Rating: 
Summary: I Really Wanted to Like it!
Review: I had heard so much about this book and had put it on top of my summer reading list. What a big disappointment. There were many times in the book that I wanted to put it down, but did not because so many people had liked it. I am sorry I didn't.While, I thought that the story line was boring and quite frankly pretentious, the quality of the writing was good. Franzen does an excellent job of painting a picture with words. However, even this is not enough to devote the time of reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Sure, the dysfunctional family has been done before (see Richard Ford, Philip Roth, Russell Banks, or any number of other talented contemporary authors) - but this is like saying that the war novel has been "done"; writers will never run out of things to say about relationships within the family. Franzen does a great job of doing just that - this is an excellently written novel, clever and perfectly paced, in which Franzen uses expertly crafted characters to sketch a wildly inventive portrait of an imploding American family. The characters in The Corrections wallow in their flaws and shortcomings, make mistake after mistake, and in general are recognizable and human. The novel essentially is a snapshot of the lives of three siblings, and the plot (insofar as there is a traditional plot) revolves around their mother's effort to get them all back to the Midwest for one last Christmas. For a book without a traditional storyline, however, this novel covers a lot of ground. Franzen captures the various settings with authority: from Wall Street to the smalltown Midwest to Eastern Europe on the shadow of the fall of communism. Franzen's prose is rich, inventive, effortless, and complex - and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. The issue of Alzheimer's is not handled with sepia toned sentimentality, but instead in the harshly lit, cruel, tragically comic style that is much closer to reality. In my opinion the passages which chronicle Alfred's decent into senility are among the most effective in the book. This isn't a guidebook for handing Alzheimer's with dignity; it's a novel which instead sets out simply to reflect the disease's terrifying effect on the afflicted, and its impact on loved ones. This isn't a self-help book; don't expect to be consoled. Then there is the hype. Franzen's prickly views on the literary high road didn't originate with the flap over The Corrections getting the nod as an Oprah pick; several years ago he'd panned the booming book club phenomenon for "treating literature like a cruciferous vegetable that could be choked down only with a spoonful of socializing." Perhaps Franzen should stick to writing novels and leave the PR work to someone with better social skills, but a look at some of the reviews on this very website might lead one to believe that his comments weren't far off-target. There exists the perception that the Oprah crowd has been conditioned to expect uplifting stories with easy-to-follow linear plotlines and inspiring protagonists. I can't claim to have enough first-hand experience to verify that this is or isn't true, but it is clear that much of the criticism that is heaped on The Corrections comes from dissatisfied book club members who can't understand how such a complex and boring book ended up on the list. Yes, The Corrections is complex, but it is not boring. Franzen has accomplished something extremely rare in contemporary fiction: he has written a novel that will be remembered as great. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The One Unforgivable Mistake
Review: I know myself to have extreme patience for bad books, if the author finds it within his or her self to leave the slightest golden nuggets to keep me going. In this case, because of all the hype and chorus of nearly shrill exhortations, I plodded forward, wondering why I couldn't get it. What was I missing? Until, finally, I just couldn't take it any more. The sheer collective numbing quality of it all got to me and I had to close the cover, reluctantly, because I really did want it to work. I wanted that same wonderful experience all those five-star folk were somehow getting. But I finally had to admit The Corrections was a mess. There were a handful of lines, tiny bits and pieces, that were very very funny, the wit razor sharp (thus, two stars). Then came the endless scenes, page after god-awful page of the most boring, unimaginative drivel. I'm not even talking about the fiber-optic plot or the unlikable characters. I have read whole books that went no where, filled with jerks and morons. But there were moments I honestly felt Franzen, for what ever reason, was doing everything in his power to stop me from going on. He was a monster of the anti-narrative. Someone entirely cut off from the reader, nearly academic in his mindless mediocrity. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing
Review: I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book, given all of the critical attention (which often doesn't seem to be written by those who actually enjoy reading). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved it. This portrait of an American family is completely engaging--I had trouble putting it down. Franzen does a wonderful job developing the characters, giving us remarkable insight into their motivation and lives. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found the characters, flaws and all, to be very sympathetic. In fact, I thought their flaws were the best part--they were very realistic and made the characters much more well-rounded than characters in many novels. However, as others have pointed out, there were a few moments that I felt were over-done and tedious... Nonetheless, the majority of the book is well-written and the story interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Too Often
Review: I wish I could share the enthusiasm of the rest of the world over The Corrections. I picked up this book with high hopes and lots of spare time. While the story is interesting, it often gets lost in the author's attempts to be irreverent and edgy. It comes off as flippant and arrogant. The characters are indeed entertaining, especially Gary, the depressed and oftentimes neurotic son. What Franzen did best was to make Gary a full-scale dysfunctional cog in the messed-up world that is all families. I was disappointed. I wish Franzen hadn't tried so hard to impress us with his coolness and finesse. It would have made for a much more enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Why can't people can't enjoy a good book?
