The Corrections

by Jonathan Franzen

book data

14,840 ratings, 3.67 average rating, 1,773 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		27%
4		35%
3		22%
2		9%
1		6%

edit

published

September 2nd 2001 (first published 2) by HarperPerennial

binding

Paperback, 672 pages

literary awards

National Book Award for Fiction 2001, James Tait Black Memorial Prize, 2003 IMPAC Dublin Award Nominee

isbn

1841156736 (isbn13: 9781841156736)

description

Jonathan Franzen's exhilarating novel The Corrections tells a spellbinding story with sexy comic brio, and evokes a quirky family akin to Anne Tyler's...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($16.49)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: Lists	3145	1431	3 hours, 35 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: Top Ten Books to Avoid	606	2143	5 hours, 9 min ago
The Rory Gilmore ...: What else are you currently reading?	693	2761	5 hours, 33 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: Top 5 All Time - No Classics Allowed	240	1903	6 hours, 51 min ago
1001 Books You M...: Which one did you just finish?	1882	4055	12 hours, 24 min ago

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Best Books of the Decade: 2000's

645 books | 2695 voters

Best Books of the 21st Century

313 books | 926 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 18,777)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

05/07/07

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

bookshelves: americas, borrowed, fiction, post-2000

Read in May, 2007

recommended to Kate by: Emily

Conrad told me that Jonathan Franzen has been quoted as saying he deliberately rips off influential late-century American authors such as Pynchon, DeLillo and Roth, but tries to make the prose less difficult, more easily consumed.

Leaving aside for a moment the irony of that statement in light of his outrage over the Oprah thing, that is retarded. Those authors are not great because their writing is accessible when the complexity is removed.

It was when one of the main cha...more

Like this review? yes (19 people liked it)

13 comments

09/04/07

Angela rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people dying a slow and painful death and want to make it worse

A seemingly unending stream of word vomit.

I can think of no other way to describe this thing.

I really, really despised almost everything about The Corrections. I finished it solely so that I could write a horrible review and have it be valid.

At no single point before the last 10 pages of this 566-page monster did I feel a shred of sympathy with any of the characters. There were several moments where I thought Franzen would have been better off writing dialogue...more

Like this review? yes (13 people liked it)

12 comments

04/13/07

Alan rated it:

(review of isbn 0006392237)

Read in February, 2007

From start to finish on my third time through this book - my first experiencing it through text and not audio – I was struck anew at not only the bleak, hilarious story it tells but at the beauty of the writing, at the way Franzen knows how to turn a phrase.

One thing I kind of noticed on my own but had my eye made more aware of by a New York Times review of the book was how meta-fictive the book is. The Times – or whatever publication it was I found on the internet as I obsessed...more From start to finish on my third time through this book - my first experiencing it through text and not audio – I was struck anew at not only the bleak, hilarious story it tells but at the beauty of the writing, at the way Franzen knows how to turn a phrase.

One thing I kind of noticed on my own but had my eye made more aware of by a New York Times review of the book was how meta-fictive the book is. The Times – or whatever publication it was I found on the internet as I obsessed over this book – pointed out that, like Chip’s screenplay, Franzen’s book has a “hump” that you have to get over before you really get into it. I would argue that this hump is the first 40 – 50 pages of the book, where the reader encounters Chip in the present tense as he flakes out on lunch with his parents, without yet knowing about his past, specifically about his tragicomic affair with Melissa Paquette. An aside; Melissa’s father, Tom, is mentioned, an almost throw-away reference, later in the book, during Denise’s story
I didn't notice until this third read through, but it significantly increased my incredulity at the author’s artistry.

