Rating: 
Summary: so pretentious ---- such a waste of time
Review: This book won an award?!!!??? Why would anybody read it past page 20 (I needlessly suffered to the end of the book.) Boring characters, muddled writing, confused ideas, grand pomposity-- this book is a massive celebration of pretentiousness. Big disappointment. Thanks Mr. Frenzen.
Rating: 
Summary: Clueless
Review: Why must readers feel that all stories must be told the same way? Why are so many people complaining that the characters are not likable? Some of the best characters in literature are not likable! Many people in life are NOT likable! Art often portrays things in the world that are not likable. People need to shelve the pop-cultural, feel-good, self-help-as-panacea optimism and get a clue. For whatever its faults, at least this book tells the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Someone like me.
Review: The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen expressed radical views towards the rise of the American and European Internet boom. He draws metaphors from the disintegration of family. A mothers dreams burst when her husband disowns his eldest son. The mother is grief-stricken when she discovers her husband in bed with her youngest daughter. (...) In conclusion I think The Corrections made me think of the many "corrections" I had to make in my own life. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A Short Quiz
Review: "He left work at 4:30. In his Swedish sedan he wound his way up Kelly Drive and Lincoln Drive, out of the valley of the Schuylkill and its haze and expressway, its bright flat realities, up through tunnels of shadow and gothic arches of early-autumn leaves along the Wissahickon Creek, and back into the enchanted arboreality of Chestnut Hill." The above passage is: a.) Yahoo!'s directions to Fort Washington, PA
b.) This year's Bulwer-Lytton contest winner (...)
c.) Haiku
d.) The paragraph on page 226 of the infamous Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections that determined its early return to the Woodbury Public Library
e.) All of the above If you selected d.) you are partially right - it is from The Corrections but it did not get returned prior to a full reading (although it should have been). I found The Corrections to be a tedious, boring (not a word I like to use when describing a book) and seriously overrated read. There is no doubt this book is about dysfunction, both personal and familial, but it does not in the least explore it dynamically. The characters are thin and I found that the only thing I wished for them was a quick demise. In addition to falling flat in the plot department the writing is often wordy (VERY wordy), and did not bring me into the setting; it did not offer any insights or accents, but distanced me from the everything; time, place, action and characters. Although I don't doubt that the National Book Award was given for good reason, I am not able to find the type of quality writing from this book that the National Book Awards usually represents.
Rating: 
Summary: A Correction, Please!
Review: I have to admit that I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped to, but have people forgotten that it is a work of FICTION? This isn't a collection of essays or an autobiography. The childhood stuff, the Lithuania stuff -- these may not be truths from his life, experience, or his own politics. Certainly there are books with objectionable things in them - doesn't mean that the author is objectionable as well, right? His childhood may have been great. It's not just disturbed people who can write about disturbing things.
Rating: 
Summary: You need to live the story to enjoy the book
Review: Had my father not died (August 2001) I would not have enjoyed this book. Why? He become Alfred during the last 18 months of his life. It was amazing to see the personality change - nothing prepares you for it. Yet it is more amazing that a writer can capture the realism of a human dilema so well. Excellent read if you've been there. If not you may not be able to relate to the spirit, guts, desire, hurt, pain and want of this disfunctional family. I believe in some ways we all are a part of a disfunctional family. There's a little of each character in our lives whether we admit to it or not. That is what the author has been able to capture with such intensity, that it frightens you if you truly allow yourself to relate to the story. This book has it's downsides for the pure American who has never travelled to Europe let alone Eastern Europe. Did the author engage in such travels - I doubt it. For the essence of the Eastern European scene is in the book, but not the life blood of this diverse arena. I feel that Jonathan is struggling to relate to the habiliment, taste, accent or even the air of these people. But his effort is passable given the space offered to Chip's ventures outside the States. You have to walk in the lands of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of Star Wars etc. to know that there is a totally different world out there. But this small twist to the story adds a big contribution to a remarkable piece of literary work. A recent review of the book in a London newspaper reveal 9 years of struggle. Well done to Jonathan for sticking with the project. That in itself needs to be written about!.
