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A review by vegantrav
Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
5.0
After more than a decade of steadfastly avoiding The Corrections due to negative reviews from my friends, I finally decided to judge its merits for myself. And I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this novel. It is beautifully written, is filled with fascinating characters, and is hilarious.
The Corrections is the story of a family. I want to say it's a typical family, but it's not. They are flawed, and more flawed, at least in my opinion, than most people. The siblings, Gary, Chip, and Denise, are all selfish in their own ways, but Denise is much less self-centered than her brothers, and by the end of the novel, Chip has grown and changed and has actually become a less selfish and more loving, considerate person. The siblings can be exceedingly petty. They are more coarse and more rude with each other and with their parents, Enid and Al, than is normal. The temptation may be to describe this as a dysfunctional family, but that term is so trite and so overused as to be meaningless. What they are is a family that fights and argues a lot and yet that still deeply loves each other. None of the characters is without redeeming qualities, and none is really unlikable--although Gary and Enid can be boorish and very annoying.
With such a cast of characters, The Corrections verges at times into absurdity and is throughout quite funny--even hilarious. Franzen has a great eye for seeing the comedy and even the tragicomedy of everyday life. The Corrections is among the funniest novels I've read in last few years.
The focus of this novel is Enid and Al--and specifically Al's declining health and what the kids are going to do about it. Pivoting off the parents and their story, The Corrections interweaves the separate yet still very much connected stories of each of the three children. Each of these separate narrative threads are great stories in their own right, and Franzen deftly moves back and forth among these stories keeping the reader ever engaged. The ending was sad but satisfying.
My one quibble with The Corrections is that after they are first introduced, Gary's wife and children remain largely off stage for the rest of the novel. I liked the relational dynamics in Gary's own family and would have liked to see more of his wife and sons. Otherwise, there really wasn't anything about this novel that disappointed me. It was very enjoyable, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary American literary fiction.
The Corrections is the story of a family. I want to say it's a typical family, but it's not. They are flawed, and more flawed, at least in my opinion, than most people. The siblings, Gary, Chip, and Denise, are all selfish in their own ways, but Denise is much less self-centered than her brothers, and by the end of the novel, Chip has grown and changed and has actually become a less selfish and more loving, considerate person. The siblings can be exceedingly petty. They are more coarse and more rude with each other and with their parents, Enid and Al, than is normal. The temptation may be to describe this as a dysfunctional family, but that term is so trite and so overused as to be meaningless. What they are is a family that fights and argues a lot and yet that still deeply loves each other. None of the characters is without redeeming qualities, and none is really unlikable--although Gary and Enid can be boorish and very annoying.
With such a cast of characters, The Corrections verges at times into absurdity and is throughout quite funny--even hilarious. Franzen has a great eye for seeing the comedy and even the tragicomedy of everyday life. The Corrections is among the funniest novels I've read in last few years.
The focus of this novel is Enid and Al--and specifically Al's declining health and what the kids are going to do about it. Pivoting off the parents and their story, The Corrections interweaves the separate yet still very much connected stories of each of the three children. Each of these separate narrative threads are great stories in their own right, and Franzen deftly moves back and forth among these stories keeping the reader ever engaged. The ending
Spoiler
wherein Al, after being moved into a nursing home, dies after starving himself to death because, even suffering from dementia, he knows enough to know that he hates having to be taken care of by othersMy one quibble with The Corrections is that after they are first introduced, Gary's wife and children remain largely off stage for the rest of the novel. I liked the relational dynamics in Gary's own family and would have liked to see more of his wife and sons. Otherwise, there really wasn't anything about this novel that disappointed me. It was very enjoyable, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary American literary fiction.