Rating: 
Summary: words, words, words
Review: I read about half way through this book and then skimmed the rest. I just didn't care about any of the characters (I really tried!) and got tired of all the endless words. Underneath all the endless words it seemed there was a great plot and great characters that would grab me from time to time, but then I would get bogged down again. Maybe this book will make a good movie...
Rating: 
Summary: Not for your book/quilting club...
Review: The controversy and hype surrounding The Corrections... Of course, there's the part about corporate ownership, but what I think is the real issue, the reason Franzen didn't see his novel as an Oprah choice, is maybe he knew Oprah's Book Clubbers would simply not understand the underlying themes of the novel. "My God! There's a talking turd in the book! Put it in the fire!" It's a kneejerk reaction to something uncomfortable, and to hinge value of the entire work on this one scene, this couple of pages (I'll admit, I took a long break from reading the book when I reached it), is incredibly narrow-minded. Further, after reading several reviews on the site, I was alarmed at how only a few wrote about some of the true themes from the book. The Corrections is not simply a book about a dysfunctional family. Nor is it just a satire of internet culture, pharmaceutical dependence, or the stock market boom. It is how these fit together into the American experience, certainly not ALL experience, but definitely a comment on what's perceived as important in our society, from the author's skewed point of view. That said, The Corrections is not a brilliant novel. Ambitious, but far from perfect. I did feel a little encumbered by some of his thicker passages, but it was readable. The ending seemed tacked on; there was a "Then this happened, then this happened" feel to it, resolutions that were just a little too tidy to have any resonance. Also, I felt manipulated when I was taken far from a story line I enjoyed. That shifting of gears between stories is discouraging. The cruise dragged in the beginning but picked up in the end. The characters are hard to like, definitely. There is no spiritual conclusion to it (is that what Oprah readers really want?). It seems the most savage reviews started like this: "I was the only person in my book club to finish this...", which leads me to believe Franzen was right in questioning the inclusion of his book. The Corrections is not for everyone. The plot isn't uplifting. The characters are not easily identified with. Obviously it isn't for the regular Oprah readers. Case in point: a reviewer complained the book overlooked religion. How does religion factor into consumer culture, or the stock market, or the neurosis war in the Lambert household? The characters are products of mainstream American culture. Does it surprise anyone they're not very good human beings? Could it be Franzen's contempt for the Lamberts is really contempt for our society's misplaced values? A lot of these one star reviewers really don't scratch the surface. I'm not saying my interpretations are more valid than anyone else's, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of effort to pry underneath aesthetical objections to the Corrections. But again, the book isn't for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest
Review: Three stars? Three stars?! That's all people think about this book? Unbelievable! I read perhaps 100-150 books a year, usually literary in nature. I'm not always a fan of modern lit, but I have to say that this is *easily* one of the best books I have read in years. It touches on some of the biggest issues of our age, with brilliant characterisations and some of the finest writing I've seen in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book But Not A Classic
Review: This is certainly a timely novel that captures much of the intellectual uncertainty and malaise of our time but I question whether it is timeless. It does not seem to look too far beyond our present predicament and at times the various strands of stories seem more like a very good but mechanical cut and paste job and less like a soulful organic whole. The Corrections seems at times too detached and clinical despite legitimate insights and entertaining and humorous detail. This is a large,ambitious and partially successful novel that never quite attains the emotional sweep and power of a great novel. I most enjoyed Chip's story and wish there had been more detail about the Leftist intellectual phase of his life and how his Left beliefs and ethics collapsed. Chip seems to be emblematic of many on the left whose personal Weltanschaaung disentegrated along with the collapse of Eastern European Communism--this, despite the fact that most had been sophisticated enough to maintain a critical distance from these deformed socialist states. The bitterly humorous depiction of Chip's involvement in a cynical capitalist plot in post-Communist Latvia illustrates how thoroughly he has been corrupted. His hedonistic pursuits illustrate another aspect of his decline and sense of confusion. His brother Gary has always been an ambitious individual who never questions the capitalist system and sister Denise represents a third "alternative" that is more "spiritual" and New Age. They are lost as well. There seems to be a common desire for a guilt free and perhaps even emotionally pain free life but here is also an intense hunger for significant real feelings that is evident in their various self-inflicted injuries: cigarette burns and bloody hedgeclipper cuts, sacrificial gestures in a world of sterile and meaningless choices. I think Marcuse would have liked this book and seen it as a confirmation of his One-Dimensional Man. The basic plot conceit of trying to get the dispersed family together again for a Christmas dinner reminded me of Anne Tyler's Dinner at The Homesick Restaurant, a less ambitious but tighter novel. Overall recommended with caution--definitely not for the casual reader.
Rating: 
Summary: The only reason I finished the book----
Review: is because I paid for it. Although I am probably in the minority, I found the book to be entirely too *wordy*...too many allegories, too much description. I felt that the author wandered off on tangents many times, instead of staying with a particular story-line/topic. I so wanted to like this book, too.... The characters were just barely tolerable, especially *nasty*
was Gary's CHEAPNESS with his own mother. I mean---did he really
NEED to be paid back the few dollars for his own father's
shower materials? He pouted about how *his* time was worth money,too. So pathetic (imho). Imagine having a child that ungrateful as to be expected to
be paid back for doing his own parent's a small favor. (I'd hate to think what the cost would be for Gray if his mother
charged HIM for all the *favors* she has done!) That was just one example (of the many) un-likable features of
the characters.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, despite myself.
Review: I was put off by Franzen's spat with Oprah and by the huge number of negative reviews of The Corrections on this site--so much so that I almost didn't read the book. But my parents had listened to it on tape and RAVED about it, and they gave me a copy for my birthday, so I went ahead and read it. I'm so glad I did. It's well-written, moving, and a great story. Much as I'd rather not, I can see my family members in this wacky dysfunctional family. I wonder if some readers didn't like the book because it's disturbingly true. I agree with some reviewers that the ending feels unresolved, but I thought it left some important questions open--for lingering contemplation. Even if you don't like the book, I recommend that you read it so you can see for yourself how you feel about it--I think it's a pretty individual experience.
Rating: 
Summary: borrowed too much from white noise
Review: Am I the only one who sees how much of this book has been borrowed from Delillo's White Noise (and his other books)? The same fascination with brand names, the same oddly precocious children, the same babble about psychopharmaceuticals, the same weird cast of international mystery men contrasted against the bland landscape of American suburbia...The problem is, he's not as good a writer as Delillo. As another reviewer pointed out, his characters are so totally narcisistic and one-dimensional, they're unmemorable. And boring. Also, this book is way too long and needed editing.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I found it fascinating and thought provoking. He knows dementia. He knows women. He seems to know men. He understands relationships of all kind, including parent/child.
Rating:
Summary: All dressed up and nowhere to go
Review: Here's another postmodern novel about a dysfunctional family. Franzen has writing talent for sure. His clever repetition of the word "corrections" even begs, at first, for a re-reading, to discover all the multiple meanings. But, in the end, the book suffers the fate of all postmodern novels. It can have no conclusion because postmodernists have no way of drawing any. The book just stops, despite an attempt by Franzen to "wrap things up." His last chapter falls flat and leaves the reader nowhere. Too bad, because the guy can really write.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: After all of the "hype", I felt this book was a must. Jonathan Franzen is no doubt a gifted writer. Generally an interesting family story; at times fun, witty, insightful and intellegent. At some point, however, I just couldn't wait to finish the book. Just too depressing.
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