Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not worth the hype
Review: I honestly can't understand how this book is so critically adored. It garnered so much praise that one could not help getting drawn in. Unfortunately the book is really not that good. It is too long and frustrating to read after a while. It seems perfectly clear that Franzen thought he was writing something spectacular as the writing is very overwrought and self-important. After the first two parts it becomes increasingly difficult to empathize with the characters, by the time I was halfway through 'the generator' (part four) I honestly didn't even care what happened to any of them, just as long as I never had to deal with them again. After two weeks passed and I had only progressed ten pages beyond that point thanks to an overwhelming reluctance to read anymore I have given up. I've put this book down and couldn't be happier. I am perfectly comfortable not knowing if the Lambert family has their last Christmas together, or if any of them ever cheer up. Hopefully the next time a book generates this amount of hype it will actually deserve it.
Rating: 
Summary: Overdone, but still fun
Review: Franzien's flavor-of-the-month "The Corrections" is a sometimes high-flying exploration of a typical family, and sometimes a dumbed-down account of cooperate politics and more than I ever cared to know about Lithuania. So, playing "Monday morning editor" here is what I would have changed to make this epic into a more polished work: First, Franzien needs to get rid of all the dry cooperate nonsense. Let's face it: that is just plain boring, and even the pep rally of the Axom Corporation's fireworks are dim. I don't care about the politics of a rail road that runs through the Midwest. While I did feel that the central characters in the novel were particularly well fleshed out, some of the sub characters did nothing to add to this sometimes plodding book.There are funny parts, I'll admit that. An especially witty scene is when Enid goes to complain to the ship's doctor about her husband. That scene must have been inspired by Kurt Vonnegut, as it reminded me of some of his works. And there is some excellent writing here. But why oh why does the reader have to suffer through the details of a heinous murder scene that is the daughter of a passenger on a cruise ship who Enid just happens to meet. Why do we have to suffer through 3 pages of gore that do nothing to further along the story? I felt offended by that. I wonder if authors today put in a gruesome murder/rape/torture just to get it read and recommended by Oprah? Has she EVER picked a book that doesn't have some form of violence against women? I was relieved when the book was over, which is probably not exactly the emotion that Franzien was going for. I doubt I would hail the book as the Great American Novel... Much better work is being done elsewhere. I see that the novel is available in an abridged audio version. That might be the way to go on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawning in Disgust
Review: The great American Novel? Oy, is this country in trouble! I read all the hype and couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. What a disappointment. One-dimensional characters continually thrown into absurd situations. Absolutely not one character to identify with, never mind to like. Horrible, horrible people. And where was the humor? Enid, the social climbing, cold, unloving mother obsessed with impressing her rich friends. She wasn't funny. Alfred, the Parkinson's demented ex-engineer who destroyed his entire career by pure stubborness? A laugh riot! Gary, married to a manipulative witch who witheld not only sex and affection, but her children's love towards their father until she got what she wants. Stop, my sides are aching with laughter! Chip, the philandering college professor who loses his job over an affair with a student, and then spends the rest of his life failing at everything until he ends up in Lithuania performing criminal acts? Wahahaha! Or Denise, the homewrecker cook who sleeps with both the husband and wife, just to make sure that marriage was COMPLETLY doomed. Gosh, she's hysterical! Don't waste your money or your time. This book reeks.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Great American Novel, but still very good!
Review: Oprah, the doyen of American literary taste, said it herself; that this might be the next Great American Novel. It isn't, but it is very good and very well-written. Franzen's characters are quirky and difficult, but well-developed as are his fretful and complicated plots. There are echoes of Tolstoy and Proust and even Faulknerian bleakness here and the novel's delightful romps through patterning and dark satire contrast not very comfortably with the dire and convoluted complications of plot and character. The purpose of literature is not always to comfort and soothe; sometimes it reveals (and revels in) those aspects of the human condition that are less than worthy of celebratrion. Personally, the novel at times was incredibly difficult for me to read because of how very accurately the author portrayed situations so very like my own life at this time of trial, dealing with aging and infirm parents whom I love more than life. But ultimately the novel tells the truth,however disquieting and unpretty it may be.
Rating:
Summary: A Realistic Picture
Review: Have just completed The Corrections and thought it was wonderful. Franzen takes you into this family and you feel that you know each member very well. My husband suffers from Parkinson's Disease and I could not believe how he described the father's behavior. The author must have had some first hand information on this disease. I cannot recommend this book enough. Some of the descriptions were long but they painted a picture of each character in the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Poigninant Generational Portrait
Review: Insightfully conceived and elegantly written, Franzen portrays an increasingly familiar portrait of a maturing baby boom family in the throes of mid-life issues and declining parents. While the family portrayed has clearly its own, and skillfully developed dysfunctions, the Lamberts are a useful, sometimes satiric, metaphor for real life families who find siblings at very different crossroads in life, often with polarized perseptions both of the world in general, as well as their own commom upbringing. In an age where life has been extended and dementia has become an unexpected scorge, millions find themselves thrown into the clash of life experiences between family members each trying to resolve the difficulties of aging parents in his or her own way. This portrait of a troubled family is richly and deeply described, often using language and vocabulary as articulate or poetic as the most accomplished contemporary writers. Taken as a metaphor, this book is replete in images that wii resonate deeply in those ever involved in these life cycle issues.
Rating:
Summary: "The Corrections" Rocks
Review: Jonathan Franzen's painfully accurate portrayal of a typical American family is funny and extremely poignant. Franzen effectively marries sociological commentary on the American "way of life"/the middle class, our so-called global economy, and our startling lack of insight into our families and ourselves. I could not put this book down until I finished it. And then I was bummed that it had to end. Jonathan Franzen is the new Tom Wolfe.
Rating:
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing
Review: This author does not know how to write a great novel but he has figured out how to promote one.....Terrible book but kudos to the advertisement campaign! At page 200, I finally said enough already! This book contains sentences that are almost a full page long but say nothing. Life is too short to waste any of it struggling through this story.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: Those who love literature and true characters will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Man, oh, man...
Review: I read it. I have thrown it away. If you like someone trying to write like someone witty and insightful, trying to impress readers with his petty ability to write "complex" sentences which are truly easy to build... then buy this. If you like smart and simple and good, forget it. What is it with writers trying to show off instead of trying to write? Putting words togehter with "style" almost any schoolboy can do that. I think the idea is to say something and say it clearly, and say it fine, something the author fails to accomplish in this exagerated Simpsons spinoff no.3245...
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