Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: Did anyone except me find this book to be extremely boring? I love to read, but could only read 10 to 12 pages at a time, before putting it down. The characters are shallow, the story line drags on and on without going anywhere. Of course the family is dysfunctional, but dysfunctional can be fun and interesting......these characters are not!!
Even trashy romance novels can be more enjoyable than this book. The author's writing is very much like his character, Chip's.....Going on forever without getting to the point.
Most boring book I have purchased in years
Rating: 
Summary: air, punchlines, and tin cans
Review: I noticed that my wife was approaching the end of the book she was reading, Back When We Were Grownups. I asked how it was going, and she told me that she had skimmed through much of it since a lot of it was "air." The Corrections has a lot of "air" in it too, but I wasn't smart enough to skim those parts. This is a long book - it reads to me like several novellas. Each story had several pages where I lost interest, then a good strong finish that made me say "wow." It reminded me a bit of the Alan Parker film, Birdy, which seemed like a 90-minute setup to a single wonderful punchline (except Birdy lacked the long periods of thinking "why am I here?"). Within this structure we have the sad, funny, crude, stories of each member of the Lambert family. I'm left with one question: what is it about these people that make them urinate in tin cans so often?
Rating: 
Summary: The Corrections
Review: It has been a long time since I have stayed up until the wee hours to complete a book, but from beginning to end , I could not turn the pages fast enough. I didn't even want to like this book based on the the snooty way this author treated the "popularism" of Oprah. Nonetheless, I was swept up in the story of this family which is in essence all our families. Who has not been a dissappointment to their parents in some way? Who does not feel depressed? Who does not fail as a parent in their own right? Okay this is all depressing, but it is life, and this book paints a surprisingly funny and uplifting view of the whole experience.Not to mention riveting. Please don't miss this.
Rating: 
Summary: a non-staggering work of boredom
Review: Not since Zadie Smith's "White Teeth" have I so missed what all the hype was about. Because I have enjoyed Mr. Franzen's writing thoroughly in the past I was SO looking forward to this release, that is until I read the first few chapters, and then I was SO looking forward to the end. Yet another book about a dysfunctional family so chockful of cliches it was painful to finish. The three adult children in this family (and in particular the eldest son's awful wife) make the Manson family seem nice.
Rating:
Summary: I'm truly amazed at the negative reviews but shouldn't be.
Review: When my son passed this on to me, he told me he thought it was great and thought I would find much of interest in it. Well, I did--in spades--and am truly amazed at the people who found it boring, one of the worst books they ever tried to get through, and so on. I guess I shouldn't be amazed, however. My wife and I went to see "In the Bedroom" this past weekend, found it incredibly well done and acted, and then were appalled by the negative comments of some people who sat behind us and apparently saw a different movie.All I can say is that many of the reviewers here must have read a different version of The Corrections than I did. I found the characters, while not totally likable and certainly often self-destructive, totally believable and interesting. I don't know how many times I found one of Franzen's observations dead-on in terms of things my wife and I have said to each other but had never seen in print. I liked the style, the wordplay, the pacing, everything about the book. I would certainly agree with the reviewers here who say to make up your own minds about the book and not be put off by the negative comments. Now I'm wondering if any of the negative reviewers were sitting behind my wife and me in the theater last Sunday.
Rating:
Summary: A Plotless Wonder
Review: My sister-in-law urged me to read this book. In her words, and those of her friends, it was brilliant, witty, timeless, and relevant. Given her enthusiasm and the great reviews that this book has received here and elsewhere, I was hoping for an engrossing read. What a disappointment. I like books with the following characteristics: 1. A strong plot,
2. Three-dimensional characters and a discernable character arc,
3. A non-intrusive authorial voice,
4. A theme or issue that is universal to the 'human condition' across all times and places. Unfortunately, "The Corrections" had none of these. 1. This book really contains more of a situation than a plot: a dysfunctional family gets together for Christmas. Structurally, it's written a lot like a typical disaster movie (although no doubt Franzen would be horrified at this comparison). First, all the characters and their back stories are introduced. Next, there is the obligatory foreshadowing of Something Bad ™ that will happen later on. In a movie like "Airport", you'd see the bolts on the left wing rattle ominously then come loose. In this book, dad falls off the cruise ship. Moving on, the characters eventually board the airplane (arrive at the ancestral home) and Disaster ensues (dad has a medical crisis.) During and following the crisis, all the characters experience some sort of awakening and come through the experience changed. (Cue uplifting music.) As I said, standard disaster movie fare. Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy plot: A) the Disaster doesn't arrive until around page 540 (of 568 pages); B) the back story for each character is chock-full of irrelevant, pedantic digressions about rail roads, drug use, supposedly-shocking-but-really-very-very-boring sex, oh and some faux Lithuanian politics; C) there is no build up of tension-the climactic moments are shown to us using the same snarky tone and plodding pace as the treatises on rail road politics; and finally, D) in a cheap, tacked on epilogue, Franzen *tells* us (rather than shows us-don't they frown on this in MFA programs these days?) how each of the characters has changed as a result of dad's collapse. The character arc actually occurs in the *epilogue*! 