Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Corrections: A Novel
The Corrections: A Novel
The Corrections: A Novel
Audiobook21 hours

The Corrections: A Novel

Written by Jonathan Franzen

Narrated by George Guidall

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

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 fifty 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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 1, 2010
ISBN9781442341753
The Corrections: A Novel
Author

Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen’s work includes four novels (The Twenty-Seventh City, Strong Motion, The Corrections, Freedom), two collections of essays (Farther Away, How To Be Alone), a memoir (The Discomfort Zone), and, most recently, The Kraus Project. He is recognised as one of the best American writers of our age and has won many awards. He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California.

More audiobooks from Jonathan Franzen

Related to The Corrections

Related audiobooks

Literary Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Corrections

Rating: 3.866171003717472 out of 5 stars
4/5

269 ratings188 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book, like others that I've read, was pretty heavily hyped by the media and airport bookstores and amazon.com. However, unlike some others that I've read, I understand why this one so attracted people. Alternately painful and painfully funny, over-the-top and real at the same time, an interesting writing style that does take some getting used to but flows wonderfully well once you're inside. Everyone in this book is neurotic, or depressed, or crazy, and you don't really like any of them even as you sympathize with all of them, and even those smaller parts who seem relatively "normal" seem all the weirder for their normalness, like if you spent more time with them, they'd let slip that they're just as crazy about everyone else... and you shake your head and thank goodness that you're not like that, but then you look at it, and you are - everyone is - and that's the point, I think. There were some elements and recurring non-plot details that kept coming up that seemed somewhat random, and it was occasionally kind of hard to follow where the story was going after the author took a sharp left, but I enjoyed it, and enjoyed it for being a different sort of book than I've been reading.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love a novel that I can't decide if I love or hate. They usually end up amongst my favourites. With Franzen, I knew he had a reputation, both as a pretentious ass, and potentially one of the few modern authors who'll eventually enter the canon. Having now read The Corrections, I think both assessments are probably correct. Franzen's minute pitch-perfect vision of daily American life feels like the work of a master noticer (I assume, not being American). His characters feel both painfully real, and like caricatures at the same time. The plot likewise has all the elements of a farce, whilst never feeling too far from a social realist presentation of middle-class AmericaPoints added for the cheap but gratifying attack on mindlessly anti-corporate sentiment in academia. Points subtracted for the lazy characterisation of Lithuania, forgetting that real people live there (and read books) and that it isn't some hilarious dumping ground for post-Cold War stereotypes.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Corrections was a book I read after reading Freedom, which I absolutely loved. People love or hate these books and I understand why. It's genuinely disturbing to read about such dysfunction. His families are deeply flawed, almost to the point of unlikeable. I was warned that I may dislike all the characters, which was not true at all. I enjoyed each one of them to a degree, and was able to empathize with most. But I love this about Franzen. There is no whipped topping. And yet, for me, there is still a core to each individual that is sweet and pure. I can see it. Not sure why others have such difficulty.
    I really enjoyed The Corrections, but for me, Freedom was more enjoyable.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    We zijn ons er niet altijd van bewust, maar heel dikwijls proberen we ons leven vooral zo uit te bouwen dat we de fouten die onze ouders volgens ons hebben gemaakt, niet herhalen. Een futiel voornemen, blijkt dikwijls, want als het al lukt om een ander pad te bewandelen, dan resulteert dat resoluut in een reeks andere fouten. Het menselijk tekort, weet je wel. Dit lijkt me de rode lijn in de roman The Corrections van Jonathan Franzen, al speelt hij nog wel met andere contexten waarin het woord correctie relevant is (een correctie op de financi?le beurzen bijvoorbeeld). Franzen focust op een modaal gezin in het Midwesten van de Verenigde Staten, de Lamberts. De 5 leden ervan zijn zo gefocust op het ?corrigeren? van hun leven, dat ze een hel maken van het bestaan. Het is geen fraai beeld dat voor onze ogen passeert, deze 5 armzalige, mislukte mensen, maar is meteen wel de sterkste kant van dit boek. Vooral de afschuwelijke omgang tussen de intussen bejaarde ouders Alfred en Enid is hallucinant geschetst (het koppel deed me sterk denken aan Archie en Edith in de Amerikaanse televisie-reeks ?all-in the family?, uit de jaren ?70; dat was komedie en satire, dit is pure tragiek). Ook de band die Franzen legt met de ontwikkelingen in het Amerikaanse kapitalisme (roofzuchtige overnames die mensen en bedrijven vermalen, maar anderen ? de handigen ? superrijk maken) is absoluut verdienstelijk. Maar daar eindigt mijn lof, vrees ik. De 5 gezinsleden waar Franzen op focust blijven het hele boek door in hun cirkeltje draaien, geraken niet uit hun obsessieve correctie-lijn, al suggereert de clich?-epiloog wel wat openingen. Daardoor blijft het verhaal hangen, en merk je soms zelfs wat verveling opduiken bij de lectuur. En dan is er nog die obsessie van (vooral) Amerikaanse auteurs om hun schrijftechnisch kunnen te demonstreren, wat bijvoorbeeld resulteert in overdreven wetenschappelijke passages die het verhaal meer hinderen dan ondersteunen. Franzen heeft wat in zijn mars, dat is duidelijk, maar hij heeft me nog niet helemaal overtuigd.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Normally when I start writing a review, I at least know if I enjoyed the book. The Corrections has me bemused however, as I think I enjoyed it, whilst taking a dislike to how Jonathan Franzen mischievously described the families emerging problems in a way that constantly makes you think: "Is this happening in my family?" "I think I'm ok, but now I've read this, I might need to get my head examined, just in case...". And so on.

