentence, this book felt like watching the slow suffocating misery of first world problems play out in front of you. That is the dispassionate spectator in me not finding a connection in the characters in this book that made me care for their issues. That summation sits in stark contrast to the pull of Franzen’s books for me. Franzen’s greatest skill is being able to illustrate through various scenarios what it looks like when expectations coming crashing into the steel reinforced brick wall of reality.
Franzen is a master at capturing the unspoken grey area of what it means to exist. He creates characters whose struggles you understand but struggle to feel sorry for. Each of his novels could represent the Great American Novel in that they pop the balloon on the idea of the Great American Dream. Specifically, in how all the endless work and riches don’t satisfy the most basic human needs and desires. Moreover, in what goes unsaid by the characters, oceans of dissatisfaction fill the emptiness.
I enjoyed “Freedom” so much more. Where I could not put that one down, I was ready for “The Corrections” to end at barely a hundred pages in. That said, I can see why it was such a draw for many. Well written and layered with pages of drama, subtext, through lines, and complexity to keep the most experienced reader engaged. Franzen’s novels have real meat on their bones that stick with you long after you’ve put them down. Even if some characters and sections don’t quite fit your palate.
Franzen is a master at capturing the unspoken grey area of what it means to exist. He creates characters whose struggles you understand but struggle to feel sorry for. Each of his novels could represent the Great American Novel in that they pop the balloon on the idea of the Great American Dream. Specifically, in how all the endless work and riches don’t satisfy the most basic human needs and desires. Moreover, in what goes unsaid by the characters, oceans of dissatisfaction fill the emptiness.
I enjoyed “Freedom” so much more. Where I could not put that one down, I was ready for “The Corrections” to end at barely a hundred pages in. That said, I can see why it was such a draw for many. Well written and layered with pages of drama, subtext, through lines, and complexity to keep the most experienced reader engaged. Franzen’s novels have real meat on their bones that stick with you long after you’ve put them down. Even if some characters and sections don’t quite fit your palate.
I can't remember when I last read a book where I thoroughly despised each character so much and yet could barely set the book down. Jonathan Franzen has managed to write an epic novel revolving around, essentially, one Christmas - but he's interwoven present and past in a skilful manner that keeps you intrigued. There are parts where the stories based in the past go on for longer than palatable but overall this doesn't detract much from enjoying the book!