Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections

[Veva]

Hi,
I am currently reading Franzen's The Corrections... has anyone here read it? Was it good according to you? Because it too much reminds me of something I have read long time ago {can't remember what it was}, I have some sort of deja-vu in here...
thanx;)

[sixsmith]

One of my favourite books. The character's are so well realised and so fantastically neurotic.

[wateredwhisky]

I love the scene where the father ****s his pants on the cruise ship, I can safely say that there were lawls to be had as I read it.

[country doctor]

the doc finished 'the corrections' this morning...some redemption in the end, but what you have here general lit chatters is one effed up middle class family...

bourgeois american families tend to get that way...

if you want the fabric and unpretentious america, general lit chatters you gotta look at the working class...

[cacian]

Hi I have been looking to see if I could get into it however before I would I would like to ask few questions if I may.
what does the title mean?
or
how does it link to the story?
and
what does
repressed Midwestern family
mean?
Sometimes I like to get an idea of what I am going to read in case I get halfway and get disappointed.

I noticed there is 'dementia' and Parkinson's disease topics going in the books and lots nuances of failures and unsecurities going in the story.
It is written in the 90s does that mean this era is linked to these human conditions?
My last question is
what did you take from the story?

[dfloyd]

De Lilo, Philip Roth, now Franzen are just not for me. I would rather read classics than wste my time on these.

[chrisvia]

Hi I have been looking to see if I could get into it however before I would I would like to ask few questions if I may.
what does the title mean?

It has a literal and figurative meaning. The literal meaning is that one of the main characters, the younger son whose name I can't recall, is working on some corrections to a draft of a novel or a screenplay or something (it's been a while since I've read it). The figurative meaning will become apparent during the course of reading it.

I remember really enjoying this one, though I did like Freedom much better. The Corrections caught me off guard with it's vivid depictions of the characters. I loved that Franzen took time to develop each of the family members and their interpersonal dynamics. The commentary on the state of academic humanities in the first part of the novel was very interesting.

After reading Corrections, I picked up Franzen's ss anthology How to Be Alone, which contains his famous essay "Why Bother?" Very interesting read, though it did give me the impression of Franzen as a prima donna, desperately wanting praise for his lifestyle as a reader. I felt like saying, "Dude, relax, you're not the only one who loves to read all day and hates television." But, then again, I can't help but respect honesty and transparency.

[country doctor]

great...the doc picked up both 'the corrections' and 'freedom' at a library book sale for a couple of bucks...the former is a good read, but it's definitely a story of what happens when the middle class housewife can't muster up the courage to get a divorce...here you get the consequences...

in that regard, it's a familiar tale from middle class america circa 60-70's...

the doc knows a few families (basically the kids...) that have paid the price for mom and dad staying together instead of getting the big D...

anyways, the doc will get to 'freedom' later...glad he will have read them in the order they were written...

ROAR!

[Jack of Hearts]

Had tickets to watch Franzen give a talk not too long ago. Fell asleep, though, and didn't go- previewed the novel's first few pages and didn't feel particularly inspired to keep reading.







J

[chrisvia]

Had tickets to watch Franzen give a talk not too long ago. Fell asleep, though, and didn't go- previewed the novel's first few pages and didn't feel particularly inspired to keep reading.

I read this quickly and thought,yeah, everyone falls asleep when Franzen's talks!

[Mutie]

I am just reading this novel right now and have nearly finished.

(first, I apologise if this thread is too old to bump, I'm not sure of the rules on that)

spoilers -

The saddest part for me so far, is when Enid had to go to the Christmas land without the grandkid, and just one grown up son. I found her annoying and clingy till then, but at that point I felt so sad for her and thought, it was so important could the kid have not just gone. Especially sad that she tried to enjoy it anyway.

PS, I am wondering, Chips adventures in East Europe, are they meant to be like, teaching him how foolish/naive he was for being socialist and how he should have appreciated US capitalism more? That is how I am interpreting it right now.

Loved the poop man that represented all that was wrong in the world.



what does
repressed Midwestern family
mean?


I have never been to USA so do not know about midwest, but I strongly related to the family in the book. I think it means, over private, not comfortable with sharing feelings and being honest, not able to talk about problems openly, sort of. Keeping things that need to be said quiet, too awkward.