Because mostly mainstream novelists such as James Patterson and Nora Roberts dominate The New York Times' Best-Seller List, it is refreshing and reassuring when an author offering more than second-rate horror and trashy love scenes finds a way to break through. Jonathan Franzen is one such author, who recently earned the honor for his latest novel The Corrections - an earnest and ironic examination of family conflict, sexuality, and the pursuit of personal happiness.
While their marriage has never been picture-perfect, Enid Lambert's relationship with her husband Alfred has been worsening since his diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease. His blas?© attitude towards his illness and treatment cause Enid to become overbearing and increasingly dependent on her three grown children, who have moved from the Midwestern hometown of St. Jude to the East Coast. Fearing that this year will be the last the family has to celebrate the holidays together, she endeavors to bring everyone back to St. Jude for one last Christmas.
While Enid struggles to convince her children to make the trip back West, they are caught in personal crises of their own. Gary, the eldest, appears to have achieved the perfect life. He is gainfully employed as a portfolio manager, lives in the suburbs, and is married to a beautiful woman with whom he's raising three sons. His marriage, however, is deteriorating as he refuses to acknowledge his depression. He slowly finds himself at odds with everyone in his household with the exception of his youngest son, Jonas.
Chip, who lost his teaching job at a prestigious university for sleeping with a female student, is caught in a downward spiral. The middle son is dubbed by his siblings as the family failure, and his parents' faith is merely based on a misunderstanding that he has procured a position writing for The Wall Street Journal. In hopes of escaping his mounting debt - the result of years spent working on a screenplay - he leaves New York for Lithuania to participate in a lucrative Internet scam with his former lover's husband.
Being both the youngest in the family and the only daughter, Denise is the pride and joy of both her parents despite her failed marriage to an older man. She has since redeemed herself in her parents' eyes as head chef at the Generator, a celebrated restaurant in Philadelphia. What Enid and Alfred do not know is that Denise has recently been fired from her job at the restaurant after sleeping with her boss' wife.
The Corrections explores the lives of each of these characters, from what the others perceive to what they will never know. Oscillating from present to past, the novel is a complex organization of memories and their continuing influence on members of the Lambert family. It also eloquently demonstrates the delicate connections between people and how their individual experiences overlap to affect the people around them. Gary, Chip, and Denise have lived separate lives and yet they continue to be mysteriously connected through family, failures, and triumphs.
With meticulous detail and ferocious attention to subtleties, Franzen brings together the personalities and experiences of five individual characters to create a genuine examination of the survival of a family through forgiveness and acceptance. The novel successfully avoids becoming overly sentimental despite tackling issues that range from childhood resentment to depression. Franzen has created a style of writing in The Corrections that is objective without being distant, allowing him to portray heartbreak and disappointment without letting those sentiments dominate the novel.
One of the latest additions to Oprah's Book Club, The Corrections does not fulfill the stereotypes that accompany the distinction, and refreshingly so. Franzen's voice is biting and sharp as opposed to syrupy and trite. As an objective author, he forces the reader to also be objective in his or her interpretation and understanding of the Lambert family. Also unlike typical Oprah selections, The Corrections was not written exclusively for a female audience -the male characters are sympathetic, and the female characters are not without their flaws. Franzen does not discriminate.
Winner of the 2001 National Book Award, there is little debate that the Corrections is one of the most impressive novels recently published. Franzen tackles everything from marital infidelity to the difficulties of living in a capital society, using the same unbiased yet passionate point of view. His writing is engaging and captivating, which makes The Corrections a satisfying and worthwhile read.
