Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!!
Review: What a wonderful piece of work. The story was multi-faceted and taught me not just about the havoc that Parkinson's can wear on a family, but about unusual subjects like Lituanian government, fine cooking, sexual identity, etc... I found something in common with each character. Enid was wonderfully in denial. Alfred was hysterically rude. Gary was the mirror of his mother. Denise was every woman and Chip was a mess!!!! I loved it! Hated to have it end. Will recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: The American epic.
Review: This book is really mostly amazing, and must rank just below Confederacy of Dunces as a masterful portrait of the American Disease.
Rating:
Summary: No Corrections Needed
Review: Pay no attention to the hype, the sales figures, the award nominations, and especially that ugly "O" stamped on the front cover. While Jonathan Franzen certainly deserves the praise and publicity he's getting for "The Corrections," all of it can serve to obscure what's most important - that this book is an entertaining, enlightening and important piece of literature.Anyone who appreciates the power and possibilities of good writing will have a hard time not being drawn into the family and the world which Franzen has created for us. The Lamberts, despite all their ugly faults, are human and real and sypathetic to any reader who takes the time to get to know them. Alfred is as strong a character as you'll find in recent fiction, and Enid and Chip emerge beautifully as the book's unlikely heroes. These are characters that stay with you when the story is finished. Furthermore, the world they inhabit - a world of academics and bankers and railroad men, sexual affairs and Lithuanian politics and Midwestern Christmases - is at once fascinating and familiar. Franzen has poured his obvious talents into character and setting, and it shows. This is what good writing is all about: powerful characters and richly-textured setting coming together in a story with meaning and purpose. Not to mention Franzen's prose, which is flawless throughout. Long after the sales figures drop and Oprah moves on to some (inevitably less accomplished) other book, "The Corrections" will stand as a significant work, deserving of our time and attention.
Rating: 
Summary: The great American novel? You're kidding, right?
Review: After several magazines and newspapers raved about this author, I thought, This book sounds great! So I ordered it in advance. What a disappointment! Unsympathetic characters, a family with contrived dysfunction, self-indulgent writing and silly situations. The characters were neither interesting nor drolly eccentric; they were simply nasty and hostile. The story kept getting worse, and the characters more obnoxious. Next time he writes a book, I'll pass, thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Average book, arrogant author
Review: This is a decent read if a little long and sometimes tedious and often grim. But this guy's books should be boycotted ! He's so arrogant that he argues that he is "high" art as opposed to popular art and was horrified to be an Oprah book. He thinks that men may be put off by that (presumably being all too sophisticated even to think about watching Oprah--sports being so high brow!) I'm male and offended on my behalf and on behalf of my girlfriend, who' certainly bright enough to "understand" the big messages Franzen has to offer. And they're the same old messages--American materialism, family alienation, the nobleness of the greatest generation. I say (...) pick up something much better (... and) buy something wonderful by Eudora Welty.
Rating:
Summary: Where Is Ernest Hemingway?
Review: After reading thru this new novel by Jonathan Franzen, all I can say is give me some Ernest Hemingway, instead of this overblown, long-winded bit of bitter for the sake of bitter. Mr. Hemingway wrote a precise sentence and told a story one could enjoy... not Mr. Franzen. Go find a good read and avoid ....
Rating: 
Summary: No Oprah!
Review: I am glad to see an independent writer like Jonathan Franzen who is willing to turn down the endorsement opportunity from Oprah Winfrey. He's an author who doesn't need someone like Oprah to tell us he wrote a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Long winded
Review: I picked this book up with much anticipation and in the end felt great diappointment. I found it overblown and long winded. This story could have been told in so fewer words and with more empathy. The characters were good and worthy of the story being told.
Rating:
Summary: Where was the editor?
Review: What a chore it was to read this ponderous book! I had to read a section, put the book aside for several days, and then soldier on through another section. It might have been an above average novel without the excessive treatment of various uninteresting subplots, most notably the pharmaceutical company and the Lithuanian business. It is at least 200 pages too long. Buried within it, however, is a good story about the relationship between modern-day, cosmopolitan children and provincial parents whose lives are crumbling. There are some memorable scenes and some great characters. Who can fail to sympathize with Enid, the mother, as she tries to bring one last "normal" Christmas to her family? The last section of the book, when Christmas finally arrives, is moving and well done. Was it worth it? Probably not. I just finished Sue Miller's latest offering, The World Below, and enjoyed it far more in much less time.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the hype - you Go Oprah!
Review: I guess I am lucky in that I read this book without being aware of the hype. It was recommended to me as a great book about a dysfunctional family. (I was surprised and a little curious when I bought the book to discover I was reading "an Oprah.") Franzen develops a great cast of charachters. Each member of the family is fully realized and heartfelt. Yes, they are dysfunctional, but if you've ever been to some other families Thanksgiving, I'm sure you'd call them dysfunctional as well. What Franzen illustrates are the bonds between each family member and how a tug on one relationship will tighten or unravel another. There are sad parts and there are trendy parts, but I really wouldn't hold it against the book. The fact that a novel ranges across emotions and moods shouldn't be a bad thing.
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