An example of the novel’s commentary on itself that offers more insight into understanding the book comes much later in the story however. As their Lithuanian marketing scam crashes down around them in a hail of stones and broken glass, Gitanas tells chip that his life is a tragedy that has become a farce. Later, after they have crashed the Stomper and Chip has been stripped and robbed by policemen in ski masks, this idea comes back to Chip, and he realizes that it is the approach he should have taken in rewriting his ailing screenplay. Franzen’s novel goes from great to classic if looked at through this lens, tragedy rewritten as farce. Some people I have spoken to in the course of my evangelizing about the greatness of this book have told me that they found it incredibly depressing. While it certainly has depressing elements and characters that are at times loathsome, and indeed the very premise of the novel centers around the different forms of depression the five main characters experience, depressing would not be on a list of the top 100 words I would use to describe this book. I think this is because I viewed the majority of the potentially depressing scenes not as tragic, but as farcical, especially upon repeated readings. While it may indeed be depressing to witness Gary ranting at Enid at the end of the novel, casting a pall on the only positive thing she has had to look forward to over the course of the story, when the reader considers that Gary has previously tried to avoid his own depression / prove his sanity by getting liquored up and hopping around on a ladder with a running hedgeclipper and gouging his hand, which he then places in a Branola bag, we recognize Gary’s rantings as a further byproduct of his own faults and are able to laugh at his overcompensation. Indeed, Franzen’s entire novel is tragedy re-imagined as Farce. There’s nothing inherently funny about Parkinson’s disease or the depression that many people experience, for whatever reason, in their dotage, but it certainly IS funny that both of these things manifest themselves in Alfred through hallucinations of anthropomorphized turds.

Since finishing this book for the third time, I have had a hard time becoming engrossed in another novel. In terms of scope and story, I think it is closer to Dickens than anything else I have ever read, which is pretty good company to be in...

(less)

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

6 comments

03/18/07

Emily rated it:

Read in December, 2002

I'm writing this review in response to Kate's review, which tore it up with a lot of intelligent points. I feel the need to respond because I loved this book, and even re-read it about a year ago.

One point Kate makes is that this book is full of rotten characters and some of them don't stand up off the page. (My mother's main complaint, too, was that the characters weren't nice.) I'd agree that there are a couple characters who are flimsy (mainly, SPOILER, the couple Denise has he...more I'm writing this review in response to Kate's review, which tore it up with a lot of intelligent points. I feel the need to respond because I loved this book, and even re-read it about a year ago.

One point Kate makes is that this book is full of rotten characters and some of them don't stand up off the page. (My mother's main complaint, too, was that the characters weren't nice.) I'd agree that there are a couple characters who are flimsy (mainly, SPOILER, the couple Denise has her thing with), but the argument about the rotten characters, perhaps it's a personal thing -- I just don't care. The rotten attributes of the people, I thought, didn't exist to make them rotten as much as to show the secret lives these characters were living, the flaws in need of "correction." (Correction is certainly a heavily played theme, but Franzen goes about it addressing so many different parts of personal and public life that I find it hard to hold this interlacing against the novel.) Hm, the way that last sentence is written seems to imply Franzen is formulaic, which I don't mean to say. I mean to say Franzen is a master at craft. And again on the "rotten characters" point -- maybe I'm a pessimist, but I think all people have ugly things inside. And I think this is what makes us human.

The main thing I love about this novel, the redeeming quality I would like to use as a shield, is the author's mastery of psychic distance and perspective. Using third person, Franzen manages to craft the interior drives, passions, and thoughts of Chip, Denise, and Gary with complete distinction. I really had the sense that these were three different people, and for an author to do that in different books, much less ONE book, is brilliance (think of all the oeuvres jammed with main characters who are all stale, redressed versions of one another). At the time I read it, I honestly felt the only time I'd seen different perspectives drawn so well was between Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.

Another thing I like about this book is the arc. Again, craft, sure, but can't I care about the craft? Compared to books of similar lengths, this book has both the parabolic & the exponential. I remember that even though I had already read the part about (SPOILER AGAIN KINDA) the father's discovery on the work bench in the basement in the New Yorker first, when it showed up in the novel there was enough compression to make me weep.

(less)

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

2 comments

04/21/08

Jordan rated it:

Read in March, 2008

Reading this book a second time (the first being in August last year), I am happy to report that this time, I was able to leave the house and be a fully-functioning member of society (well, as much as I ever am) while in the midst of it. Yay for me!

That's not to say this book didn't have as profound an effect on me the second time around; it did. It was just that I knew what to expect. The first time, I was so hooked that there was nothing else I wanted to do, other than read it...more Reading this book a second time (the first being in August last year), I am happy to report that this time, I was able to leave the house and be a fully-functioning member of society (well, as much as I ever am) while in the midst of it. Yay for me!

