Rating: 
Summary: The Corrections
Review: ...P>At first, I laughed a lot and thought the book was funny, entertaining and well-written. However, after about 200 pages, I became a little confused and a lot bored. What is the greatness this book manifests, I wondered. The writing ceased to be entertaining. The characters began to seem extremely foolish and unbelievable to me. The peculiar juxtaposition of dates and time seemed arbitrary and unnecessary. I still don't understand why so many publications whose reviewers I usually respect think this is such a great piece of writing. In reality, I think a great hoax has just been perpetrated on us poor unsuspecting readers. I DID read to the end but I'm not recommending this book to any of my reader friends.
Rating:
Summary: Too Raw
Review: I read "Corrections" -- because Oprah recommended it, and I have read all her recommendations. But this book was too graphic and raw for me. I don't want to hear about a boy who had to sit for hours alone in the kitchen looking at his disgusting dinner, etc. Sorry. Disfunctionality is interesting, but I thought this book went a little too far.
Rating:
Summary: Soap opera
Review: One reads for a purpose, to be entertained, to learn, to become wiser. This book is not able to deliver on any purpose that I could ascertain. None of the characters are likable, they are are all living so far into their own navels that one can not identify with them. It is very fashionable to not like one's parents. Yawn! Franzen, who thinks so highly of himself, could have taken the high road by finding ways for family members to see the family in a new and compasionate light. It is the working out of relationships that takes brains, not the same old hackneyed approach of "oh aren't they awful, funny, boring, old fashioned" or what ever. What is so wrong with wanting to have one last Christmas together as a family??? Hello! Why can't a little compasion towards those who did their best to raise you not win out. These parents did not beat, abuse,or place their children in harm's way. They sent them to college, wanted to be with them and what they get is a bunch of attitude from those who are not doing too well with their lives. This book is so jaded and full of itself. No Pulitzer please.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: I can't believe Oprah selected this book. I made myself finish it because I don't ever NOT finish a book. This was filth. I tried to pass it along to friends since it is a best seller and they all returned it saying there was no way they would read it. I read a couple of books a week on average. This was awful. Worst book in years. I actually threw it in the trash.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but other reads are better
Review: Nothing against Oprah -- she helps get people to read -- and as with all books, some people will love it, others will hate it, but I suffer from the ambivalence of it all. When dealing with family and family problems, it seems so much that the author's love of his own very talented writing buries the story in metaphors that almost scream -- Hey! -- Look at me!
Rating:
Summary: What a Mistake
Review: One of the worst books I have ever read. There were no redeeming features. It was as though the author decided to think of many of the ugly, pathetic, and sociopathic societal occurances and combine them with many/all the ugly, demeaning and undesirable traits people can have and put them into one book. What was the point? Sensationalism -- voyeurism -- how much will John Q. Public believe? This is the book of the century? I hope we haven't sunk this low in what we consider extaordinary literature!
Rating:
Summary: The hype alone should have prepared this reader.
Review: The publisher and major book retailers did a masterful job of creating the demand for this book. Any effective and successful work of literature must, at the very least, 1) tell a good story that one would wish to reread, 2) encourage the reader to see even the tiniest bit of reality in a new and interesting way, 3) include only dialogue and description that furthers the overall momentum of the story and 4) accomplish all of the above without the inclusion of superfluous words and descriptions and stylistic quirks that do nothing but feed the ego of the author. The Corrections fails on all counts.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: I kept reading with the hope that it would improve, there was so much room for it to have gotten better. Instead it got even worse. Save your money and your time.
Rating:
Summary: A long winded let down
Review: The book had a great premise...the American dysfunctional family but it rarely talked of dysfunction in the family context. It consisted mostly of individual failures. There was absolutely no humor. It was verbose and at times difficult to follow (the correcktall convention comes to mind). It also seemed that the book could have have been much much shorter...why was there such an in-depth discussion of Lithuania or the daughter's lesbian experiences? What about Enid's friend on the cruise...did we really need all that background? It was a chore to read and I'm very glad that it is all over now. I doubt I will attempt to read anything by this author again. A fool and his money are soon parted I suppose (and I know better than to trust hype!!!)
Rating:
Summary: What in God's name was Oprah thinking?
Review: I generally trust the Oprah book club to guide me to good books, but this book is not worth the effort. Unfortunately, (...) I paid full retail price for the book. The plot was disjointed, not particularly interesting and extremely wordy. At the end I was skipping paragraphs and pages at a time just trying to find anything worth spending my time on.
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