Rating: 
Summary: A pleasant surprise...
Review: I was a little intimidated by The Correction by Jonathan Franzen, mainly because of the length. But when I read that my favorite author, Pat Conroy, gave it rave reviews, I decided to give it a try. I have to say that I was NOT disappointed! You'll follow the lives of one of the most dysfunctional families ever, as their lives careen out of control--mostly through their own doing. The characters are quirky, the plot is a page turner (even though nothing much seems to happen) and the writing style is superb. But the thing I especially enjoyed were the observations about life and about relationships. In this respect, The Correction reminded me of Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I felt the story got bogged down in certain sections. But overall, I was pleasantly surprised and won't be so reluctant to read Franzen's next effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Now available in Lithuanian
Review: The book has now been translated into Lithuanian. It created quite a furor when it was first released two years ago. Lithuanians were shocked by the images Franzen presented of their country. Most persons took them with a grain of salt. But, Sarunas Marciulonis (former basketball great) invited Franzen to the grand opening of the Forum Palace, hoping that this might disspell his notions of a Lithuania still under the dark cloud of Russian mafia connections. However, fact is proving to be stranger than fiction as Lithuania's president now finds himself under investigation for alleged mafia connections, and this may prove to be just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure Franzen would love the irony of it, but that doesn't save his book, which struck me as a set of gross characterizations held together by a rather clumsy attempt to create verismilitude. It seems much of what Franzen culled in the way of "realistic detail" came from the Internet. Of course, as a novelist, he is free to clip and paste to his heart's desire, but I was left to wonder what was the purpose was. Obviously he found a ready market (a bit of a shock perhaps) which he was able to cash in on. Don't hear much more about Franzen these days. I suppose the movie deal is still in the works and he has a new book out, but it has hardly generated the heat this one did, capturing what seemed to be America's dysfunctional imagination. He certainly was able to string the reader along but be warned, there's only a chamber pot waiting for you at rainbow's end.
Rating:
Summary: Family-Porn
Review: It's been ages since I got more pleasure from reading a novel. Franzen's the only American writer who can even come close to Martin Amis for verbal wit and inventiveness. There's also a kind of Tolstoyan grandeur to this book, at least insofar as he tried his damnedest to squeeze in absolutely everything that there was to say about American culture during the 90's boom years. He has a deep understanding of popular culture, the culinary arts, the dynamics of middle-class marriage, and (almost uniquely, in these days where being well-informed in such subjects is often regarded with disgust by so-called 'experts' in the humanities) second-world politics and first-world economics. After turning over the last page, I did find myself idly wondering what it was supposed to add up to, though. The reader ends up with a very, very good idea of the variety of ways in which children of differing temperaments, abilities and principles can be permanently screwed-up by being raised inside of a loveless marriage. But most of us sort of suspected that already, and in spite of all of the many laughs and flashes of recognition that this book provides, there's a certain grueling quality to being raked over these particular coals. Therapeutic, I suppose, if you're one of the many Americans between twenty-five and forty who came from a similar sort of household, but since my family was actually pretty cool the book did have a sort of pornographic feel, for me. Still, perhaps that isn't entirely a criticism... Ahem.
Rating: 
Summary: more bombast from the filch factory
Review: this is quite possibly one of the worst books ever written. i will no longer be duped over by the self-important literary world. they've made a habit of christening books that are wholly undeserving of merit. if the goal of the establishment is to make people stop reading literature altogether, then they will have no better spokesperson than jonathan franzen. this novel is a wretched exercise in self-indulgence. most good writers will draw you into a story using language that doesn't draw attention to itself, so that the reader can fully enjoy the experience. but in every line of the corrections, we as readers are forced away from the story. franzen asserts his own ego into his writing like a stampeding elephant. perhaps our writer is insecure about his own ability; maybe he wasn't given enough love and affection as a child, i don't know. all i wished for in this novel was for franzen to step back a bit and stop dancing around in his gawdy prose. but this doesn't happen. it's obvious that in a novel like this one, character development and plot must take a back seat to an author who subconsciously screams "Me! Me! Me!" with every written word. sure, the language looks fancy, it can do a couple tricks here and there, but you still get the sense that all of this linguistic manuevering is just a pretty facade on an empty building. all the high falutin nonsense masks the author's artlessness. it's plain as day and he isn't fooling anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Good if you've got nothing better to read
Review: I had two reasons for avoiding this book for as long as I did. First, I have a general aversion to books that go over 400 pages. Second, the whole Oprah debacle seemed weird. All that changed, though, when I read a "New Yorker" piece by Jonathan Franzen about his childhood in St. Louis; I was so riveted by it I figured I might as well give the book a whirl. I'm glad I did. Franzen's insights into the American family are incredibly meaningful and tenderly presented. I'm sure a good number of people probably view their family in a whole new light after finishing this book. Plus, his use of the English language borders on the awe-inspiring. I don't know if I've ever been so taken with an author's construction. He maintains a sylistic tone throughout the 650 or so pages that never falters, and that's pretty impressive. The same tidiness can't be said about the plot, I'm afraid. The editor definitely could have been a bit more firece. The entire "ship interlude" with Enid and Alfred almost bored me to the point of abandoning the book. Plus, I found myself constantly struggling against the fact that I liked very few of the characters. Although not a plot flaw, it's hard at times to get through a book where almost everyone is an anti-hero. I don't have to love them, but I at least want to care about what happens to them. That being said, it's definitely a book worth reading if you've got the time and if you're curious to see what all the fuss was about. But, if your nightstand's getting crowded with other books you want to read, I'd tackle them first. Save this one for the business trip with the colleagues you don't want to see at the bar every night.
