The Corrections

by Marilyn Herbert, Jonathan Franzen

Discusses the novel, The Corrections.

85 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

As an educator, school librarian, writer, book-talk presenter and facilitator, Marilyn loves to read and talk about books. Her enthusiasm for reading and sharing led her to unite her two favorite things: people and pages. In turn, this led to the creation of Bookclub-in-a-Box, the ultimate discussion companion for contemporary works of literary fiction. Marilyn is always looking for a great debate about books and welcomes all feedback.

Reviews

[Joan Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Franzen casts a cold eye on his characters in this extraordinarily well-written and researched novel of family life. He is particularly astute on the parents Enid and Alfred as well as on the son Gary. Chip and Denise are a bit less believable, and frankly none of them are very likeable. Franzen delineates the fraught relationship between Enid and Denise effectively. In fact, his most fully realized character is Enid. In delving into the backgrounds and enthusiasms of his characters, Franzen investigates metallurgy, high class cookery, finance, gardening and more. Quite a tour de force.

[Alison]

An astounding piece of writing...the surface summary of a family getting together for one last Christmas at the family home and what each has to pull together emotionally and psychologically to make it possible is so minor to the depths he explores in each person. Sounds kind of schmaltzy but this book is raw. He gives voice and character to fleeting thoughts and feelings most of us are not able to put into words.

[Laura]

At first I didn't like this book, but Mary Beth Culp, who really knows literature spoke about it in Salon and after her comments I went back and really got into. I think he's a brilliant writer and very funny and the book gets much better as you get into. It's literary fiction, not plot fiction, so it's a little bit more work