The Corrections

A Novel

By: Jonathan Franzen

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Expected More

Yes, he knows a little about a lot of things, but does that make this book worthy of such praise?

Witty satire on the modern American family

Took me a little while to warm up to it, but it's a laugh out loud worth while read from which you take away a lot.

Pitch Perfect narration to an amazing book

I read this maybe 20 years ago. I loved the lushness of the language, the sentences that take you places you don’t think you’re going. I didn’t know what to expect from the audio, given that it’s 20 hours and a bad narrator would kill it!

Not to worry. This guy was so good, his slightly gravelly voice, his inflections and pacing, made this book a delight to relive!

unsypathtic characters you end up caring for

Franzen has moments of excruciating drama in this understated novel. the author breaks all the rules. but ends up winning over the reader.

So descriptive

a very moving story about life's debts and repayments. tremendous descriptions enabling the reader to inhabit each character's perspective.

Awesome!

Loved this book! Took turns I wasn't expecting at all! I'd reccomend it to anyone!

A narrative masterpiece.

Some sections were so deliciously worded, I had to go back to enjoy them again and again. Well done.

Excellent all around.

Brilliant narration! Perfectly fits the story, which is absurdly funny and deftly told. Well done.

Great Modern Literature

Would you listen to The Corrections again? Why?

Yes, as its' one of the single greatest novels ever written. The story captivates from beginning to end, brings a variety of timely social issues to the table and tells a great story around the discussion of those issues.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Corrections?

Chip's arrival at the home for Christmas, which seemed predictable but at the same time the author gave no clue that it would actually happen ... or Alfred's dementia induced talking feces..

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice actually bothered me at first, or at least for the first few minutes of the listen. As you get involved with the characters of the novel what at first listen seems like the voice of an elderly man becomes capable of giving each character a completely distinct voice, and ultimately ends up in a great listening experience.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Neither, but there were numerous moments when Gary and Chip were placed into situations I, like many men, had experienced in real life.

I loved this book!

Others have described the great things about this book better than I can, so I'll leave it to a simple "I loved this book." And, the narrator is amazing.