Review: Let me sum up for you every bad review you might read here: Wah wah, this book didn't fulfill my preconceived expectations. Wah wah, I only like stories where the characters are 100% likeable. My wife and I are reading this book right now and I can tell you this book will challenge you. Can't deal with that? Try another book. In fact, might as well forget books entirely and watch some more reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Remember that episode when Debra gets PO'ed at Ray? Yeah, I love that one too. That's probably more your speed. For the rest of you. Take the Gary character, for example. When you first meet him, the battle lines on him between my wife & I are clearly drawn. I felt sorry for him. Now midway through the book neither of us can figure him out, if he's a jerk, or if Caroline is being a bee-eye-tee-you-know-what. The book is hilarious, too. You'll be reading along and suddenly be smacked in the face with Franzen's humor, and the best part is he doesn't warn you, draw attention to it, anything. Makes me wonder how many other jokes I've read through without catching them already. Great book. Buy it. No whiners!
Rating:
Summary: 3 + 1 stars
Review: A cold, brilliant intelligence comes out of this book.
I think the corrections depicts VERY well a big part of our reality.
The author is NOT talking about a dysfunctional family: he's talking about our world! The thing is, the point of view is only one, and a rather pessimistic one. This is not pure escapism, of course. This sounded to me like an outlet from the author, like someone who's talking to you about his own problems (and that's not good) but he does it in a brilliant, funny way (and that's the good part for the reader).
It's always a matter of tastes, ok?
I'd give it 3 stars, but the writing is SO good. So, 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Characters? What about the writing?
Review: I'm slogging my way through this book with some measure of disbelief. I'm an avid reader, simply LOVE Don Delillo (to whom Franzen is often compared) but I really don't like this book. At all. I keep thinking there's something clouded in my judgment -- that I can't see what everyone else sees so I keep reading, in pain I might add. From the first laborious paragraph (touted in reviews as brilliant) to the overuse of adjectives, adverbs -- prose punctuated in the most annoying fashion by words which don't seem to belong, ideas buried in run-on sentences which don't seem to have the fluidity or expertise a sentence of such length ought to have. My critique could be deemed simplistic in that I admit favoring prose which is succinct and colorful and clear. But my impression of "The Corrections" is that for all the talent which might be present in Mr. Franzen's work, this 500 or so pages ought to have been a first draft, one which suffers for what other people deem metaphoric brilliance. To me, it's heavy, unedited description which will drive you to madness almost as well as his adverbs and stilted way of presenting dialogue. I say read White Noise or the Body Artist (De Lillo) if you're looking for De Lillo-esque writing. Sorry to be so harsh but I get a tad annoyed when a book that could very easily be 200 good pages, is, for arrogance of the prose, extended to 500.
Rating:
Summary: Read It. Period.
Review: I will be the first to admit that I had high expectations for Jonathan Franzen's work. What with the Oprah controversy and the National Book Award honors, I expected this to be a striking piece of literature. While it's definitely not one of those striking pieces of genius that shatters the reader to the core, it is definitely a brilliant work. The Corrections has a way of gripping you tightly, as it explores the inner-workings of individuals that Franzen very carefully explores. It's one of those novels that holds on and won't let go. Is it as pretentious as Franzen seems? Probably. But does that diminish it's value? Not at all.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Novel, But Not A Literary Masterpiece
Review: Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections" is undoubtedly the finest depiction of a dysfunctional family I've come across in fiction. He is a splendid writer with a keen sense of imagination and excellent literary style, and he has wrought a marvellous achievement bringing the Lambert family to life. However, I found too many of the family's problems seem a bit too contrived, most notably, the strange odyssey which Chip Lambert undertakes from academia to new-style Russian organized crime in Lithuania. I agree with a previous reviewer that Franzen should have chosen another part of the former Soviet Union, not Lithuania; surely the Central Asian republics or Georgia might have been more ideal locales. Still I must commend Franzen for his enthusiastic, often satirical look, at contemporary society. However, I strongly doubt that "The Corrections" is the literary masterpiece of our time; it is clearly an accolade that veers too closely to hyperbole.
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