-
Welcome
to BookAndReader! We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!
Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.
Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections
- Thread starter TownBear
- Start date
bluewillow
New Member
I finished reading it a couple of days ago. It's a pretty good read, made me feel like I'm very much a normal functional human being compared to some of the characters in the book. It sort of makes you reflect back on your life and what you have or haven't acheived. In that sense I thought I may be a little young (27) to fully appreciate the story. It's sort of a sad story but at the same time uplifting (towards the very end), about aging parents and children who struggle to understand themselves, get their own lives up and running. I liked the book. It's a book to read when you have some time to think about what you've just read, it certainly isn't one of those books where you finish reading it and fling aside for the next!
Ell
Well-Known Member
Really had to dig to find this old thread. Hard to believe no one else has commented on The Corrections (other than in the movie casting thread).
Finished it yesterday afternoon and was still thinking about it when I went to bed. I found it a wonderful and satisfying read, fully deserving of the National Book Award. The characters were memorable and complex. I kept thinking that I've known people like this in one guise or another throughout my life.
I'd be interested in knowing whether Franzen has experienced his own parent's deterioration into dementia. His descriptions of Alfred in the latter stages of the book are spot on. One moment he was totally lucid, the next, his brain was mush.
This leads me to the point bluewillow made about thinking she might be too young (at 27) to fully appreciate the story. I have a feeling this might be true. Has anyone else read this? Did you like it and what age/stage of life are you at?
StillILearn, I know you loved this book. What do you think?
Finished it yesterday afternoon and was still thinking about it when I went to bed. I found it a wonderful and satisfying read, fully deserving of the National Book Award. The characters were memorable and complex. I kept thinking that I've known people like this in one guise or another throughout my life.
I'd be interested in knowing whether Franzen has experienced his own parent's deterioration into dementia. His descriptions of Alfred in the latter stages of the book are spot on. One moment he was totally lucid, the next, his brain was mush.
This leads me to the point bluewillow made about thinking she might be too young (at 27) to fully appreciate the story. I have a feeling this might be true. Has anyone else read this? Did you like it and what age/stage of life are you at?
StillILearn, I know you loved this book. What do you think?
novella
Active Member
Hi Ell,
I commented on The Corrections a while ago on one of those Intro threads or What Are You Reading, where it got lost in the shuffle.
I thought Franzen did a great job of capturing the minutae and psychology of everyday life. His character development was pretty good but a little sporadic. Gary was completely true, but, to me at least, Chip and his Eastern European adventure stretched credulity, when it seemed like most of the book tried to hard to sustain it.
Also, there is an almost Dickensian use of coincidence in the plotlines, which I didn't mind at all.
About how the novel relates to Franzen's own life, I saw him comment in an interview that the novel really put him on the outs with his family, which makes me think he was drawing heavily from life. The novel also has the feel of a pent-up first novel, rather than one of a series of novels by someone with loads more material. I know its not his first book, and it won't be his last, but it does have the feeling, to me, that it had a long gestation and a difficult birth.
I commented on The Corrections a while ago on one of those Intro threads or What Are You Reading, where it got lost in the shuffle.
I thought Franzen did a great job of capturing the minutae and psychology of everyday life. His character development was pretty good but a little sporadic. Gary was completely true, but, to me at least, Chip and his Eastern European adventure stretched credulity, when it seemed like most of the book tried to hard to sustain it.
Also, there is an almost Dickensian use of coincidence in the plotlines, which I didn't mind at all.
About how the novel relates to Franzen's own life, I saw him comment in an interview that the novel really put him on the outs with his family, which makes me think he was drawing heavily from life. The novel also has the feel of a pent-up first novel, rather than one of a series of novels by someone with loads more material. I know its not his first book, and it won't be his last, but it does have the feeling, to me, that it had a long gestation and a difficult birth.
StillILearn
New Member
I'm so glad to see that somebody else is interested in discussing this book.
