Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious but good
Review: This is a pretentious book but I liked it. Franzen wants
to show off. "Hey, I know all about global economics and
the black market economy, about investment banking, fine
dining, fashion, cultural theory, alternative music. You
name it, I know it". He also knows about writing. Sure
it's too long but it's an easy read and his sentences
have a nice rythym. They feel natural. If you are expecting
the style of Cormac McCarthy or Don Delillo, forget it. The
Corrections helped me realise that good writing doesn't
have to be honed to death. About the pretentious stuff,
I got the feeling that Franzen was secretly enamoured
of the consumer culture he sets out to criticise; a bit
like Chip. The book is strongest and most affecting when
it just does what great books do, tells us about characters.
The sections on Chip, Gary, and Denise are superb. I really
gave a damn about these people and loved them for their
faults. Gary's behaviour at Christmas was reprehensible,
but who hasn't behaved atrociously on such occassions?
It was actually Gary I cared about the most. Here is
this model citizen who is deeply depressed for no
apparent reason. The Corrections is about living in
a theraputic culture. Maybe there's nothing wrong with
Gary and something deeply wrong with a culture that asks
us to improve and correct ourselves 24/7. Gary's final
capitulation to Caroline, his confession -- "yes I am
depressed" -- thus stands for the death of an individual
and the triumph of Oprah Winfrey's America. This is
the kind of deeply affecting moment Franzen captures
well. Definately worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Will you listen to yourself?
Review: ...BR>This book was superb. The characterization - unbelievably true to life. Take the time to read this book, and you will find yourself relating to at least one of the characters in at least one way. If your life is perfect, then just read the book anyway, and be thankful for what you have!
Rating:
Summary: Hitting a nerve with a nail -- a great book club choice
Review: Caveat one: this was not among my favorite books of all time, and yet, I devoured in two days and was unable to put it down.
Caveat two: yes, this book is somewhat depressing.(But then, so is Tolstoy. So what. Besides, it is laced with a dead-on dark humor which I thoroughly enjoyed).I definitely recommend it for a number of reasons: First, for the serious reader, this book is worthwhile for Franzen's eloquent prose alone. Second, the unfurling inner life of the characters is second to none. Third, I have not read a better and more chilling description of mental deterioration and aging. Nor of the complexities of family relationships.(i.e. the reality that children growing up in the same household are not, in fact, raised by the same parents). That things (and people), as Shakespeare was so fond of pointing out, are not always what they seem. Further, it is refreshing to read a book so thoroughly grounded (as great novels once were) in the age in which it was written. This book is not problem free in my opinion, though I won't go into it here, but it has much to offer any book club, and will lead readily to discussions of its complex and flawed characters, of family dynamics in general, of aging parents, of our "quick fix" society, and of Life and Death themselves. The reader may have been fortunate to have grown up in a family far less flawed than the Lamberts of this story. Yet, in the exaggerated, and simultaneously mundane drama of their lives he or she is bound to recognize the subtle truths that Frazen so effortlessly weaves into the rich tapesty of this novel. Final caveat: the description of Al Lambert's mental deterioration is disturbing and frightening as only plausible horrors can be. Forget plane crashes and terrorism -- this is someting that directly and inevitably touches all of our lives. Perhaps this explains why many reviewers on this site have been so negative about the book. Franzen has hit a nerve with a nail.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Expectations....down the tube
Review: I could not wait to begin this book. Unfortunately, while Mr.Franzen can capture feelings and emotions not often expressed...it is better that they (feelings and emotions) stay stifled. I don't really like the characters. Usually, there is someone you really care about. This book presents a cynical outlet that is disturbing. An avid reader friend of mine returned her edition after page four! I wish I had.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Everyone
Review: thankfully, this book isn't for everyone--with the moral majority running the U.S. right now, it isn't puzzling why this book bothers so many people. The Corrections' sometimes brutal honesty in painting a frighteningly accurate portrait of American society today makes it one of the most exciting reads in contemporary American writing. The characters are stunningly well-developed, Jonathan Franzen is a writer to envy. It's unfortunate that many readers don't recognize the genius in this tremendous work, but it's reassuring to know that the National Book Award committee does.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, it really came together for me
Review: I read a truly horribly written book immediately before picking up The Corrections at Christmas time. It gave me a great point of comparison, and I have to say that JF's writing style was great and certainly did not include gratuitous descriptions as some have claimed -- it all fit. I will say that its characters could be hard to stomach at times with their faults and dysfunction in dealing with their own lives and one another. But the description of each and their situation helped me to feel that I really got to know each of them, how they related to one another as a family, and just as I had hoped, it really came together in the end. This book is long and sometimes hard to read, but often challenging fiction is like that. I found the ending and the way the family grew and changed made the read more than worth it, and I genuinely enjoyed the book despite coming from a well adjusted family, so not really having a whole lot to compare my experience with the characters. I think the book does in fact live up to its well deserved hype. I think the comparisons to DeLillo are valid (I think they are both highly skilled and acclaimed writers), although I found Underworld to be a bit over the top for my taste, so I wouldn't read another book by him. Franzen, on the other hand, is an author I would definitely check out again in the future. I wouldn't be put off by some of the reviewers. The book is worth the work it takes at times to read it, and it is also very funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Characterization Flaws
Review: Franzen is masterful in his storytelling ability, but the characterization was in serious need of editing. For example, the women refer to all the sexual scenes very manlike (parts is parts). I don't know many women who refer to their breasts as tits, nor do I know many women who would describe the mechanics of sex over the emotions. This needed to be edited by a woman to balance out the truth of the characters. Franzen's grasp of language is incredible, but he needs to get out more and meet some decent people to write about. I was actually rooting for all of them to be killed off. : )
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I absolutely loved this book. I ignored all the Oprah flap, and would never had bothered to read the book if that's all I had to go on. But once Franzen won the National Book Award, my interest was sufficiently piqued to find out for myself what all the hype was about. That Franzen should have won the National Book Award is now, to me, a no-brainer. I haven't read a better, more engaging book in years. Franzen's writing simply leaps off the page, and at no time does the story become boring. The writing is wonderful. And it's more compelling to me in that I HATED every member of the Lambert family, yet I couldn't stop reading. It's really like a train wreck waiting to happen, or an accident on the side of the road. You know you shouldn't watch, but you can't help yourself. From Denise and Chip's self-destructive behavior, to Gary's sense of entitlement and self-righteousness (when it was painfully obvious that he had nothing to be self-righteous about), to Enid's sickening keeping-up-with-the-Joneses obsession, and Alfred's stodgy fifties-man persona, I hated each and every one of them. But I wanted to know more about their lives, and now I am truly sad that I've finished the book. Franzen expertly created five dynamic characters, where many authors cannot create one. I remain in awe of his talent. So, as another reviewer says, forget the hype. Read the book because it's great, satisfying literature.
Rating:
Summary: You really can't go home again
Review: Not an easy read, veering from riveting to tedious. The sound of grinding axes was occasionally deafening.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I recently completed reading this work and found it to be too long and extremely boring. The fact that it went on and on concerning insignificant facts and darted back and forth between story lines did nothing to keep my interest. I found nothing positive about any character in this work, which is unusual for even the worst dysfunctional families.
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