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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
This was my second attempt at reading this book. There is just A LOT in here. So, a simplified review containing minimal spoilers is in order.
LIKED: the story arcs of all of Alfred and Enid's children- Especially Denise. Enid's obsession to have a "nice Christmas" and building up to it paralleling with book's story arc building up. Surprises about the characters that still totally fit with the essence of the characters.
DISLIKED: the reoccurring theme of an older man taking advantage of a much younger women. And the women thinking they are defined by those relationships. The long academic expositions. The unnecessarily long descriptions of companies and their going-ons. The talking poop because WTF why?! And Gary. Because screw Gary.
It is a long, long read. But I mostly really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to read about this Dysfunctional Midwestern Family.
LIKED: the story arcs of all of Alfred and Enid's children- Especially Denise. Enid's obsession to have a "nice Christmas" and building up to it paralleling with book's story arc building up. Surprises about the characters that still totally fit with the essence of the characters.
DISLIKED: the reoccurring theme of an older man taking advantage of a much younger women. And the women thinking they are defined by those relationships. The long academic expositions. The unnecessarily long descriptions of companies and their going-ons. The talking poop because WTF why?! And Gary. Because screw Gary.
It is a long, long read. But I mostly really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to read about this Dysfunctional Midwestern Family.
I can't get enough of franzens writing. His immense detail creates the most vivid world in the every day of his characters lives. I actually read this after freedom and definitely think this is his premier work. You will become enamored with this family and hang on the pains of their Midwest to east coast life. Brilliant writing.
Could not get into this at all despite trying for a quarter of the book. Giving up.
This was my first Franzen book, after being nearly knocked over by the amount of face time and media attention he has gotten as the "superman-author-of-a-century-he-might-as-well-have-hung-the-moon" this past year in 2010.
I liked The Corrections a lot. For the most part.
The story was relatable and at times laugh out loud funny. The whole book is leading up to the gathering of the family at Christmas time in St. Jude, for "one last Christmas." I would've been salivating to get to the last few chapters if Franzen could've stopped babbling about things that were in no way important to the plot in the last 2/3 of the book.
Chip, one of the sons the story centers on, gets caught up in some less than reputable business in a Europe for a few months. That's about as much as we needed to know. Franzen goes ON AND ON AND ON about the happenings and politics of this particular country for what seemed like about 4000 pages. Let it go, man. We get it, you're smart.
Honestly, the book felt like it was growing pages after I hit the 300-350 mark. I had to skip to get to the last chapter, which by that point, I didn't care nearly as much about because he lost me with the eastern Europe mumbo-jumbo.
All of that being said, I do think this book deserves a spot on a list of current books that will one day be counted as classics. Some really amazing writing being done here, when there's not a ton of that being done today.
I liked The Corrections a lot. For the most part.
The story was relatable and at times laugh out loud funny. The whole book is leading up to the gathering of the family at Christmas time in St. Jude, for "one last Christmas." I would've been salivating to get to the last few chapters if Franzen could've stopped babbling about things that were in no way important to the plot in the last 2/3 of the book.
Chip, one of the sons the story centers on, gets caught up in some less than reputable business in a Europe for a few months. That's about as much as we needed to know. Franzen goes ON AND ON AND ON about the happenings and politics of this particular country for what seemed like about 4000 pages. Let it go, man. We get it, you're smart.
Honestly, the book felt like it was growing pages after I hit the 300-350 mark. I had to skip to get to the last chapter, which by that point, I didn't care nearly as much about because he lost me with the eastern Europe mumbo-jumbo.
All of that being said, I do think this book deserves a spot on a list of current books that will one day be counted as classics. Some really amazing writing being done here, when there's not a ton of that being done today.
I first read this book years ago, when it was first published. I own it in hard back, I think a long-ago Easter gift from my mom.
Then, after I read Jonathan Franzen's newer novel, Freedom, I started thinking about how I didn't remember The Corrections at all. I remembered liking it, or at least respecting it, and that it was set around a Midwestern family. Even re-reading the dust jacket jogged no memories, so I re-read it. As I read, certain scenes were familiar, but overall it was like reading it for the first time. Memory is strange.
I liked this one so much more than Freedom. There are excerpts that are breath-takingly wonderful - one example is a scene early in the book where his father, Alfred, tells Chip that he must sit at the dinner table until he eats some of the liver and rutabaga that his mother, Enid, prepared for dinner. The description of the passage of time as Chip, a 7-year-old, sits there late into the night as his family is doing other things around the house is sad and beautiful.
The characters are worth investing in, however irritating and flawed they may be, and they will remind you of your own family. I loved this one. It was worth remembering.
Then, after I read Jonathan Franzen's newer novel, Freedom, I started thinking about how I didn't remember The Corrections at all. I remembered liking it, or at least respecting it, and that it was set around a Midwestern family. Even re-reading the dust jacket jogged no memories, so I re-read it. As I read, certain scenes were familiar, but overall it was like reading it for the first time. Memory is strange.
I liked this one so much more than Freedom. There are excerpts that are breath-takingly wonderful - one example is a scene early in the book where his father, Alfred, tells Chip that he must sit at the dinner table until he eats some of the liver and rutabaga that his mother, Enid, prepared for dinner. The description of the passage of time as Chip, a 7-year-old, sits there late into the night as his family is doing other things around the house is sad and beautiful.
The characters are worth investing in, however irritating and flawed they may be, and they will remind you of your own family. I loved this one. It was worth remembering.
One of the most depressing and negative books I’ve ever read in my life. I have a lot of respect and admiration for Franzen, especially that he can write a book with such a large collection of unlikely and deeply flawed people.
Whole lotta words. I was in a Franzen frenzy. I read it quickly, compulsively - gobbled it up.
5 stars is not enough for a Jonathan Franzen book. I truly believe that he is the best contemporary author, one of the most impressive minds in our broken, mediocre society. I worship his every word, his every sentence, especially those magical ones that span pages. I am hooked on his commentary on families, American society, politics and humanity in general. It is absolutely unique to read about his collection of horrendously unlikeable characters and be so honestly invested in their every moment. This is literary genius at its finest.