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veronicafrance 's review for:
The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
I’m late to this “American novel of the century”, so this won’t be a long review — you already have thousands of (somewhat polarized) reviews on Goodreads. It’s not my first Franzen — my book group read [b:Crossroads|55881796|Crossroads|Jonathan Franzen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617877772l/55881796._SY75_.jpg|87094188] last year, which we all loved, so I will start by saying that Crossroads is a better novel. This one is longer than it needs to be and veers a bit too much towards dark, misanthropic satire. That said, the writing is great and the brutal comedy aspects funny (in a gritted teeth kind of way). He also shows a dazzling grip of various topics including biotech, neurological research, railroads, and high-end restaurants (he particularly revels in descriptions of Denise’s food).
I suppose you could say the plot turns on “Will Mom be able to get the whole family home for one last Christmas?” but of course it’s about much more than that. Enid and Alfred’s toxic, dysfunctional relationship spills down into the lives of their three children, each equally obnoxious in their own way. It’s hard to sympathise with any of them, but Franzen draws you convincingly into their minds, giving himself ample space for warts and all portraits. So while Gary never really redeemed himself in my eyes, Denise and Chip both turned out to have some sympathy. I even felt glad for Enid in the end, freed from the burden of Alfred. It’s also an excellent portrait of the money-grubbing, drug-addled late 90s in the US.
It does have flaws. It could have been shorter, as I’ve said: unnecessary pages spent on secondary characters. Particularly notable is the amount of time spent on the pointlessly feuding Norwegians and Swedes on the cruise ship. The part set in Lithuania seems like a ludicrous, lazy parody compared the the US-set parts (as indeed does Denise’s brief sojourn in Europe). It’s almost as if he lacks familiarity with Europe.
But, final verdict, a cracking good read!
I suppose you could say the plot turns on “Will Mom be able to get the whole family home for one last Christmas?” but of course it’s about much more than that. Enid and Alfred’s toxic, dysfunctional relationship spills down into the lives of their three children, each equally obnoxious in their own way. It’s hard to sympathise with any of them, but Franzen draws you convincingly into their minds, giving himself ample space for warts and all portraits. So while Gary never really redeemed himself in my eyes, Denise and Chip both turned out to have some sympathy. I even felt glad for Enid in the end, freed from the burden of Alfred. It’s also an excellent portrait of the money-grubbing, drug-addled late 90s in the US.
It does have flaws. It could have been shorter, as I’ve said: unnecessary pages spent on secondary characters. Particularly notable is the amount of time spent on the pointlessly feuding Norwegians and Swedes on the cruise ship. The part set in Lithuania seems like a ludicrous, lazy parody compared the the US-set parts (as indeed does Denise’s brief sojourn in Europe). It’s almost as if he lacks familiarity with Europe.
But, final verdict, a cracking good read!