The Corrections
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I have once again read a book about sibling relationships. Since I doubt that my siblings read these reviews (shade), I can talk freely. I love my siblings with a unique love that’s tied to loyalty. As I mentioned in my review of Malibu Rising, I take my role as eldest sibling very seriously and sometimes this role either blinds me to or overly emphasizes aspects of my siblings’ personalities that I don’t like. So, it was interesting to read the perspectives of each sibling in this story (Gary, Chip, and Denise) and how they viewed each other. Any author who can create truly distinct characters with different voices and desires is talented in my book, and Jonathan Franzen not only creates those discrete characters, but interweaves their perspectives quite well.
That being said, there were certain perspectives that I found borrrrring. Alfred, the father of the family, is a theoretically empathy-inducing character, as he’s suffering from Parkinson’s, depression, and dementia in his old age. Unfortunately, he also suffers from being a little bitch. I thought he was insufferable, and the flashbacks to his younger years were a snoozefest. In general, my interest waned with time and place. Chip’s time in New York and the flashbacks to his teaching days were very entertaining, but I wanted to skim through his time in Lithuania. Etc.
Aside from Franzen’s impressive ability to create so many voices and have them all clearly heard, he is thorough in his writing in a way reminiscent of the king, David Foster Wallace. Instead of using footnotes, Franzen packs precise detail, clever quips, and psychological nuance into the prose itself. I am always in awe of this kind of fast-paced, densely packed writing. Still, I came away from the book feeling a little yucky. Everyone in the story is miserable in their own way, and while I def don’t need a happy ending to feel satisfied with a book (in fact, I prefer a spicy ending like you’d find from Roald Dahl), I felt like the ending here was a bit lackluster and I was disappointed that, for all its thoroughness, plenty of ties remained loose. Perhaps too many sub-plots. So, overall, The Corrections receives 4 out of 5 flames. This is my first introduction to Franzen and it certainly won’t be the last.
