Book Review: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

Synopsis: A dysfunctional family tries to get together for one last Christmas before their father loses his mind.

My first thought when I was less than halfway (probably less than quarter-way) through this was, "I am so glad I'm not a WASP." Then it was, "Holy hell! Do people actually treat each other like this? Am I so sheltered?"

I have heard people call my family dysfunctional. Growing up, we resembled the show Malcolm in the Middle (Incidentally, I was Dewey, the youngest before they underwent an add-a-kid because no one was watching anymore). So I don't think I have a rosy-colored image of utopian, idyllic family life. But my goodness, the characters in this book are so miserable to each other. If it wasn't a National Book Award winner, I probably wouldn't have gotten all the way through it.

It's not that it was poorly written (quite the contrary). If it was poorly written, there's no way I would have gotten through it. One of the things that one needs to think about when writing if one wants lots of people to actually read the book (not commonly a concern in lit fic--which reminds me that I still need to write my lit fic post...) is whether the reader is going to want to spend so much time with these characters. And I really didn't want to spend any time with these people. Especially Greg's family.

Have you ever been out with a couple (or had them over), and they start arguing and nipping at each other? You know that uncomfortable feeling of just wanting to get out? Yeah, that's what reading The Corrections is like.

The book is probably twice as long as it really should be. (yes, I know I'm an unpublished writer criticizing a NBA winner.) A lot of time is spent with flashbacks, presumably to give us background on the current situation, but a paragraph or two would have been as effective as the dozens of pages Franzen used.

As in my synopsis, the plot revolves around getting together for Christmas. Once they finally do, the story really picks up. It's obvious the publisher felt the same since the back cover copy specifically mentions that the end pulls everything together. I'll admit, I really liked most of the ending. Chip has such a wonderful arc. Watching his redemption, I felt pressure building behind my eyes. I don't cry much, so for me, that's the equivalent of weeping.

Then we get the point of view of Alfred finding himself at the end of his life and abandoned. We get to see how everything he did, everything that his wife hates him for, he did for his children, and they don't even know. He is so tragic. It's beautiful. I really connected to him there. I wish Franzen ended the book here.

Instead, he ends with Enid. We learn that she's learned to be more liberal and love life more once she got rid of Alfred. She criticizes no one. Except Alfred, toward whom she's just horrific. And she has a great relief and awakening when Alfred dies. That totally left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Franzen made me relate to Alfred and ends the book by returning to bashing him. At that point, he's bashing me.

The ending really helped the book, but it was too little, too late. Perhaps if we didn't have the final Enid POV, it would have worked for me.

One more thing...What's with literary fiction and sex? I read lots of genre fiction (admittedly not romance or erotica), but I have never encountered as much graphic and ultimately gratuitous sex as I have in literary. I don't mind sex in stories, but it should actually help the plot. It should be important both in presence and level of detail. I'll go into this more whenever I get around to my fabled literary post.