That's not to say this book didn't have as profound an effect on me the second time around; it did. It was just that I knew what to expect. The first time, I was so hooked that there was nothing else I wanted to do, other than read it. Food lost all taste; hobbies lost their lustre; colors muted...okay, possibly going too far, but seriously, it was so good it actually diminished my quality of life, in some paradoxical way. There wasn't anything I wanted to do but read it, yet it was like watching 500 pages of a multi-car collision occuring right in front of my eyes. I'd pick it up, read, get upset, put it down, stare at it for awhile, pick it up, read, etc. ad nauseum. (And I mean that literally - I once felt physically nauseous.)

I hate when people ask you what a book's about. I hate it for many reasons, which include (but are not limited to):
1. It seems like a really lazy way of getting a synopsis so that they can pretend that they've read it.
2. If a book can be properly summed up in thirty seconds, nobody should be reading it anyway.
3. Books worth reading are always about the things in life worth reading and writing about, namely: love, hate, truth, personal freedoms, battles, growth, change, continuity, friendship, betrayal, relationships, the moon, faith, hope, optimism, blindness, narcissism, and me. Not necessarily in that order. And there are more, but I got tired of thinking. Anyway, so any good book will be about some combination of these, and generally, the best books will be about all of 'em. So who needs to ask?

That being said, the one achingly poignant truth of this novel was, for me, the fact that it realizes the deeply seated level of loneliness that pervades life in this country today. It's a rotten condition, and Franzen holds up the mirror to expose it in its stark nakedness.

In short, it's the finest piece of contemporary literature I've ever read. And while my arsenal of contemporary fiction may not be as well-stocked as my classical, well, that's still saying something, i.m.h.o. And, on that note, I'll also add that probably the best thing that contemporary fiction has over classical - and that's why this book ranks number one for me - is that in classical fiction, the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' are generally clearly delineated. Jane Eyre is good; Blanche Ingram (Mr. Rochester's potential wife) is bad, etc. In contemporary fiction, the line between who's good and bad is blurred to reveal a much more realistic and satisfying portrayal of human virtue and vice. This novel is simply the best actualization of this modern rendering that I've come across. You'll hate, on multiple levels, every character in this novel. You'll also realize that you hate them all because you see yourself in every last one of them. In their awful decisions. In their betrayals. In their utter refusal to take the high (read: societally acceptable) road time and again, and yet, each time, foolishly believing that this time, THIS time, things will turn out differently. You'll hate them for it and you'll love them for it, just as you hate and love yourself for all the goddamn stupid things you do day in and day out.

It's a masterpiece. Read it.(less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

add a comment

08/23/07

Suzanne Macartney rated it:

bookshelves: favoriteauthors

Read in October, 2001

recommends it for: lovers of family drama

Didn't want to like Franzen. He is the guy who jilted Oprah and her bookclub causing major media hoopla a few years back. About the same time he suggested 'although women comprise the bulk of readers, they don't read serious literature'. Aaaaaaghh! Determined to avoid this guy I passed by his book at B&N many times that year, but then decided I could critcize him more properly if acquainted with his work.

Ahem. It's a satisfying read. Grown-up, richly detailed, fascinating character...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

07/07/08

Sarah rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: middle-aged ex-Midwesterner dudes who hate their parents.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

That’s right, Jonathan Franzen - yesterday on my lunch break I powered through and finally finished your 550-page ode to being an unsatisfied ex-Midwesterner.

For the most part, I’m glad I didn’t just quit reading it. It starts with a section on the parents, then does one on each of the kids before coming back to the parents and then jumping around a bit as they’re all home/trying to get home for one last Christmas together. I’m glad I finished it out for one reason - I actu...more That’s right, Jonathan Franzen - yesterday on my lunch break I powered through and finally finished your 550-page ode to being an unsatisfied ex-Midwesterner.

For the most part, I’m glad I didn’t just quit reading it. It starts with a section on the parents, then does one on each of the kids before coming back to the parents and then jumping around a bit as they’re all home/trying to get home for one last Christmas together. I’m glad I finished it out for one reason - I actually did enjoy the section about the daughter, and, to a lesser degree, the Christmas section. I don’t know if they were actually good or if I was only enjoying myself because compared to the self-satisfied bullshit that makes up the other 85% of the book, having a story told in a somewhat straightforward manner was just a welcome change. That’s not to say that I need my stories to be straightforward - I might have enjoyed Chip’s pretension and the endless timeline jumping of his section, or even Gary’s unrelenting paranoia, Enid’s compulsive need for control, and Alfred’s unlucky combination of advancing dementia and incontinence.

