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gvenezia 's review for:
The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
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.