Rating: 
Summary: Oh Oprah!
Review: Loved the book and love Oprah. Where does that leave me? Read like a slightly demented Anne Tyler. And I mean that as a complement!
Rating: 
Summary: Unsavory
Review: I was offended by this book, yet at the same time I admire his writing, which is almost delicious with on-the-mark detail and dialogue that is natural, believable and interesting.However, you can sense the contempt the author feels toward his characters and he is as obsessed as his characters are with sexual things: acts, organs, smells, masturbation, adultery--all the things that make a modern novel hip, and I find tedious. The novel was too creepy to keep me interested and actually made me angry. I stopped reading after 70 pages.
Rating:
Summary: The MIS-Corrections!
Review: Franzen is a product of his own characters. His arrogance at the Oprah Book Club is precisely what one of his mis-quided siblings would have done in the Lambert family. Franzen IS a master at the english language, but each sentence was a labor of tedium, frought with synonyms some grossly out of character for the subject they were trying to discribe! NOT the great american novel it is hyped to be, but worthy of a read, just the same. John Irving he is NOT, and though he weaves an intricate tale, his characters are not even remotely sympathetic or lovable and one won't remember them when you are mid-way through whatever book you read next. Admittedly I went INTO The Corrections with a predjudiced view of Jonathan Franzen -- a self-proclaimed literary snob who should have wept for JOY that the Oprah Book Club would BROADEN his base of readers. NOW, he'll never know whether they read it because it was "worthy", or because they wanted to see who could... turn down the very audience he spent years trying to cultivate! Most books I read twice -- this one was worthy of one pass through!
Rating: 
Summary: Uh, okay...
Review: I guess the best word to describe my reaction upon finishing this book is disappointment. I had anticipated much more. The characters were, undeniably interesting. The family "chemistry" had elements that can probably be found in most families. And the plot, off-and-on, was engaging. But I did have a problem with 1) the ending and 2)Franzen's wordiness. I found myself skipping chunks of paragraphs in order to "cut to the chase." There were parts of this story to which I could relate, but this just didn't carry enough weight to make this a non-stop read. This is one book I didn't carry to work to pass on to colleagues.
Rating:
Summary: An important, original, and entertaining achievement
Review: This is an important novel for the 21st century. We've heard statements like that and here is why it's true for The Corrections. What we look for in a great novel is originality, brilliant writing, a compelling story, with a truthful message. Jonathan Franzen has achieved all of that. The Corrections is a sprawling novel which abounds in a myriad of physical and psychological detail and allusions, character interconnections and parallel connections, which can be discussed incessantly and reworked in one's mind, the kind of thing that cult followers adore in their favorite authors. While a lot of the word play and the antics of the characters provide comic relief and entertainment, and remind us of the absurdities of existence, at its core it is the relationships, especially the ways in which father, mother, sons, and daughter reflect each other that stay with us, that make the novel worth reading. In the end, we can say we have seen our friends and family and ourselves for better or worse through the eyes of these characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh
Review: This books stinks - hands down. The author tries to impress you with his knowledge of the English language by using obscure words, choppy punctuation, and in one case, a 19-line sentence
that left me gasping for air. There was no point going back to
the college days or the girlfriend except for the author to Wow
us with more of his supposed literary intelligence. I struggled
to turn each page, afraid of what awaited me while I tried to
figure out exactly what was going on. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: The Corrections could have used some
Review: Beginning with high hopes for the book, I was not disappointed early on in the story. The author has a great imagination for pointedly descriptive phrases, and his similes bordering on metaphysical conceits sometimes hit the mark in a way that made me smile. Wanting to go on, I read with hunger to find out more about the characters and the hinted plot twists to come. The spell began to slowly wear off about halfway through the book, as the skill with words overcame the plot believability and character development. I think the author probably got tired of his characters about the same time I did. I finished the book , but by the end it felt like a chore that needed to be done.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-done Mr. Franzen
Review: I'm not one for fiction, but with all the fuss and Franzen's alleged arrogance, I had to read to know what's up. He did a great, great job. Some of the plot is far-fetched but it raises serious points and thoughts about the shortcomings of the 90s and the baby boom generation. Over all, I highly recommend it. Plus, there's lots of lesbian sex.
Rating:
Summary: If more books were like this, I'd give up reading!!
Review: I only read this book because my book club had selected it. Usually I can find something of worth in even very ordinary books, and browsing Amazon is like a Christmas-tree paradise to me with all the stuff I have read and want to read. Not this book! The author's puerile, contemptuous, shallow, show-off writing had less to offer than 99.9% of books. It was a real struggle to read. (6 of the 7 book-group members agreed, incidentally -- the other really enjoyed it.)
Save your time and money for the wonderful alternatives available. If I lived a thousand years, life would still be too short to waste time on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Why, It is the best American novel?
Review: I am a poor student from Lithuania. Two years ago, we with my wife have bought a small, one-room (not new) flat almost outside the Vilnius. It was for 20 000 USD in cash. And when I see 25 000 USD as a reward for such as things... OK, maybe hypothetically... "Not enough coal and people are eating horses" What? I have no words. There are the biggest supermarkets for the all Eastern Europe, in Lithuania. So, why biggest? Because people have no money to buy things in them, or maybe, because we trade horses for eating. Show me, where is a horse? I will eat a whole with a skin and intestines. Maybe, Americans always act like this. They like to paint some countries or people in very dark colors, and after they can feel better or more confident by themselves, or they can valid their government's actions to this countries. Is this a fiction novel? Probably. Is it the best American novel? Of course, it is. Anyway, I have put two stars for do not making any mistakes in several Lithuanian sites names.
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