Might have, had it not been for the fact that as Franzen writes these things, you can tell he’s completely chuffed that everyone reading it is going to eat it up. When Alfred is haunted by imaginary turds, it is difficult to tell where his dementia ends and Franzen overcomplicating his story begins, and it’s the same case with the failures of Chip and Gary - to what extent are they meant to be insufferable and self-important, and to what extent is his smugness at how wonderful and unconventional his story is bleeding into the story itself?

Denise’s section and the final section stand out because in these places, the story doesn’t overwhelm itself. We see characters interact and actually go somewhere with a story without spending dozens of pages bogged down in misguided introspection - in Denise’s case, I don’t know why it happens - maybe of all the Lamberts, she’s the most at peace with her failings. Maybe Franzen can’t project as much of himself onto a secret lesbian affair. Maybe here, he just wanted to tell the story.

When it comes to the final section, however, it’s very clear why I was able to stand it - by spending a few paragraphs or a few pages in each character’s point of view, rather than a hundred pages at a time, Franzen can’t get caught up in any one place. The switching, and the fact that the relatively short section must cover a specific series of events over a few days, allows for something resembling momentum to be kept, and keeps the last stretch of The Corrections from drowning in its own bullshit.

Overall grade: C-. Not without merit, but the bad far outweighs the good. [Maybe in a few decades I'll love it? I had the distinct impression that if I were a middle-aged ex-Midwestern man who hated my parents, instead of NONE OF THOSE THINGS, I'd actually get what all the critics on the back were raving about.](less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

03/28/08

Elle rated it:

Read in April, 2008

I am not normally a fan of straight-forward contemporary fiction (at least the fiction that I have so far read). However, Jonathan Franzen's novel wins by way of several virtues: rich prose, engaging language, and heartbreak. The novel is one long heartbreak from beginning to end; as familiar as if someone took every pain, anxiety, and neurosis you had ever encountered or struggled with in your life and distilled it into a dysfunction that was not your own.

Enid is my mother's cont...more I am not normally a fan of straight-forward contemporary fiction (at least the fiction that I have so far read). However, Jonathan Franzen's novel wins by way of several virtues: rich prose, engaging language, and heartbreak. The novel is one long heartbreak from beginning to end; as familiar as if someone took every pain, anxiety, and neurosis you had ever encountered or struggled with in your life and distilled it into a dysfunction that was not your own.

Enid is my mother's controlling nature, Alfred is my father's pride in the face of failing health, I am Denise's self-destructive sexual tendencies, Chip's rudderless existence, Gary's depression and denial. I'm sure many readers could say the same. You look at them and all the things they do absolutely backwards and you hate them and hate yourself for relating to them.

All the layers of every family's--every familiar average American family's--turmoil is laid bare over and over again, juxtaposed against the social commentary of each character's views on society, politics, and economy through subtle and artful means. Franzen weaves together intricate facts and histories as to make them truly a part of the narrative. As much a part of the overall punch-in-the-gut that is the novel as Chip's failing attempts at hipster intelligentsia, Denise's over-achieving psychosis, or Alfred's scatological hallucinations.

When going through the book, one is introduced to a feeling of gradual decline. As if the construction of this average Midwestern family were dilapidating before our eyes; the roof rotting and the foundation crumbling under secret hopes, selfish desires, and all the things we go through in our lives but never ever speak of with our families. In what seems like evasive efforts to fix their problems, in taking the long, secretive, denial-filled path toward dealing with pain, the Lamberts unravel themselves individually. Franzen has created very perceptive portrayals of nearly every American cliché and has done so in a way that makes the reader feel alternately ashamed and self-important.

The end felt dissatisfying in the sense that nothing is wrapped up neatly. It's finally all turned to rubble and what remains of the structure stands shakily on all the things we refuse to talk about until they affect us too deeply to ignore them, which left me with a feeling of despondence and only a vague sense of satisfaction.

People often touch upon the humor of the book, but to me, the entire thing struck me much like a joke so ribald and sad and true that no one is able to laugh at it. Or the very least, I wasn't, but that is a statement heavily influenced by personal bias and experience.

