The Corrections

A Novel

By: Jonathan Franzen

Narrated by: George Guidall

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 specatcularly 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.

Another strange but likable book from Franzen

Second book I listened to by this author. He has a lot of observations and definite opinions on certain issues i.e., religion, politics, sex, the environment, etc. His characters have a lot of depth. I like the fact that he is such an observant writer in the sense that he really gets into detail with the characters, and also includes a variety of topics and kind of goes off into tangents and works them into the story. Feel he is getting his opinions out there through his books; different from most authors that just want to tell a story. Bottom line would recommend reading to see if you like his style. His other book I read was Freedom.

Couldn't decide 3 or 4 stars?

For this book I wish I could rate it 3.75, it was definitely better than a 3 but really not quite a 4. The characters are really well developed and Franzen's writing style is very detailed and so vivid (unbelievable descriptions of what it must be like to have Parkinson's disease) - you definitely get the picture he has painted with words, but sometimes he just goes on too long, the detail and description is just too much. I like a good book that doesn't waste my time with tedious, unrelated to the story, details. For me that is what stops this book from being a 4.

Family dysfunction writ large and funny too!

Midwestern baby boom family lovingly deconstructed Pathos and truth shine from large cast of caricatures acting within engrossing interwoven subplots. Plenty of laughs too. Great read.

Exquisitely excruciating farce.

This is an excellent story read magnificently by George Guidall. Mr. Franzen's unique descriptions of objects and emotions alone make this listen worthwhile.

Wonderful Performance

Guidall's narration brought the book to life for me. He's one of my favorite narrators.