The Corrections (2001)

An acerbic look at American society through the eyes of three flawed, yet likable protagonist siblings. ( )

"What you discover about yourself in raising children wasn't always agreeable or attractive."

"The Corrections" is centred on one family, the Lamberts. Franzen begins with a portrait of an aging couple, Alfred and Enid, in a malaise of retirement. Alfred, the former chief engineer for the Midland Pacific railroad believes a man's worth is judged by him doing 'socially useful' work, has Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Enid, his long-suffering wife, wants her three adult children, professionals living on the East Coast, to come back home to the Midwest for one last family Christmas.

The novel has no real plot, instead its a dark satirical social commentary on the decline of America's heavy industrial past (the so-called Rust Belt) as it is replaced by a hi-tech and service based economy. The reader is also given a glimpse of an Eastern European country struggling to comes to terms with a new Western free-market driven economic model.

Franzen is obviously a keen observer of the detritus of everyday family life and in his writing shows a certain humanity towards his characters even when he is having fun at their expense. Franzen’s insight into his female characters' character is impressive. He nicely portrays both the generational and geographic fractures in American society at the end of the 20th century, the two generations of the Lambert family come to contrast Midwestern with East Coast values.

There are passages which if they didn't actually make me laugh did at least make me smile which is always a good point. However, I still managed to find it really hard to like any of the characters, they all seemed to think that sex equated with love which got a little monotonous at times. After Alfred dies Enid doesn't mourn his passing instead she sees it as an opportunity for self-change making for a realistic rather than a flowery ending.

Of late many of the American authors that I've read seem to feel that quantity equates to quality. My copy of this novel was over 650 pages long and I believe that some prudent editing could have made it even more memorable. Good but no cigar. ( )

The ending is darkly realistic. Alfred dies but Enid is not grieving. Instead, she is looking forward to life. Time is short because she is already 75. Seems cruel but that is life. And I think most of the readers will support her. That is the success of Franzen. He makes the characters alive and real. He spends a lot of time dwelling on them, sometimes too much (like Alfred's turd episode). But this gives them well-rounded personalities. You don't hate even the worst of them like Gary and Caroline. You probably wish you can give Gary a tight slap, especially when he spoils their Christmas dinner, but he does have his parents' best interests at heart. And we find that Alfred has his children's interests at heart too. Alfred left his company on the brink of retirement for Denise's sake, and he did not even chastise her for her dalliance with a much older man, only telling her in his demented state to have fun but be careful. This was such a touching moment I cried buckets. Enid had her moment too when she decided to unfriend Bea because of the latter's views on lesbianism (parents do know their children best). There were hilarious moments too. For example, Chip hiding the salmon in his pants, and only the readers know the unconventional route the salmon took. I must also make mention of the dialogue, which is a delight. Real, and not stilted. ( )

Jonathan Franzen is an expert at creating characters, but I didn’t get into this book as much as the other two of his which I have read. The story of Enid, Alfred and their 3 adult children. ( )

I absolutely loved this book! It's about a dysfunctional family making the transition from 50s-era-boomer to a messy-modernity (the tale of modern America). The premise is that the Dad has Parkinson's and the Mom wants all her grown children to gather for one last good Christmas together. Each of the 5 family members get their own long chapter and each is painted so well that by the time they all come together you feel like you're a family member too.

The writing is so horribly darkly hilarious. The story itself is dark, sad, sometimes funny, and redemptive. If you want a nice happy ending where everyone hugs and cries together this is not the book for you. It's long and there's some raw, rough bits. And the Dad, he has Parkinson's, so that part is pretty bleak.


I thought it was really interesting that the family basically moves beyond Dad. They don't really forgive him they just keep growing and moving on while he dies alone and sad like 1950s America. ( )