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: For me, this is why we read fiction. To find yourself engrossed in writing this good is what it is all about. I found the book so funny, yet so very sad. Mr. Franzen speaks the truth, and it appears that some readers are having trouble with that. I am thankful I found my way to this book, and hope that others who are true lovers of great writing will not be put off by the media frenzy, and find their way to it as well.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it!
Review: I liked it! At first glance, it might seem sprawling and messy, but it's really tightly wrapped and skillfully constructed. I think it's honest and funny and worth my time. My opinions of the characters (whether I was sympathetic to them or not) shifted as more of their personality and complexity was revealed. There was a lot of emotional truth in this novel, as another customer reviewer mentioned. I don't quite understand why so many readers bailed out. I was captured early on and would not have considered not seeing it through to the end. I really wanted to find out what happened to the members of this family. I don't normally read fiction, and when I do it's rarely contemporary fiction, but this one was so right on in its keen understanding of modern people and current culture that I felt enriched by the experience of reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT worth the effort
Review: I had such high hopes for this book. The next "great American novel". The last 2 chapters were by far the best, although I have to say not worth the preceding 450 pages. The characters were developed to varying degrees of completeness such that by page 567 I was still being surprised by their actions. I couldn't bear to finish the thing in one reading and had to stop in the middle for a rest. Get the thing on tape or ask a friend about it. Too heavy to carry around for what it winds up being worth.
Rating:
Summary: You Will Love This Book . . . Or Hate It!
Review: Caution: This book is filled with vulgar and coarse words. If such offend you, avoid this book. The Corrections is either a five star, or a one star book for most people. . . depending on your perspective. I graded the book a three, because I had quite a lot of both reactions that I share below. In deciding whether or not you should read this book, ignore the book's award and the book's controversy, but do pay attention to the next two paragraphs. Here's who will hate it: Anyone who dislikes reading about unending emotional turmoil, depression, dementia, people messing up their lives, ugly family scenes, emotionally cold families, and the views of the well-educated, self-satisfied towards everyone else. Further groups who will be offended will include those who dislike extreme writing styles, slowly developing stories, and a strong sense of irony. Also, anyone from Lithuania or of Lithuanian ancestry will probably feel offended. Here's who will love it: Anyone who liked John Cheever's Wapshot Chronicle and Wapshot Scandal, but would also like to see more of the interaction among the family members; those who enjoy writing that takes characters to the edge and tests them thoroughly with temptation and challenge in order to let their actions describe their personalities; those who enjoy satirical treatment of foibles of the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boom; and those who would like to read about a family with more problems than their own has. The writing itself will interest people who like to see new forms of narration, and appreciate an ability to switch smoothly between stream of consciousness and straight narration. If you are in the latter category, read on. I found the book noteworthy for capturing the politics and manipulation within families in an extremely convincing and revealing way. This subject is normally a taboo in our society. The theme of corrections (whether in financial markets, in dealing with misbehavior, adjusting to new circumstances, or choosing the right path) is a good one for a novel about families, and I thought the theme was most imaginative and extremely well developed. If you are like me, be aware that the theme's full relevance will not start to hit you until the last 100 pages or so. The book's focus, to me, was on the limits of our self-perceptions. We have a self-image and a way of internalizing the world. Often, the self-image and way of internalizing the world poorly capture what is really going on. As a result, we can misunderstand our circumstances, what others think of us, what is being communicated to us, and even ourselves. Getting past any self-delusion is important to freely finding and taking the right choices for ourselves. As you laugh while you read this book, I suggest that you laugh a little at yourself . . . and learn in the process. The book's two best scenes are when Alfred comes home from an 11 hour day and runs into a little turbulence over dinner, and the scene in the ship's cabin when Alfred cannot wake Enid up. I wished that more of the writing had been this good. I look forward to reading more novels by Mr. Franzen in the future. Where should you be more open to alternatives? What are others trying to tell you?
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