The Corrections
The CorrectionsJonathan Franzen
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The Corrections (2001)

Jonathan Franzen

Others: Mixed

Like bookends of the past half century, the two generations of the Lambert family represent two very different aspects of America. Alfred, the patriarch, is a distant, puritanical company man; he is also slipping into Parkinson's-induced dementia. His wife, Enid, is a model Midwestern housewife, at once deferential and controlling. Their three children--Gary, an uptight banker, baffled by his own persistent unhappiness; Chip, and ex-professor now failing as a screenwriter; and Denise, and up-and-coming chief in a hot new restaurant--have little time for Enid and Alfred. But when Enid calls for one last Christmas at the family home, the trajectories of five American lifetimes converge. With this important, profoundly affecting work, Jonathan Franzen confirms his place in the top tier of American novelists. His unique blend of subversive humor and full-blooded realism makes The Corrections a grandly entertaining family saga.

ISBN:
9780007232444
Length:
576 pages

Genres: literary fiction

Lists: …

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Reviews2

Loved it

Even if you don't like Franzen I believe The Corrections is the novel you should read — it is one of the key texts of the 21st century. Franzen's black humor game is top notch in here, his characterization is amazing, and you get that moment at the end of this book... in which all of Franzen's reflection culminates in a moment of redemption.