It's a moving novel, and if at the conclusion of it--as with every heartbreak--you don't feel a little clearer, a little more masochistic, then you might need to lose something or someone and lose badly.(less)

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

12/21/07

Justin Sheppard rated it:

Read in January, 2008

I find myself of two minds after finally getting around to reading The Corrections. While Franzen is undoubtedly a supremely talented writer, I can’t help but feel that what could have been a legitimate classic novel was ruined by the author’s idiosyncrasies.

Unlike most people, my complaints don’t lie in the novel’s hyper-sexuality or its cast of unlikable characters. Sex in literature has never bothered me as long as it serves to advance the plot in some way (which, I belie...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

08/04/08

Aaron rated it:

I would like my 11 hours back, however, maddeningly, the fact that I will never get that time again is a theme of the novel. For all aura of rebellion, this is a profoundly square book. The style is flat, descriptive, and free of quirk and pop cultural groundings; the politics is no more radical then the average urban reader of books such as these (even the “rejection” of Oprah fits squarely into the political framework of a very recognizable type of urban professional). Despite matter of fa...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

07/11/08

Garrett rated it:

Read in August, 2008

Ah, The Corrections. It was almost amazing. Franzen has managed to write a riveting story wherein nothing much happens and none of the characters are that likable. The book was carried purely by his writing. (In that regard, it was the "Anti-Da Vinci Code"--a horribly written book with a lot of interesting action and little insight.) Franzen's ability to round out characters, even incidental bit players, was amazing. He hinted at elaborate back stories for everything--the people, the p...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

07/27/07

Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

Read in July, 2007

Here is the (I think) amazing thing about this book. I cannot relate to the characters in any way but I still loved them. For the most part they are detestable but I cheered for them anyway. Maybe it’s because just below the surface they have a layer of humanness trying to get out. It’s almost as if in their busy efforts to forget who/where they came from they also forgot how to have compassion for others. I don’t know, it’s strange. There are very little redeeming qualities in the...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

07/19/07

Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

Substantial portions of this multi-generational, geographically far flung family drama are worthy of a 5-star rating. Multiple characters are so richly drawn and deeply convincing their trials and tribulations feel real and keep the reader glued to the page. Quite simply, the fortunes of Franzen's best-crafted characters make this novel. Fortunately for the reader, this Franzen is at work for about half the novel, and the results are often brilliant.

On the flip side, Franzen fails t...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

06/23/07

Joe rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

bookshelves: american, fiction, postmodern, west-philly-bookclub

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: middle-aged Americans with Existential crisises

Reading for the second time para book club. Here are some of the ideas/questions I pretentiously sent out to everyone (my kind of big takes on The Corrections):

"I distrusted book clubs for treating literature like a cruciferous vegetable that could be choked down only with a spoonful of socializing." – J. Franzen, Why Bother?

1. Last time Heidi talked about Zizek and this is what I have been able to find (exclusively on wikipedia). This is m...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

12/04/08

abe rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people who like long well-written pieces of prose

Well, it's a damn well written book. Franzen creates scenes in such minute and often excruciating detail that you find yourself squirming where you sit. And his characters are so clearly of this era and of this set of issues that it becomes clear how romanticized the fiction writers of the world have become, focussing on such a pastoral idea of the problems of Americans, stuck, generally, in a time some five decades old. I love it and I hated it. I used the book as an explanation for a foreign-l...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

10/15/08

Jeremy added it

Read in January, 2008

Was anybody else bothered by the fact that the "fictional" city of St. Jude turns out to just be a stand-in for Franzen's hometown of St. Louis? So that, by extrapolation, the parents in the book are stand-ins for Franzen's own parents? This bothered me throughout. Either own up to the fact that you're situating your novel in your hometown (and rather viciously depicting your own parents), or make it a more generic mid-sized midwestern city with a name that doesn't so clearly parallel ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

08/19/07

Stan rated it:

Read in April, 2007

recommends it for: Your enemies.

Is it possible to spite an author by purposely not finishing his/her book? I have purposely stopped about 70 pages short of finishing The Corrections to spite Jonathan Franzen. This book is a maddening depiction of unlikable members of a wretched family. Redeeming values are in short supply, but words, descriptors, and asides certainly are not.

