Rating: 
Summary: A Singular Achievement
Review: I was prepared to be disappointed with "The Corrections", a book hyped almost out of existence (yet who had actually read it?). I was pleased to discover that Franzen's novel lives up to its accolades; it is a sad, funny, ultimately very HUMAN story, one in which you can really lose yourself among the characters. The Lamberts might be an exaggeratedly disfunctional family, but getting to know and understand them is a wonderful, if occasionally bittersweet, experience. I've enjoyed Franzen's short stories and essays in "The New Yorker" and after reading "The Corrections", I am further convinced of his talent. Don't miss out on his work. It's a real treat for one who enjoys an engrossing read.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful but inhumane
Review: I found The Corrections to be incredibly and painfully accurate at times. Overall, however, I was struck by how condescending and inhumane it was. I struggled to like just one character in the book, to find any empathy (as opposed to pity and even revulsion) for any one. I wonder if Mr. Franzen held his creations in such contempt, or if he failed to convey otherwise to me as a reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Not fantastic, but sturdy
Review: Yes, the "Corrections" is not the masterpiece some people herald it to be, but in this age of disposable books with little plot and real truth to them, this is a strong book with believable, flawed characters. "The Corrections" can be compared to some of Dostoevsky's work in the fact that it presents a vivid character study of the troubled Lambert family and showcases their psychological development (or deterioration) in the course of the novel. Not an easy read, but nevertheless rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Like Passing a Car Accident...
Review: One can't help but take a look, even though we know that the sight may not be pleasant. After all the hype, what a disappointment! The characters were amusing in a situation comedy-ish way but not particularly complex: Franzen's narrative description of what happened to them was readable and at times funny but hardly thoughtful or insightful. Some of his "messages," particularly at the novel's end, were practically hammered over the readers' head. He seemed to have a particularly hard time developing his women characters - at times they were flat and fake, almost trite. While stronger editing might have helped this novel, it would not solve its real problem: although Franzen is quite clever at describing situations and people in a hiply sarcastic and superficial way, he hasn't yet developed the maturity or the insight to understand them.
Rating:
Summary: This is NOT a book for the Oprah crowd
Review: I enjoyed this book and am quite surprised at the number of people who criticized it. This book does not script a beautiful, uplifting story. Instead, it requires a bit of thinking and reflection to appreciate. If you are looking strictly for entertainment, this might not suit you. If instead, you seek intelligent fiction, give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: fabulous, poignant and moving
Review: Franzen manages to create a sense of what it's like to actually BE each of his characters, with their foibles and qualities. I devoured this book, enjoyed every page, was moved by the unfolding story and its inevitably uplifting conclusion.Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated, overhyped
Review: This is quite possibly one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I can only think of one other book I refused to finish, but this may be the second. The reviews call it "funny, moving, generous." I find it nothing but annoying. There is nothing sympathetic about any of the characters, who all need a good smack up side the head. While all families are dysfunctional, I don't believe any family is truly this [messed] up. The New York Observer says its "unbearably lifelike." If this reflects family life in the U.S., god help us! It must have been a bad year for books if this one won the National Book Award.
Rating:
Summary: A Middle America Microcosm
Review: What more can be said about one of the most talked about Oprah choices (even if it didn't remain such for long)? The bare bones of this story sound very boring - retired Alfred and his wife Enid live in the American Mid-West - he is fading into Parkinson's disease, she is trying to ignore this fact. Their three grown children have moved East, trying to escape their boring middle American lives and now read as a catalogue of the dysfunctional aspects of modern American lives. Pretty ho-hum. But this is definitely not a boring book - it is a funny, fascinating and clever story with seriously flawed, seriously real characters. This book is absorbing from the beginning. Franzen jumps back and forth through time easily, explaining why people have ended up how they are. Never has Middle America seemed such a fascinating microcosm of human existence.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Great American Novel, but Not Bad, Either
Review: Well, it took some going, but I finally got through The Corrections. And let me say this: people used to the other Oprah recommendations, the life-affirming, female voice, the soft and pretty descriptions of exotic or comforting locales, those people will not like this book. And that's okay. But this is still a good book, despite its sad and despairing tale of human failings.
Although the characters are imperfect, flawed people, they are real. None of them are blunt stereotypes, none of them are easy answers. Again, not for people who like simple stories. The story is real, without any kind of preachy, self-important slop that some people need in a book. This is a culmination of several life stories, painful and funny and unpleasant in spots. But somehow resonant with truth and feeling.
So. In conclusion. If you are looking for heroes, comfort or a fun summer read, skip it. If you like a good story and enjoy a strong narrative, this is a good one.
Rating:
Summary: Strained, false-note sitcom
Review: Leery of an Oprah-recommended book, I read the first chapter at a friend's and was nevertheless impressed. Alas. By chapter 2 the false notes began to accumulate at breakneck speed. We are told that the protagonist, Chip, works part-time at proofreading but can somehow afford a doorman building in New York City--in the East Village, where there are few--if any!--doorman buildings. And that this doorman, named Zoroaster, is supposedly savvy enough to call out to Chip as he leaves, "Goodbye, Mr. Chip!" Chip's parents are presented as midwestern WASPs but read as quintessentially, transparently Jewish. In this desperately overwritten tome, Franzen frantically wants to entertain but can't decide if he's William Gaddis or Woody Allen. Obviously he's neither. The National Book Award has seen far better days.
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