Rating: 
Summary: What Men Want
Review: A compelling read because I wanted to see just how pathetic the characters could get. It was a sort of David Sedaris meets Sydney Sheldon. Franzen depicts a family that many of us know- dysfunctional, failing health, bad chemistry. Some of it was right on, the mother doting on the low-life son, repeating the same stories over and over, the thankless, rude daughter-in-law. But then it becomes "What Men Want" -- A daughter who thinks about slipping her tongue into her mother's mouth while seeing her off on a cruise, the good son coming to the rescue by installing safety grips in the shower for Dad. Franzen captures the real life drama of today's family, sandwhich generation etc. but fails to capture the compassion that at least half a family has for each other. No we don't have to like all the characters in a book but we do typically find something redeeming in someone and that was a challenge in this book. Did Oprah really read it?
Rating:
Summary: The Corrections
Review: What might have been extraordinary reading was exhaustible instead. While normally a quick reader I took months to complete this story. The fast paced concentrated writing led me to wonder if this were the work of the overly anxious or the chemically induced. I would hope for the latter. Overall the story earned the time it took to complete.
On a footnote let me just say from personal experience that a slower midwestern life exists in my memory from this particular era.
Rating: 
Summary: Plugging into the Past
Review: What I most like about this book, besides its accessibility, is the portrait of an American family that lies beneath the surface of each character in that family, and of how memory and error and memory of error play such an important part in its telling. Proust may "recapture the past" through memory, but Franzen portrays the everpresence in our lives of events and dispositions (which in part are created out of events)that linger below the surface. Having recently plowed into Gravity's Rainbow and stopped halfway through because I could not justify the toil of reading it in light of the jewels I was supposed to unearth, I find it refreshing to be able to read a book that does not require me to order chaotic episodes, yet which has more than a story to offer. Franzen's writing does not cloud the plot line with verbal ostentation. Yet it lends fresh insight into personal and collective living (outer and inner) in modern America. Many people will mine gems from this book. I left it to eat, to go to work, and to exercise. Otherwise, it was a continuous read.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, very fun.
Review: I don't get exactly how some people here can read only a portion of the book or just get turned off by Jonathan Franzen's attitude and decide to give this book a low rating. Thank God the National Book Award jury decided to overlook the hype and give Franzen the prize. I just finished this book last week, and it was remarkable. Told from five different points of view and detailing the near-disintegration of an American family through a marathon of twists and tragedies, I found it an altogether fun, if complicated, read.
Rating:
Summary: Believe the Hype
Review: This book managed to live up to the heaps of praise it's been recieving recently. Regardless of Franzen's social situation with Oprah, I think he's an amazing writer. This book recently won the National Book Award for fiction. What struck me as most interesting about the story is that the father figure, Alfred, while argubly the origin of most of the problems in the family -- he became my favorite character. I nearly had to wipe tears from my eyes as I ended the book. At the same time you hate him, you can't help but love him at the same time. The other characters in the book each get their own sections and each story is compelling in its own right. It was amazing how I related to each character (excluding the mother, although she had traits that were extremely familiar) regardless of how different they were from each other. Franzen does an amazing job of crafting these individuals that seem to be extreme opposites, yet seem to retain the sort of commonality that make the reader identify with them. Honestly, I laughed and I nearly cried. I was both concerned and delighted. The Corrections is easily the best book I read in 2001.
Rating:
Summary: The More The Better!
Review: So many diverse fellings about the book,seems to me that is just
like life.Not everyone sees things the same and with this book
life has just been thrown in our face.
Rating: 
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I am on a list at my library for this, but may cancel. Have just read the excerpts here and I find the writing dreadful! From what is presented, I don't care to know more about these people. I don't care what happens to them.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: This was by far the most boring book I have ever read. Actually I only read about half the book and didn't even get half my money's worth. There was no plot and not a single likeable character and where did he come up with all those unrecognizable words. I have read a lot of Oprah's picks and enjoyed them but she sure missed the boat on this one! I HATED THIS BOOK! I gave it to the Library because I didn't even want it in my house.
Rating: 
Summary: Comic, ironic
Review: To those readers who complained about the book being 'depressing' - perhaps you shouldn't read 'Anna Karenina'. I don't rate this novel as highly as Tolstoy's but it is a great novel of manners; a snapshot of how people in the US try to deal with the old problems of what to do with all they have, why it doesn't seem to add up to enough, and mortality. Style is maybe a bit too clever, self-conscious (like David F Wallace can be)but very captivating and well-drawn characters.
Rating:
Summary: This is about as good as it gets
Review: Great art creates contoversy. It's refreshing to see the "love-it-or-hate-it" extremes posted on this site. I thought Franzen's observational narrative close to perfect. His attitude is real...a very stimulating yet chilling experience. He sees the human psyche as vividly as anyone. Reminiscent of Wolfe but consistently in control. For a great read, this is it!
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