I should point out that I'm a native Californian, so it may not surprise you to hear that I easily recognized each and every one of Franzen's characters as people whom I know and love. I actually identified with more than one of them.
I heartily agree with Ell when she writes: " ... which makes me think he was drawing heavily from life. The novel also has the feel of a pent-up first novel, rather than one of a series of novels by someone with loads more material. I know its not his first book, and it won't be his last, but it does have the feeling, to me, that it had a long gestation and a difficult birth."
(How do you all manage to do that indented quote thing here?)
After finishing it, I went looking for more books by Franzen, and found "How to be Alone", a collection of essays in which he talks about "The Corrections".
I guess I was reading "with the grain" when it came to this book; Franzen had me completely in his clutches the whole time. Well, both times. (I've read it twice now.)
I can hardly wait for his next book. I hope it doesn't take another ten years for him to write it .
I should point out that I'm a native Californian, so it may not surprise you to hear that I easily recognized each and every one of Franzen's characters as people whom I know and love. I actually identified with more than one of them.
I heartily agree with Ell when she writes: " ... which makes me think he was drawing heavily from life. The novel also has the feel of a pent-up first novel, rather than one of a series of novels by someone with loads more material. I know its not his first book, and it won't be his last, but it does have the feeling, to me, that it had a long gestation and a difficult birth."
(How do you all manage to do that indented quote thing here?)
After finishing it, I went looking for more books by Franzen, and found "How to be Alone", a collection of essays in which he talks about "The Corrections".
I guess I was reading "with the grain" when it came to this book; Franzen had me completely in his clutches the whole time. Well, both times. (I've read it twice now.)
I can hardly wait for his next book. I hope it doesn't take another ten years for him to write it .
novella
Active Member
StillILearn said:I heartily agree with Ell when she writes: " ... which makes me think he was drawing heavily from life. The novel also has the feel of a pent-up first novel, rather than one of a series of novels by someone with loads more material. I know its not his first book, and it won't be his last, but it does have the feeling, to me, that it had a long gestation and a difficult birth."
(How do you all manage to do that indented quote thing here?)
Not to be picky, but think you're quoting me (novella) there.
To quote someone, instead of hitting "Post Reply", hit the "Quote" button at the bottom right of the post you want to quote. This will quote the entire post, but you can then take out what you don't want to quote. Just don't take out the HTML tags, which are in square brackets.
I, too, found many of the characters familiar. But instead of feeling like stereotypes, they had enough complexity and introspection--even a haunting loneliness and desperation in some cases--to be alternately sympathetic and repulsive.
StillILearn
New Member
novella said:
When I say "known and loved", it doesn't mean that I wasn't often vastly annoyed by their behavior -- although they managed to make me hoot with laughter, too.
Who was your favorite? I think I liked Denise best.
Ell
Well-Known Member
I felt the same way about Chip's adventures in Lithuania. I could see him doing something crazy, but the internet/mafia/money scam was a bit over the top. However, I thought Franzen did a great job of capturing the personalities of Enid and Alfred and their mis-matched, yet long-term marriage. Trust me, I know people like this!novella said:
Yes, now that you mention it, there does seem to be an "I've got to get all this out, now" feel to it, but not at all in a bad way. I think the reader benefits from this kind of catharsis.
I did like Denise's forthrightness, even when she was in complete denial about her relationships. I don't know that I had one favourite. They all had aspects to their personalities that I loved and hated in almost equal measure. The person I related to quite strongly was not one of the major characters, but the woman Enid met on the cruise whose daughter had been murdered.StillILearn said:
StillILearn
New Member
I had forgotten all about the woman on the cruise ship. She was very well-written, too.
What was your reaction when you "saw" Alfred falling into the sea? I was thoroughly sick and tired of him by that time, and was a bit sorry to see him survive his swim. (I'm positive that was Franzen's intention.)
What was Enid's phrase for that little adventure of Alfreds? When she was writing her Christmas cards?
