Rating: 
Summary: He's right and wrong about Oprah's list
Review: I decided to read this book after reading about the controversy when Jonathan Franzen thought his book was too good for Oprah's Book Club. I've read, or tried to, several of these books, and I too thought they were lightweights. Most of them I did not finish or even get very far. (But there was the Poisonwood Bible and one or two others...) But The Corrections is no way better than any of these and a lot worse than most. I tried to give it 0 stars but it didn't work.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised by all the negative reviews
Review: A common thread amongst the many harsh reader reviews seems to be "I didn't like any of the characters." Is that the point? The characters in this book are not potential friends, they are characters in a book and I think they are beautifully drawn. I found them to be very real. No one can tell me that there aren't a million or more Enids out there. I recognized her immediately. And that goes for Chip, Gary, Alfred and Denise. These aren't one dimensional characters. And, in fact, I found likeable qualities in all of them (not Gary's wife and kids, I have to say). I think one can say that the structure of this book is something to marvel at. This is an intricate work of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Take Oprah out of the Picture
Review: I don't think your feelings towards Oprah & her bookclub should have anything to do with your feelings towards The Corrections. I have read many of Oprah's selections & have liked about 50%. I wish she had not nominated this book, only so people's reviews would not be muddled up with their feelings for her. I'll get off of that soapbox now and move on to the book itself. I read this book because I love family saga's where you get to really know the characters & care about them. I love getting to the point where they feel like they are your friends. I sure didn't feel this way about The Corrections. I didn't like one single character, found them boring & pretentious, & felt it was a waste of time being with them. I'm shocked it won such prestigious awards, I thought it was poorly written, which even that I can forgive, but I can't forgive such unlikeable, dysfunctional characters, and as you can tell by my one star rating, all I can say is, The Corrections is a loser.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick with it!
Review: Yes, Frantzen should have been more circumspect about Oprah. But the book is fantastic. It has the most vividly drawn characters and broad, acute dark humor I've read in a long time. I read it pre-Oprah-brouhahah, post Sept. 11, and I think, especially toward the end of the book, Frantzen creates some beautiful scenes of family and reconciliation, without ever resorting to a stereotypical "happy ending." As we've seen recently, life is complicated and often tragic, but still, there are connections and minor epiphanies that sustain us. This book evokes them powerfully.
Rating:
Summary: A crashing bore
Review: I made a pledge to myself some years ago never to read more than the first 50 pages of a book I can't stand. I broke my promise with The Corrections, unfortunately. What a bore! Nat'l Book Awards Board, what were you thinking? Oprah, what were you thinking? There is absolutely no compelling reason why this book is getting such rave reviews. And note that none of those reviews can state the book's theme. Perhaps, as I believe, because there is none. This book was the biggest waste of my reading time in several years.
Rating: 
Summary: Not my mother!
Review: This is the second book I have read that makes the mother seem stupid. Enid is not stupid, but I agree the "queen" of denial. If just once Alfred let her have her way she may not have hounded him so. Alfred sure knows how to keep secrets, too bad he is so ill, and that Gary is in the first stages of that illness. Man is his wife onery. I really liked Denise and Chip. If they had not been in the book I would have dumped it.As to the author's snobbery, I guess he must be Gary in the book, because that is exactly what Gary would have done. I have only read three other Oprah's choices and thoes were well written. The book this reminds me of is "Walking Across Egypt" by Clyde Edgerton.
Rating:
Summary: The Hype Worked: Shame on Me!
Review: The PR hype machine worked to perfection, in fact it may have fallen victim to itself -- a train that everyone boarded and that couldn't be stopped for lack of resistance. Was anyone brave enough to call "The Corrections" just plain dull, melodramatic, and full of characters that are totally unsympathetic, even pathetic? Very unfortunately, it was the sort of PR effort (led by FSG!) that creates lots of cynicism even among folks who supposedly already have a keen eye out for the media hucksters. Franzen is a terrific wordsmith and confident observer of everyday familial minutia. And it sort of feels like a "big" book, but I'll take the best of Updike, DeLillo, Robert Stone, even Richard Ford any day of the week.
Rating:
Summary: Hated it
Review: I am an avid reader and there has been only one book prior to this one that I have put down and said "It is so bad I just can't finish it." I made it 3/4th of the way through thinking the author would put the pieces together and give me one character I could identify with or like or hate or something...but no. You don't care about these people and you don't care what happens to them and they all lead these grossly distorted lives that disgust you.
Rating:
Summary: Genius
Review: Simply the most top notch fiction I've read in years. The best American fiction since George Saunders' CivilWarLandInBadDecline--at least.
Rating:
Summary: Not just a disappointed Oprah fan
Review: ...please know that being an Oprah fan does not immediately translate to blind acceptance of her book recommendations. I purchased and read the book prior to the announcement that Franzen was "out." I, like many others, found the characters pathetic, the storyline inconceivable, and the tone simply depressing and weird. I would not recommend this book to any friend or intelligent reader; there are too many other good books out there to waste time with this one. I just wish I understood how this book generated the flurry of positive attention. . .what does that say about our culture?
|
