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Title: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, Dylan Baker ISBN: 0-7435-0999-4 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: September, 2001 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.02 (864 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Read It; Don't Be Put Off By The Hype
Comment: "The Corrections" has been delivered with a blizzard of media hype than can be off-putting to the very readers the publishers want to reach (people starved for serious, readable, intelligent fiction.) But you really should get ahold of this excellent novel. I devoured it in one night's frenzied reading. Yes indeed, Franzen has taken the somewhat inaccessible avant-garde concerns of writers like Don DeLillo or the David Foster Wallace of "Infinite Jest" and placed them in the context of a mainstream novel about *family* and how it prepares you to function (or not) in the larger world. Franzen manages to create a little universe that mirrors our own crazy world, yet makes the madness more comprehensible. He is devilishly funny, in a laugh-out-loud sort of way, yet his message is ultimately one of forgiveness and reconciliation. The Lamberts, the screwed-up family at the heart of the story, have the feeling of real people you know. That are unique, unforgettable individuals, but you may squirm when the self-destructive ways of Gary, Chip or Denise remind you of the stupid mistakes you have made in your own life. Alfred and Enid, the mom and dad, will make you shake your head; when did Franzen meet *my* parents? The book becomes genuinely suspenseful as Enid struggles to get her wayward children home for "one last Christmas" before Alfred's decline becomes irrevocable. And don't let Franzen's bad-mouthing of Oprah deter you from reading this. Ironically, his comments are just the sort of thing one of the Lambert kids would say in order to sabotage themselves. It just proves Franzen really does know what he's talking about.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Modern-Day "Brothers Karamazov"
Comment: Much like Ben Jonjak's recent, brilliant novel "Glorious Failure," "The Corrections" aspires to litearary greatness. This is the heart-wrenching story of a family torn apart by the ravages of modern times, which yet, find a way to share tender moments in a satisfying Christmas reunion. Although "The Corrections" lacks the intense social dialogue of Dostoevsky or Jonjak, it is a fullfilling effort and, if the weight of the other two is too great, a far more readable effort.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Strange Book
Comment: If this is an example of post-modernism, call me unimpressed. The characters are far from likeable or memorable, though I would say they are extremely recognizable and realistic. I just don't care about them.
I would characterize this as the first great novel of ideas for the new millenium, but that doesn't make it likeable. Sure, there's plenty to chew on, but frankly, just because it's good for me, doesn't make me like it. Reading this is a bit like eating liver and onions. Some people are going to love it, just as many will want to light it and sling-shot it from the roof of a high rise.
For me, it was enjoyable in patches. I liked the interaction of the professor and his student mistress, for instance. But just as many patches made me suffer. Like the Internet economy subplot, which bored me to distraction. Franzen is definitely capable of sustaining an entertaining scene, I just think he considers himself above writing a story for the sake of entertaining his readers. He's determined to EDUCATE you through GREAT LITERATURE, whether you like it or not. And his method of choice is satire, though it's not always apparent.
What about the prose? Erratic is the best descriptor. Here are a couple of pretensious examples of what you are likely to run into at times: "The time was that malignant fiveishness to which the flu sufferer awakens after late-afternoon fever dreams. A time shortly after five which was a mockery of five." Like that, did you? How about this: "Puffing frost through O-shaped mouth holes with their weirdly decontexualized lips, they tested the flexure of his left boot's sole." Still on the fence? Try this one: "It was a testament to the insulatory effectiveness of political boundaries that power didn't simply arc across the gap between such divergent econimic voltages."
Oh, yeah, there's plenty of that kind of stuff. The problem is you can't always tell if Franzen is lampooning his characters by having them think and speak those ridiculous ideas or if he thinks those are examples of powerful prose. I'm hoping it's the former, otherwise, I don't have much respect for him as a writer.
Bottom line: buy "The Corrections" at your own risk. Here's a better recommendation: Check it out of the library, read the first couple of chapters, then decide if you want to buy it, because you're likely to run out of renewals before you finish all 566 pages. Or you might consider looking for it in a used bookstore or thrift store, though I doubt you can find it there for another few years yet.
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Title: Middlesex : A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides ISBN: 0312422156 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: How to Be Alone: Essays by Jonathan Franzen ISBN: 0312422164 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon ISBN: 0312282990 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 25 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Atonement : A Novel by IAN MCEWAN ISBN: 038572179X Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Empire Falls by Richard Russo ISBN: 0375726403 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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