I am new to Jonathan Franzen, having unfortunately not yet read any of his other books. But I will say that The Corrections was an amazing introduction to a new-found favorite author! It is in these pages that Franzen tells the story of the Lambert family, but also the story of modern-day America in so many ways. Franzen deals both seriously and satirically with such issues as sexuality and repression, self-diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, hands-off parenting, and the continual issue of old-world ideals and modern morality. Oh, and there is also my favorite part, where American greed and pathetic understanding of third-world countries is put on display.
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I will just say up-front that I loved this book. I love the way Franzen tells a story, going back and forth through time and characters in a way that brings both to life, similar to David James Duncan's The Brothers K. Also, I love satire, though I am always reminded that most people don't understand satire when it is aimed at them, unless it is even more blatant that Franzen's. Regardless, the mirror he holds up for us to look at is stupendous and timely. At the same time, it was sometimes hard for me to look at the satire in this book, as it adversely effected characters whom I had grown to love despite their perverse and selfish lives.
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All I can say to finish this up is that this is a great book to read for understanding modern-day America, as well as for just getting into a great piece of fiction. Read it and enjoy it!
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Peace,
Matt
2 comments:
Glad you liked it. I read it a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, thought it had pertinent things to say, and found it extremely well-written. There were times I thought it was a bit too-clever, but that's a minor quibble. I think I'd like to read it again in a couple of years because I couldn't give it the immediate attention that I believe novels deserve. Edward P. Jones' The Known World needs a rereading from me for much the same reason.
come baaaaack!!
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