    Bear with the slow start, would be my advice, as I found it worth the long read.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I dragged myself through this book - it just went on and on and on - AND ON. Not enjoyable at all.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Frazen's sprawling tragicomedy of a mildly dysfunctional Midwestern family is certainly an enjoyable read, and he certainly nails the zeitgeist of the times (late 1990s, pre-9/11, the end of one gilded age, but what followed really wasn't that bad either). The characters are certainly well-drawn, deeply flawed of course, and they come by it not from being abusive or having been abused, or from enduring terrible poverty or other hardships, but from some mysterious alchemy that seems to plague just about every family. Given the popularity of Frazen, it might seem like sacrilege to criticize his work in any way. But I never felt like I found a handle on what caused the three principal characters--the grown Lambert children--to squander their talents, self-destruct, and destroy relationships around them. Their parents were undeniably flawed but they seem to have raised these kids with more than a modicum and privilege. Not one character was all bad, and maybe that's my problem with the novel. The kids' misbehavior and screw-ups certainly kept me reading. But I was aching for one truly reprehensible character to muck up the works. Most families likely don't have such a villain. People generally become dysfunctional not from single incidents or at the hands of one person evilly manipulating the levers, but from millions of slights, misplaced love, and other small paper cuts by those who unconditionally love them.Maybe that's the point, that we're all pretty much like the Lamberts.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing! If plot is what you care about most, you'll hate it. If reading unbelievably crafted writing is your thing - read it. Simply, about a family trying to get together for a last X-mas dinner, but on a deeper level, it really is THE best study of THE white American family I will ever read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's inaccurate to write a review before finishing the book, but I need to say this is a terrific read and people I've talked to about it are confusing it with Million Little Pieces, I guess because there was an Oprah controversy about both. Jonathan Franzen is being maligned as a plagiarist by those who caught half a story somewhere. It's very unfair to this tremendously effective work. I'm almost finished and cannot wait to learn the resolution. If there is one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing book, we’ll written with rich and interesting characters. Must read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fabulous story. I felt like I knew and loved this family!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fantastic characters. The narrative stitching was brilliantly executed, and the writing is crisp and well-done.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I resisted this book for a long time: too much hype, too much drama, to much ego from the author. When I finally read it, well ... ok, I enjoyed it. It merits 3.5 stars; it's better than average. But it definitely did not live up to the hype.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Second read gave me a fuller sense of what F. was up to and why Oprah picking him might have been so very annoying. Invariably, the audience would have concentrated on the story of the Midwestern sister and brothers and their parents, while he wanted us steered towards the more DeLillo elements: mind controlling drugs, IPO's, Internet and e-Bay purchased former Eastern Bloc countries. A smart, funny book but maybe not as smart as Frazen thought it was....
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is awesome. Siblings Denise, Chip and Gary, as well as their parents Alfred and Enid, are each falling apart in different ways. Everyone's hiding something, denying something, or just screwing something up. Chapters at a time follow each family member and you learn their whole story, but still learn about other members of the family at the same time. It is hilarious - both because of the situations the characters are in and how they react, but also because of how real it is. When Denise says that she always loves the first day home to see her parents, but the second morning she wakes up wanting to kill herself, I think many of us can relate - and the book is filled with many such truths.Don't be daunted by the size of this book - every page is enjoyable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I thought this story to be a little boring and kept waiting to see why others had thought highly of it. I still don't know. In truth there is nothing bad about the book just not my style.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I finished reading this book over a year ago so I don't really remember what happened in the story. Something about a family and family problems and eating Thanksgiving dinner and stuff. I rated it 4 stars because it's Jonathan Franzen and it was an Oprah book and Oprah don't pick no bad books, son!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing book! I loved it. Franzen seems like a dick though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As hyped this book is very well written. Some sentences and paragraphs are brillant descriptions of the essences of family and suburban life. One that sticks about was the line about the effort his mother put in to having a house that looked like no one had lived in it. However, none of the characters did anything for me. They were cartoonish and unrealistic and as such the plot simply withered. Not even close to the great novel it was advertised as.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    my favorite book of all time