Rating:
Summary: pretentious drivel wins national book award (again)
Review: i guess there's so much that's bad about this novel that it would probably be best to focus on the good things, though they are few. well, i liked the cover of the book. the art work is masterful. and i like franzen's photo on the back. with his black rimmed specs and his stylish GQ posture, just one look at him tells you "this is an artist of the highest caliber, who scoffs at all middle class reading habits." his glare says "beware, this book requires deep reading, so steer clear Oprah's Book Club, lest i blow your mind with my run-on sentences and other tricks of the trade i learned in writing workshops" well, for those of you who feel like basking in the glow of a writer who's more in love with his own cleverness than with writing well, then this book is for you. i'm sure shakespeare would say that this is a story told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Rating:
Summary: A solid admixture, well stirred
Review: This novel combines dysfunctional family saga, breezy light comedy, biting academic satire, absurd-comic-novel satire, reflections on family and on aging, and an accessible, easy narrative style. There's too much here--great stuff, boring stuff, predictable stuff, really witty stuff. But somehow, by the time it is done, there is "enough" stuff, and one is glad to have read it. Aging midwestern parents, with an inexplicable father explicated throughout the novel. Adult children, scarred and yet redeemed by their own family. Settings from Lithuania to suburbia. In short, this is the kind of sprawling, broad comedy with sad parts that people wrote before they became unfashionable, and which deserve to be written again. Flawed? Yes. Fun? Yes. Interesting? Always. I avoided this book during its "controversial Oprah" days, but, really, the question of whether this is or is not an Oprah-type book is beside the point. This is a solid, bright, not too heavy read.
That's fine with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, But Not For Everyone
Review: I just loved this book and Franzen's writing, though in reading through some of the reviews here, I can see it certainly won't appeal to readers who like a straight, fairly simple story, or who won't get the humor and touches of brilliance in Franzen's often biting commentaries on the larger cultural & political scenes in which the various characters are embedded. One of the best things about this book, to me, is how uncannily Franzen was able to capture relationships between family members--between husband and wife, parent and grownup child, and between siblings and/or inlaws. I was amazed at the dialogue between Gary and Caroline, as I kept thinking how absolutely 'on' it was in terms of the power struggles that can so often occur in a marriage! In fact, I became so involved with all the characters--liking them at times and disliking them at others--that I found myself talking out loud to them SO much that it took me quite a bit longer to finish the book than I normally would have! I do talk out loud to characters in books, but this one went beyond my normal limits, by far! Which means that Franzen really engaged me in the world he created. I also thought it was interesting, on reflection, at how I felt differently toward each character, depending on whose story I was reading or where in the timeframe I was; to me, I felt I was given a chance to view people wholistically--not just as they appear to themselves or might appear in one period of their lives, but over time and from different angles. The struggle of dealing with growing old is so well done, too, both from the viewpoint of the aging--the downward spiraling, demented ill father and his frustrated caretaker-spouse (who frustrates her husband & children and the reader too!), and from the grown children as they struggle with what their own responsilities should be, vis a vis their parents now. The title, I thought, was perfect, and there were many points in the book to think about what 'corrections' might be made in my own life, too. This is a funny, thought-provoking book that had so much in it that I'd like to read it again, hoping I could hold it all together the second time through and not loose some of the nuances. I'm definitely glad I finally got around to reading this novel & have made a note to look into Franzen's other two books.
Rating:
Summary: Great prose but not much cohesion to the story
Review: This book sounded very promising at the start, the first few chapters, then began to fall apart without taking the reader along. My mother sent it to me and I wouldn't recommend it for her to read. It has graphic language that doesn't seem to fit in and doesn't seem to have a real purpose. The author comes across as being very impressed with himself for putting together brilliant sentences and prose and saying a lot in a small space, otherwise, it's a wash that doesn't hold together in any way. It is simplistic, banal at times, and although he is quite good at putting ideas on paper, they don't come together in any powerful way. When I finished the book I was disappointed, hoping for a meaning of some sort that pulled it together. Wally Lamb far outdoes this writer in "This Much I Know Is True", for example, but I will probably read this writer if he writes another novel, but definately wait until it is in paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Incredibly engaging.
Review: The Corrections was fantastic! Franzen develops his characters wonderfully. I was deeply involved in each chapter. Chip was tradgic and pathetic, Denise was powerful. The way Caroline used her children as weapons and agents of manipulation was infuriating. Gary--I felt deep sympathy for his situation. Enid was painfully annoying! Franzen really draws the reader into the story of each character and how they interact with each other. One of the reviews on the back described the book as --Alive to the pressures of the present moment-- which captures the essence of the book extremely well. The Corrections was a joy to read, although the ending left me uneasy. Therefore I highly recommend this book for discussion among reading groups. I think reading The Corrections along with someone else, in order to discuss, would be very beneficial.
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