Guardian Newspaper 1000 Novels discussion

Here is the discussion for November's State of the Nation Read - The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen. Enjoy!

I was really excited to read this book this month, went on to my library website to find it, and it has so many people on the hold list! I will see about buying the book for kindle, and hopefully can join in soon!

Who all is reading this one with me this month?

I may take the opportunity to reread it.

Kaycie wrote: "I was really excited to read this book this month, went on to my library website to find it, and it has so many people on the hold list! I will see about buying the book for kindle, and hopefully c..."

For once, this is a book I own so I don't have to worry about getting it from the library! I have some books to finish first but then I will be getting to this.

Awesome, Leslie! By the second half of the month, I'll assess how quickly the library queue is moving and decide if i should buy it or not.

Dennis- even if you don't re-read, we'd appreciate your thoughts!

Has anyone started reading this one yet? I have had some life unpleasantries arise this month, and will probably not get to this one until next month. I really want to read it, though, so I hope some others join in and comment, and I can leave my thoughts next month!

I read it a long time ago, reread it more recently, and I'm not reading it this month. From what I remember, I admired Franzen's will to write about people and topics that don't usually make it into fiction but doubted his empathy for some of his characters, especially the women.

I am still planning on reading it but haven't started yet.

I finished yesterday and really enjoyed it. As a 70's child growing up in the Midwest, I found much to relate to including being victimized by a mother who served me liver and onions and forced me to eat it because it was good for me (high in iron?. As a fairly well adjusted 49 year old, I can say my development was in no way positively influenced by those experiences. I found it curious that the author oftentimes emphasized the Midwestern values (family, honesty, morality)the children rejected and moved to the east coast to escape. I wonder if the author is purposefully trying to highlight the geographical differences? Could the same story be told if the kids had moved to a large Midwestern city such as Chicago?

I FINALLY got this book from my library and was able to read it! It was definitely worth the wait, though, and if more people from the group were curious, I definitely say READ IT!

The Corrections was a rather bleak look into the life of a midwestern family whose parents are aging and children have grown up and moved far, far away. Franzen does a phenomenal job with the writing, and is quite good at making even the most deplorable actions seem at least somewhat sympathetic. I love books that explore conflicts from multiple points of view, allowing the reader to see a bit more about what each person's motivations might have been and The Corrections is 630 pages of exactly that.

Dave - as per your comments on midwestern values, I DO think this same book would have been written if the kids had moved to Chicago. He emphasizes the values, but how exemplified were they ACTUALLY in this midwestern family? They are certainly commented on as the ideal, but it seemed to me more that the parent's generation was more focused on making it SEEM like they followed those values and the younger generation wanted to escape the pressure of having these values forced on them because they exactly believe them or felt like they could follow them. Things like family - how "family" is it for a woman to stick it out for 48 years with a verbally abusive spouse? How honest is it to lie to neighbors/friends/family constantly in order to "keep up appearances?" I think there is a large rift between Enid and Alfred's generation and their children. The older generations want their "values" to continue in their children, but their kids either see no reason for it because their parents only "faked" much of it or think there is something wrong with them for being different (like Denise), and want to escape the pressure to conform to values they don't care about or understand.