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2011 Book Review #64: The Corrections
Title: The Corrections
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Genre: Literary fiction
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: Dysfunctional family tries to come home for one last Christmas.
Thoughts: Roller-coaster emotional ride here.
Not in the usual sense of "the characters get emotional whiplash, so I get it by proxy". No, the wildly changing emotions were not what I felt through the book, but how I felt about the book.
I initially liked the writing style. Franzen's prose is sharp, deeply insightful, and occasionally morbidly funny. But as I read, I started to truly, deeply hate the characters, all of whom seemed to me to be the most pathetic humans in existence, each trapped in a lonely, miserable hell of their own making. Everyone is terribly, deeply unhappy, and none of it is because of external factors. Or rather, the external factors are all directly because of their own choices. It's not like they're facing war or famine or natural disaster. Nearly all of their misfortunes are brought on by themselves, mostly through spectacularly bad choices of mates and then refusal to take responsibility for those mistakes.
Most of the family's problems stem from the patriarch, Alfred, a miserable, stiff-necked man with a ruthless sense of honor, an inability to express love in any form, and a driving philosophy that life is something to be suffered through. His wife, Enid, chose him to avoid her mother's poverty, and then takes out her loneliness and disappointment on everyone around her by alternately clinging and criticizing. The eldest son Gary tries so hard not to be his father that he ends up married to a manipulative harpy who forces him to do her bidding by abuse of pop psych terminology and phrasing everything for his own good. His brother Chip sleeps with a student and wrecks his academic career. Their sister Denise's craving for approval repeatedly torpedos her own talents.
By halfway through the book, I dreaded picking it up. It was actually leaving me depressed every time I walked away. But the writing was magnetic--once I started reading again, I couldn't put it down.
And then, gently, he begins to redeem them. Not everyone makes it--some refuse their own salvation. But somehow these caricatures of social criticism (beautifully drawn, but still caricatures) find small measures of grace. They put themselves back together as best they can. And in the end, I loved them for it. They were still deeply flawed, wounded people, but they were doing their best. And I'm astonished to find that I actually loved the book.
Of course, Frazen has doomed us all to quite a lot of horrific literary fiction in which the author manages the first half but can't pull off the transformation. (Great House, I'm looking at you.) Thanks.
This book takes patience. And I can't guarentee it will blossom for you, and if it doesn't, you'll just want to slit your wrists. Consider your own inclinations towards morbid overanalysis before you take the plunge. But if you've got any interest in the genre at all, this is a masterwork.
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Genre: Literary fiction
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: Dysfunctional family tries to come home for one last Christmas.
Thoughts: Roller-coaster emotional ride here.
Not in the usual sense of "the characters get emotional whiplash, so I get it by proxy". No, the wildly changing emotions were not what I felt through the book, but how I felt about the book.
I initially liked the writing style. Franzen's prose is sharp, deeply insightful, and occasionally morbidly funny. But as I read, I started to truly, deeply hate the characters, all of whom seemed to me to be the most pathetic humans in existence, each trapped in a lonely, miserable hell of their own making. Everyone is terribly, deeply unhappy, and none of it is because of external factors. Or rather, the external factors are all directly because of their own choices. It's not like they're facing war or famine or natural disaster. Nearly all of their misfortunes are brought on by themselves, mostly through spectacularly bad choices of mates and then refusal to take responsibility for those mistakes.
Most of the family's problems stem from the patriarch, Alfred, a miserable, stiff-necked man with a ruthless sense of honor, an inability to express love in any form, and a driving philosophy that life is something to be suffered through. His wife, Enid, chose him to avoid her mother's poverty, and then takes out her loneliness and disappointment on everyone around her by alternately clinging and criticizing. The eldest son Gary tries so hard not to be his father that he ends up married to a manipulative harpy who forces him to do her bidding by abuse of pop psych terminology and phrasing everything for his own good. His brother Chip sleeps with a student and wrecks his academic career. Their sister Denise's craving for approval repeatedly torpedos her own talents.
By halfway through the book, I dreaded picking it up. It was actually leaving me depressed every time I walked away. But the writing was magnetic--once I started reading again, I couldn't put it down.
And then, gently, he begins to redeem them. Not everyone makes it--some refuse their own salvation. But somehow these caricatures of social criticism (beautifully drawn, but still caricatures) find small measures of grace. They put themselves back together as best they can. And in the end, I loved them for it. They were still deeply flawed, wounded people, but they were doing their best. And I'm astonished to find that I actually loved the book.
Of course, Frazen has doomed us all to quite a lot of horrific literary fiction in which the author manages the first half but can't pull off the transformation. (Great House, I'm looking at you.) Thanks.
This book takes patience. And I can't guarentee it will blossom for you, and if it doesn't, you'll just want to slit your wrists. Consider your own inclinations towards morbid overanalysis before you take the plunge. But if you've got any interest in the genre at all, this is a masterwork.
no subject
This also might interest you: an infamous essay by Franzen's girlfriend, also a writer, who envied his success.
no subject
The copy I read was from the library, and was severely worn. (It was marked as such.) The first 50 pages were actually a chunk no longer connected to the book. Well loved book.