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There was a hell of a lot of buzz around this novel for a number of reasons. Firstly there was the infamous ?Harper?s Essay?, as it came to be called, (actually called ?Perchance to Dream? re-titled and reworked as ?Why Bother? in his collection of essays ?How to be Alone?) where some say that he claimed to be writing the book that would save the American novel. Of course this is not exactly what he said, but that doesn?t actually matter where hype is concerned. There were countless articles about this book well before it was published, most of them acclaiming the book for its genius, and for doing exactly what he may or may not have promised, whether it was something that needed doing or not (saving of the American novel that is). I remember reading a number of portraits of him where he recounted how he would blindfold himself, put in ear plugs, and sit in front of his computer, and pound out thousands of words today. He reputedly threw out tens of thousands of pages. Then of course came the Oprah scandal. He was asked to be on her book club and (there is some great confusion over the finer points) allegedly turned it down. My understanding is that he asked not to appear on her show and did not want to have dinner with her. Of course this all came off appearing as what it likely truly was: literary snobbery. The people who read Jonathan Franzen novels do not read Oprah book club picks (except Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, ?East of Eden?, and ?One Hundred Years of Solitude?) in fact they refuse to buy her books. Do you remember the rush to buy The Corrections after it was announced that she had picked it but before the ?Oprah Edition? with the embossed seal was published? Absolutely hilarious. Lots of controversy means lots of press. Franzen was everywhere with this book despite the fact that neither of his previous novels did particularly well. But all the hype aside, this book is excellent. It is moving, it is real, and it is extraordinarily well written. It follows the disintegration of a typical mid-Western American family as they end up spread out through the US and the world. The characters are all flawed, yet also realistic and sympathetic; they are perfect in their humanity. We hate them all and love them all, we feel sorry for them, and angry at them, we understand their choices, or we understand their stupidity. This is an unflinching, unsentimental, yet real and loving portrait of modern suburban America. Franzen manages to decry many aspects of society without (as some critics charge he does) belittling or attacking it. He understands the situation in which society has found itself and he sees that there are problems, but he grasps that these are real people making honest mistakes. The right wing likes to attack this type of novel (there is a highly amusing call for a boycott of the movie version of the book on the imdb site) for their supposed slander of the great state of America, and dismiss the authors as out of touch effete liberal New Yorkers. But as effete a New Yorker as Franzen may or may not be, he is not out of touch. This is not, in my view, a condemnation of the culture, but merely a wonderfully rendered portrait of it. Perhaps those who view it as an attack are those who really hate America because they hate what they see in these books, but what they see is sometimes a reflection of the truth. Often fiction tells the truth better than anything. This book is incisive, witty, poignant, touching, and downright wonderful. This is an excellent portrait of a particular time and a particular family. This is the height of modern American fiction. I?m not sure if he said it, or if it needed to be saved, but perhaps Jonathan Franzen has indeed saved the American novel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Brilliant writing, but a cast of the most dislikable characters I've ever met in a book. I thoroughly hated each one, which made a curious juxtasposition against the author's smooth, inviting and artful words. I could put it down, often, and did, and I'm so glad those people are out of my life. Not that Franzen has to focus on only wonderful folks but please, dear author, in your next novel give us a least one person who isn't self-absorbed, selfesh and completely clueless.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I hated this book. I picked up a copy of this before all the Oprah stuff... At first, I enjoyed the story, but as it went on (and on and on) I found that the author really didn't have any idea where this thing was going. He just kept circling around the problem, going down rabbit holes, losing focus. Basically, I believe that Franzen just put all of his backstory notes into the text of the book. It was probably a "brilliant" flash on his part, but those insights during the creative process are best killed by editors (if the authors are too vain to do so on their own).Oh yes, the end sucks. Talk about pulling punches. How sad.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Engrossing to me, now that parkinson's disease has affected my life. I enjoyed it years ago, and on this re-reading, couldn't get enough.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Blimey. I had a mixed relationship with this one. I found it frustrating at times - a bit like a conversation where you want to hear the point but someone keeps rambling off topic. I also found it quite hard-going to read, and yet by about half way through it was approaching un-put-downable. I didn't exactly like any of the characters but I loved the way they gradually earnt more and more sympathy (mostly) as the book went on. I was utterly gripped by the end and found it quite devastating. Exhausting!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    i did not enjoy reading this at all; i did not feel empathy or favor for any of the characters.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    unbelievably dreary. unbelievable characters. I cannot understand why it was so popular, unless it was one of those strange meme things...
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I did not care for this book in spite of (or because of?) all the hype.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Many of the reviews of this book say too much,; it seems this work does not summarize easily. It is complicated and amazing. What did I just read so voraciously - laughing, cringing, bending tiny corners on dozens of pages because the words rang true or the prose was too good to read only once -? A biting social satire, a documentary, a novel? You decide. You read about this bizarre "normal" middle American fragmented family reality blown wide open, with its entrails on the floor, see if you can relate. Denial, guilt, obligation, irresponsibility, greed, anger, jealousy, sibling rivalry, love, redemption, acceptance, insanity, manipulation, understanding - it's all here, and so much more, in blazing technicolor. Enjoy.Jonathan Franzen is a fascinating and frustrating writer; a brilliant mind with keen observational skills, a ruthless and honest portrayer of characters who are not unlike people I know and love. The Corrections is my first adventure with him, and I intend to take the others, even though he makes me work harder than he should to keep up with him, to stay focused and work through the parts that go on too long or too quickly. This book is worth the effort.As to what it all means, I'm still working on that.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful characters! I have really enjoyed reading this book.