The Corrections
A Novel
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4.2 • 833 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER *A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: TOP TEN
“A spellbinding novel” (People) from the New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Franzen, the author of Crossroads, The Corrections is a comic, tragic epic of worlds colliding: an old-fashioned world of civic virtue and sexual inhibitions, a new world of home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental health care, and globalized greed.
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 that, despite certain alarming indicators, he is not clinically depressed. The middle child, Chip, has lost his seemingly secure academic job and is failing spectacularly 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 of 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The Corrections paints a dark and funny portrait of the dysfunctional Lambert family, who are falling apart after decades of dissatisfaction. There’s Albert, the stoic patriarch who becomes dependent on others after a Parkinson’s diagnosis; Enid, the frustrated-yet-hopeful mother who attempts to bring the family together for one last Midwestern Christmas; and their three adult children, Gary, Denise, and Chip. Weaving back and forth in time, the novel follows each family member through the lies and secrets they’ve built up over the years. Franzen writes masterfully and satirically about the American obsession with progress and materialism. His novel opened our eyes to the humanity and truth of his characters’ lives—by the end, we couldn’t help but feel a part of the Lambert family.
Customer Reviews
It depends on what you’re looking for…
I have rarely felt that a book was so technically and thematically brilliant, but also so raw and unnerving. I can’t say I “enjoyed” this book because it is quite frankly depressing and almost “too real.” But I’ve read a lot of Franzen and he is truly an incredible writer (e.g. precise vocabulary choice, beautiful prose, relevant cultural themes, detailed character/plot development, etc.). And so while I absolutely appreciate this novel as the outstanding literary work that it is, it was often a very gut-wrenching and sad read for me. If you are looking for a book that truly and painfully reflects some of the hard and dark struggles/choices in life, this is it. If you’re looking for a story with fun and joy, or light/fast reading, this is NOT it.
Incredible.
This book changed my life.
Phenomenal
If I ever got married, they'ed have to read this first