The Corrections

A Novel

By: Jonathan Franzen

Narrated by: George Guidall

National Book Award, Fiction, 2001

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 50 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.

©2010 Jonathan Franzen (P)2010 Simon and Schuster

ABRIDGED is BETTER and 12 hours shorter

Usually the unabridged version of any book is the best one- -however, after listening to the abridged version of this book, which was 9 hours long, I saw there was a new unabridged version. Of course I thought I had missed a ton of material since the unabridged book is 12 hours longer - so I listened to the unabridged version, which was 21 hours long - I've got to say the additional 12 hours did not add much substance to the book. There was some value in that explanations of some of the events were more understandable, but overall it really was not worth it. Both versions are good, but I would recommend the abridged -it gets you there without all the "fillers"-

The book is a masterpiece of the understanding of human emotions, but also of all the secret motivations that drive our daily lives- -we all have our own agenda's- I applaud the author on his incredible insight.into the human heart and his ability to translate those feelings with such skill.

By the way, the narrator of the Abridged Version is the very best to listen to- he hits the perfect mark everytime on all characters and just the right pauses and tempo!

wow

funny, annoying, sad
I'm 10 years late to the party but will always be glad I came. This story creates a scenario where the pressures of adult life are squeezed by the reponsibility of aging parents . . . and poor/selfish choices.

The characters are infuriatingly flawed at times but it adds to their realism. At times I hated them and was shocked by their selfishness, but who is to say that a close review of our own lives wouldn't evoke similar annoyance or disgust in others. We are all flawed and these characters are too.

The reader's voicing of the declining Alfred was spot on.

I'm off to explore more Franzen.

Okay, here's a first.

I was not able to finish this book, bailing out after about 15 hours of putting up with the grim and hapless characters. But here's the thing. The writing is so good that I give the book five stars. I expect some day I will return to the book just to wallow in the words. Others have suggested that the abridged version would be preferable for this book, and I can understand why someone would write that.

Interesting

I didn't really care for the beginning of this book, but ended up really liking it. I thought it was well written and perfectly narrated.

Excellent Book.

Where does The Corrections rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Number 1. Guidall the narrator is just amazing here and really changed my perception of what it is possible to do in an audiobook.

What other book might you compare The Corrections to and why?

I've read little directly comparable to this. I will say many of the themes took me to Camus and 'The Outsider' whilst the chaotic element and humor felt not totally disimilar to the work of Terry Pratchett.

Which scene was your favorite?

The buisness model of the Lithuainian ex-politician was thouroughly amusing. The experiances of Denise as a young adult, enjoyabley upsetting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Chiefly those regarding Gary and his father Albert. Depression takes many forms and this book illuminates a particular kind of thought associated with that nasty condition and how it is dealt with in these two individuals. It was under the bench.

Any additional comments?

I'm off to look for more Audiobooks by Guidall.

All about the human condition

There's Alfred, the cranky, deteriorating curmudgeon. There's Enid, his anxious wife. There's Gary, the shallow and materialistic oldest son who is a banker. There is Chip, who wants to be a lot of things and fails miserably at them all, but most of all at being hip. There's Denise, who is maybe the most likeable of all the siblings, or better put, the least detestable, who finds success and then loses it, through her own form of self-centeredness.

If all the main characters are self-obsessed jerks, why did I like this book so much? Because the writing is brilliantly funny, capturing the human condition in all its ugly glory. I hated this family, and yet saw myself in every character - somehow coming face-to-face with the less appealing parts of myself in a roaringly funny kind of way - and while I didn't necessarily forgive the characters, I did take a tiny step toward forgiving myself.

George Guidall does a fabulous narration, bringing each character to life.

Hauntingly honest illustration of the human psyche and interpersonal relationships.

Although at times, hard to swallow, this book was beautifully written. It forces the reader to confront the uncomfortable thoughts that one chooses to deny. Feanzen’s descriptions felt both fresh and dark.

Brilliant!

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book made up if so many flawed and often despicable characters. The writing is truly brilliant and the voice over actor, who was wonderful, only enhanced it. It reminded me a lot of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, another one of my favorite books.

Great American Novel

This is it, well okay, read to me by Geo Guidall.
OMG, so wickedly funny, so America. So layered - just read or listen. You’ll see.

Brilliant

The guy who reads this is just incredible — one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever heard and a brilliant novel to boot. One of the finest works of the new millennium.