Rating: 
Summary: Perceptive portrait of a family in crisis.
Review: It would appear based on the mixed reviews shown here this book is not for everyone. I too found dry patches where my attention waned, some of the events are hard to accept, and the plot sometimes rambles in directions not always easy to follow. But the author always regains his footing, and I always knew I'd make it to the end. It's a deceptively ambitious book. Instead of one, the novel has five main characters, each one requiring separate and equal treatment. Many of the book's difficulties stem from this need, and it's imprssive how well the author succeeds in weaving the individual lives into a single story. The novel is essentially the portrait of a family and how it deals with a crises. Much mention has been made of the family's 'dysfuntionl' behavior. While it's true the family members are questionable role models, their relationships to each other are actually not so atypical,driven as they are by rivalry, guilt, and need. The immediate crisis facing the family is the physical and mental decline of the father. Frazen does an excellent job of describing the tension between the desire to maintain independence from each other and the pull of family responcibility. The main subtext of the story seems to be that one's family history is impossible to excape from. In this case, the five family members tumble through their lives making mistakes and without much looking back. The 'corrections' they finally arrive at are slow in coming and hard-earned. Just like in real life.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much of a Semi-Good thing
Review: I recognize the human frailties that infect our society.
Franzen presents them in a satirical manner. But, he does not
know when to quit. He milks each point for all it is worth; finally causing somnolence. The book is in need of serious editing. Max Perkins, where are you when we need you most? True, there are insightful and beautifully expressed passages but 500 plus pages are excessive for what is being said.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: This has to be one of the hardest books to read and remain interested in. None of the characters are likeable, there is no humor in the people or the situations. The descriptions are so lengthy that by the time you get to the end of the pages you can't follow what was being described. If this had not been a selection of my book club I would never have finished the book. It is difficult to understand how this book was selected as a National Book Club Winner. Apparently it's literary meaning has escaped this reader.
Rating:
Summary: a crime against literature
Review: I am amazed that this book won a literary award and
also won Oprah's bookclub. I bought the book and
was just grossed out. this is midwest dysfunctionality
at its best. my only question is oprah, honey, what on
earth were you thinking ???
Rating:
Summary: What's the big deal?
Review: I can't believe I am seeing this book listed as the best book of 2001. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read but best of the year?? Come on! I read 3 other books in the midst of struggling through the first half of this one. It certainly wasn't Important or Thought-Provoking in the least.
Rating:
Summary: Great Expectations...Great Disappointment
Review: The idea was good. The execution was poor. I had a feeling the writer had kept a journal for about 15 years and felt he had to get every observation he had ever made into one very long book. Maybe instead of blaming him, we should ask why his editor fell asleep on the job.
Rating:
Summary: Who will correct The Corrections?
Review: I found this book disappointing. What is all the fuss about? The few truly comic bits do not compensate for a sprawling novel about highly detestable people in ridiculously unrealistic situations. A waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the book of a lifetime
Review: Franzen is a talented writer who creates memorable, complex characters and tells a compelling story. The characters are not necessarily supposed to be likable--they're supposed to display human characteristics and human emotions, both good and bad. And there are elements of the characters to which most readers can probably relate (I'm not completely neurotic or dysfunctional, but I did find myself thinking "Oh my gosh, I can see myself thinking the same thing"). It's an engaging, well-written and comprehensive story, but I have to disagree with the hype: I don't think it's the most important book I'll ever read. It's not a "beach" read, but it's entertaining in its own right.
Rating:
Summary: As enjoyable as having an attack of hemorrhoids
Review: This is not art. This one deserves a negative star. I had to take a break from reading this when one of the character's started to have a conversation with his excrement. Everything about this book is unpleasant: 1) Writing style was long-winded and dwelled on areas and characters I couldn't care less about. 2) I was amazed that some folks thought it was funny. Any humor in the novel was not clever--just plan mean-spirited. I had to force myself to finish it and was sorry I assaulted my senses by doing so.
Rating:
Summary: Ah, Those Family Holiday Get-togethers!
Review: This is a fascinating read, almost all the way through. I like the way Franzen develops each weird character so that his/her perception of life and family makes sense. And though this is really a neurotic and selfish bunch, the family predicaments and situations aren't that far from middle-American reality. My four-star rating reflects the one problem of length - the book is too long and contains sections that could have been cut or omitted completely.
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