2. These characters are so stereotypical that they border upon being demographic categories. You have the clueless wife, the work-aholic, ailing husband, the angst-ridden, ineffectual academic, the ambitious, latent lesbian daughter, the burnt-out corporate exec, etc. No doubt there are marketing departments all over the U.S. collecting statistics to target these very people. Was this Franzen's point? From the other reviews, it is clear that many people can relate to these characters and their travails. Unfortunately I was not among them, and Franzen is so contemptuous towards his own characters that those of us who don't empathize with them immediately never get the chance to do so later on. These characters are tokens, place holders like chips at a casino, and none of them have any soul-even a dark night of a one-at all. It's not a question of "likeability." I don't need to like characters to find them interesting or dynamic--Don Corleone anyone? But in a character-driven piece like this one, an author must interest his/her audience in the lives of his characters and help the audience empathize with them no matter how despicable they might be. Franzen tells tells *tells* us all about their horrid lives but given his emotionally superficial style, he cannot make these 2-D characters come alive for someone, like me, who didn't have an immediate/a priori emotional connection (via personal experience) to them. 3. Franzen bludgeons the reader to death with self-conscious, manipulative prose. No two ways about it, the book feels forced. If you collect "favorite sentences" from books you read, you might enjoy "The Corrections". Personally, I enjoy writing in which the writer himself is invisible and the words transport you to a new world and into the lives, hearts, and minds of the characters. A good turn of phrase here and there can be nice in a book, but I don't think that the reader should be catapulted out of the story again and again because the author wants to demonstrate his "wit" or his skill with a thesaurus. People have claimed that this book is a "difficult read". It's not, at least not in the way they mean it. What I found difficult was not the sentence structure (are compound sentences, semicolons, and run-ons supposed to be exotic these days?) or the so-called advanced vocabulary. But rather slogging through page after page *after page* of clunky metaphors, snide asides, and calculatedly "clever" and "shocking" vignettes that contributed nothing to the understanding of the characters nor to the progression of the plot. Where was this guy's editor? 4. This book is relevant only to its narrow little wedge in history (middle-class families in the late 90s early 00s). In contrast, sure "Moby Dick" is a book about a whale, the whaling industry, and one guy's quest to kill a whale. But what makes it great is that it is also a tale of obsession and revenge, of human against nature, themes that resonate across time for all of us, not just those readers who happen to share the characters' particular demographic slot. There are no broader conclusions that a reader can draw from "The Corrections" except that families in the 90s are screwed up, boy and how. This is not exactly a newsflash. There is no redemption or transformation for any of these characters and no message or insight about the human condition that readers can take with them after wading through the Lambert's lives. So, is "The Corrections" a great novel? Not even close. But it *is* a really great disappointment if, like me, you enjoy a good plot, well-rounded characters, writing that flows rather than distracts, and a theme that resonates beyond its particular place and time.
Rating:
Summary: too close for comfort
Review: First of all, this is a great book. It's a book that makes you think about yourself, your friends and family, and the world around you. If you want escapism, look elsewhere. This book hits close to home, which can make some uncomfortable...which I think explains many of the negative reviews on this page. This isn't a book which numbs you by introducing some fantasy world of romance and tragedy--instead, it's a book that may be a little too close for comfort. First of all, we're not supposed to "like" these people. Franzen exposes some of our human worst behaviors in these 5 characters. They are despicable for a reason. However, these characters are also unflailingly human. There was little for me to identify with in these characters--on the surface, that is. However, the inner thoughts and base motivations were all too familiar. I've witnessed them in those I know and sometimes in myself. If you want to read a book that will make you think and you can deal with "not liking" the main characters...get this book. It's engrossing, it's a quick read, but it will also make you question your behavior. Some of us don't want to be questioned--they want instant answers. This book doesn't tie it all up neatly with a bow and send us on our way. This book doesn't provide all the answers: instead, it leaves you with many questions, thoughts, and ideas that may bring us to our own conclusions and our own answers. If you appreciate that sort of writing, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Check this book out from your local library
Review: This book can be best described as okay, but not great. I picked up this book, because I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Don't get me wrong, it was an alright book, but is definitely not worth spending [ the money ]. The book starts out really slowly, and it took me about a week just to get through the first 200 pages. Throughout the book, most of the characters are very one dimensional, and when the author finally got to the catharsis, I really did not care...
Rating:
Summary: Don't even compare this person with Faulkner....
Review: I don't even dare call Franzen an author. The book was the most catostrophical waste of my time, ever. I'm not a Faulkner lover, but Faulkner won a Nobel Peace Prize because his work was imaginitive and insightful in a very complex and strange way. Most who do not like him simply cannot understand the symbolism and greater concepts in the work. I've read War and Peace twice--and loved it. I'm not an idiot; I'm a quiet well read person. I know an ignornant book when I read one. Please, don't waste your time on this sorry book....I'm sorry I did.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth It
Review: This book was a struggle to get through. While it does have some redeeming qualities, I found the book difficult to get through. If you're looking for a novel that you can't put down, this is not it. Nothing about the story or characters grabbed me. It seemed the author just wrote to see his words on page and the reader suffered the consequences.
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