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Title: The Corrections (Oprah Edition) by Jonathan Franzen ISBN: 0374100128 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 24 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3
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: 4
Summary: big,ambitious, serious, and very good
Comment: I was deeply moved by this novel. It is about how a family deals with growing old and growing up, with all the tics of suburban despair, marriage wars, failed careers, and confused sexuality. In other words, it is a modern and realistic novel written in the broad-brush approaches of Balzac and Tolstoy; individuals as well as the broader society are portrayed.
WHile I have met people who disliked all the book's protagonists as they made bad decisions and hurt a lot inside, I liked virtually all of them. They are painfully believable and sad in their isolation, which the omniscent narrator presents in a wonderful, shifting perspective that moves backwards and forwards in time and comes to rest on crucial moments of consequence and change.
I think that many readers from similar backgrounds will find a lot of themselves in this book and will empathise with the characters. They also grow and evolve in realistic ways through the course of the novel, as their roles shift within the family equilibrium. There are also many funny scenes, however bitter sweet, that can be read on many levels.
In terms of my personal preferences, I was happy to observe that this novel does not get into the dreamy "surrealism lite" that many popular American novelists indulge in to excess, such as Don Delillo. It is very realistic throughout, even if some of it appears exagerated at times.
It is also beautifully written, indeed superbly. In addition, while dealing with a lot of sex, the author masterfully treads the fine line of description and titillation without ever venturing into pure pornography. I found that refreshing.
THere are flaws in the book. SOme of the descriptions, as critics noted, are strangely clinical or scientific. There are too many incidents packed into detailed scenes, which can overburden the plot while seeking to advance it.
Nonetheless, this novel is achingly close to being truly first rate and I can only anticipate better novels from this talented writer in the future.
Warmly recommended.
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Title: The Lovely Bones: A Novel by Alice Sebold ISBN: 0316666343 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan ISBN: 0385503954 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 12 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Empire Falls by Richard Russo ISBN: 0375726403 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Nanny Diaries: A Novel by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus ISBN: 0312278586 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Bel Canto: A Novel by Ann Patchett ISBN: 0060934417 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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