What was your reaction when you "saw" Alfred falling into the sea? I was thoroughly sick and tired of him by that time, and was a bit sorry to see him survive his swim. (I'm positive that was Franzen's intention.)
What was Enid's phrase for that little adventure of Alfreds? When she was writing her Christmas cards?
Ronny
Well-Known Member
I just finished last night and I really liked it, too. As mentioned above the characters and their stories did feel real. They were very familiar and I could identify well with them, especially the kids dealing with how & how much to care for their parents. There were several parts between Denise and Alfred that were so very close to my own experiences. I don't know which character I liked best but I do know which one I liked the least and that was Gary's wife, she seemed to manipulate her family too much and I just hated the way she worked the kids.
Ell
Well-Known Member
Ronny, I saw that you were reading this and wondered what you'd think. It's a book that I mean to re-read. (I originally got it out from the library to read, but bought it as soon as I saw it on the "clearance" table at Chapters).
I agree about Gary's wife. She seemed like the type who makes everything in life about herself. We all know people like her.
I see you're reading Fall On Your Knees, now. If you thought the family in Corrections was dysfunctional . . . !
I agree about Gary's wife. She seemed like the type who makes everything in life about herself. We all know people like her.
I see you're reading Fall On Your Knees, now. If you thought the family in Corrections was dysfunctional . . . !
Ronny
Well-Known Member
Yes, Enid brought the most chuckles from me, her and the doctor on the ship or when she was waiting for Chip to arrive, the things she told her friends about her kids. I do think she was a typical mother figure in many ways, though amplified to comic proportions.
P.S. Ell it's always nice to see you. I was starting to notice that, I had heard how good the book was but not what it was about.
P.S. Ell it's always nice to see you. I was starting to notice that
, I had heard how good the book was but not what it was about.
753C
Active Member
So I read the Times aticle on Johnathon Franzen in a hospital waiting room and got interested. I had never heard of Franzen before, but based on the critical acclaim that was heaped on The Corrections, and a recommendation from a friend who compared Franzen's writing to Richard Ford (My favorite writer), I went and checked it out from the library. Just got around to finishing it and am left with mixed feelings.
I don't think i've ever read anything that gave such a sense that the author was writing from a huge stockpile of personal experiences. I appreciated the depth of the characters and their was something that felt very honest about their portrayal. The goods and bads and in betweens of humanity, blah, blah, blah. But...... they were just so darn unlikeable with the possible exception of Chip, who, despite his hedonistic pursuits and inefectuality provided the much needed comic relief for an otherwise desparately bleak story. While I agree that the whole Lithuanian storyline seemed a little bit contrived I enjoyed it more than any of the others. At least here you see a transformation of sorts. You could see a person living through events and those events having an effect on him, while the rest of the novel seemed to be focused on the unchangeability and rigidity of the other characters. Gary, Alfred and Enid in particular.
So anyway, I liked the book but wasn't nearly as impressed with it as I thought I might be when I started. The writing was impressive but the story just didn't have much impact on me.
I don't think i've ever read anything that gave such a sense that the author was writing from a huge stockpile of personal experiences. I appreciated the depth of the characters and their was something that felt very honest about their portrayal. The goods and bads and in betweens of humanity, blah, blah, blah. But...... they were just so darn unlikeable with the possible exception of Chip, who, despite his hedonistic pursuits and inefectuality provided the much needed comic relief for an otherwise desparately bleak story. While I agree that the whole Lithuanian storyline seemed a little bit contrived I enjoyed it more than any of the others. At least here you see a transformation of sorts. You could see a person living through events and those events having an effect on him, while the rest of the novel seemed to be focused on the unchangeability and rigidity of the other characters. Gary, Alfred and Enid in particular.
So anyway, I liked the book but wasn't nearly as impressed with it as I thought I might be when I started. The writing was impressive but the story just didn't have much impact on me.