The Corrections

By: Jonathan Franzen

Narrated by: Dylan Baker

The Corrections is a grandly entertaining novel for the new century -- a comic, tragic masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost fifty years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. The oldest, Gary, a once-stable portfolio manager and family man, is trying to convince his wife and himself, despite clear signs to the contrary, that he is not clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has lost his seemingly secure academic job and is failing spectacularly at his new line of work. And Denise, the youngest, has escaped a disastrous marriage only to pour her youth and beauty down the drain on an affair with a married man -- or so her mother fears. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
Stretching from the Midwest at midcentury to the Wall Street and Eastern Europe of today, The Corrections brings an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions into violent collision with the era of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed. Richly realistic, darkly hilarious, deeply humane, it confirms Jonathan Franzen as one of our most brilliant interpreters of American society and the American soul.©2001 Jonathan Franzen; (P)2001 Simon & Schuster Inc.; AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

Pat Conroy Jonathan Franzen's novel The Corrections is the brightest, boldest, and most ambitious novel I've read in many years.

Almost ...

This was one of the most skillfully done abridgments I've come across - no sense at all that vital material was being left out. Unfortunately the narration was only adequate. Some of the voices were good, others not quite there. As has been pointed out, this is a depressing book, but there are passages of astounding literary brilliance. Often made me think of Roth and Bellow.

Great narration !

I'm glad I lisetened to the abridged version of this book. Even at this length, there was a lot of wandering prose. The author was definitely working to write "literary" with a Capitol L. Somewhere in all the words there is a maddeningly dysfunctional family that is sympathetic in spite of their mistakes and transgretions. And, there LOL moments, too. All of this is read with absolute clarity and conviction. GREAT narration by Dylan Baker.

I L-O-V-E this book!

Coming from a completely dysfunctional family myself it was so refreshing to read this book. There was no pat ending, no great epiphany that suddenly made all the characters become different people, no redemption, and no deliverance. Just a bunch a crazy people (and aren't we all) trying to wrench a little fun and a little excitement from their lives before they die. Its wonderful and funny and sad and very realistic. I thought it was terrific. I wish audible was set up for recomendations, i.e. if you enjoyed X, you might also enjoy Y. I would love something else along these same lines.

Squeezing the fun out of disfunctional

Would you listen to The Corrections again? Why?

YES! The topics/situations are real to me and so much like how life happens.

What other book might you compare The Corrections to and why?

Freedom; another Franzen work about a disfunctinal family

Which scene was your favorite?

Chip's break up while greeting/entertaining his parents...................

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Mostly it made me remember and think, and anticipate, hoping for the best as each situation unfolded

An interesting book with interesting people.....

But hey, I enjoy reading about messed up folks who only get their head above water long enough to choke down some sea weed. If you like this book go read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk....There's some interestingly neurotic characters in his books as well. The entertainment value of some people's daily struggle is highly under-rated.