Maybe the mark of great literature is the raising of one's ire. If this is true, Franzen has found success. At times, I was angry readi...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

04/01/07

Guy rated it:

(review of isbn 0006392237)

Would've been five stars if they'd edited out the father's talking-turd hallucinations.

That image of the boy at the dinner table, given the choice of staying until he had forced himself to clean his place or accepting the threatened spanking, sitting there, and sitting there, and sitting there...

A midwestern 60's-70's childhood in a proverbial nutshell.

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

1 comment

03/14/07

Montambo rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

bookshelves: i-give-up, yuck

It is taking me a long time to finish this book. It's strange because while I'm reading it, I think it's great. After I put it down, however, I don't really want to pick it back up.

Three possible reasons for my Corrections-related-apathy:
1. The characters are kind of despicable.
2. Its best-sellerness
3. Josh wants me to love it.

Will I finish it?

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

6 comments

10/22/08

Saher K rated it:

(review of isbn 0312421273)

The novel I read, The Corrections, was written by Jonathan Franzen. This novel is about a family, the Lamberts. It talks mostly about the past of each person: Denise’s life as a chef, Chip’s recovering from an ex-professor and bankruptcy, Gary’s improvements in his marriage and family, and the early life of Alfred and Enid (the parents). Whenever the novel is about what is currently happening in the characters’ lives, it explains how Enid wishes for one more Christmas with the family in...more The novel I read, The Corrections, was written by Jonathan Franzen. This novel is about a family, the Lamberts. It talks mostly about the past of each person: Denise’s life as a chef, Chip’s recovering from an ex-professor and bankruptcy, Gary’s improvements in his marriage and family, and the early life of Alfred and Enid (the parents). Whenever the novel is about what is currently happening in the characters’ lives, it explains how Enid wishes for one more Christmas with the family in her house in St. Jude.
The book is written very well. The author briefly mentions what is happening in the present life of a person and then refers to the past and tells a different story of how the person came to be in that situation. For instance, it talks about how Denise used to work at the railroad before going to college and becoming a chef at top restaurants in Philadelphia. It is as if there are five stories in one book that join together. It is also interesting that the author seems to use real places and streets instead of making them up. For example, there is a reference to Le Bec Fin, a French restaurant in Philadelphia. Since there is no major plot in the novel, the book mostly focuses on the characters’ personalities and lives.
The novel is definitely not made for children, though. There is some profanity and a lot of adultery. There are also references to people doing drugs and the novel makes it seem as though it were completely normal and had no side-effects. Some other not pleasant parts for me are the discussions of political topics and economic topics. Those are mostly involved in Chip’s life, and were extremely boring. The novel would be more interesting if it were a little less specific about some of the topics mentioned already and had a bigger plot to it than a Christmas dinner and social life.
Although there were disappointments, the novel was reasonably enjoyable. It was interesting to hear about the lives of every person and how they change throughout the story. Anyone that enjoys realistic books and that also has a mature mind may enjoy this book. Some parts are extremely depressing, yet other parts are humorous and cheering. A variety of emotions are expressed throughout the novel, which is what made it such a decent read.
(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 938 939 next »

polls

Please vote for the run off choices for our second book for the January 20th meeting. I will leave this poll up for one week, and then the run-off poll will be open for one week. Contact Spring if you have any questions.

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain -paperback, audiobook, libraryHeartsick Heartsick

0 votes, 0.0%

A Thousand Splendid Suns -paperback, audiobook, library

1 vote, 33.3%

Middlesex -paperback, audiobook, library

1 vote, 33.3%

Sarah's Key -paperback, audiobook, library

0 votes, 0.0%

The Corrections -paperback, audiobook, library

1 vote, 33.3%

Moscow Rules -paperback, audiobook, library

0 votes, 0.0%

3 total votes

comments and details Sign in to vote!

More...

recent status updates | recommend it | blog it

combine
other editions (50)

More editions...

quotes from this book

"The human species was given dominion over the earth and took the opportunity to exterminate other species and warm the atmosphere and generally ruin things in its own image, but it paid this price for its privileges: that the finite and specific animal body of this species contained a brain capable of conceiving the infinite and wishing to be infinite itself." More quotes...