Book Review (The Corrections)

I have also read "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen in my holidays. It's a wonderful book. I love it. I started this book end of last year already and read more than half of it and loved it. I remember that I read parts of the text to my boyfriend because they were so great. I don't remember anymore what happened then, maybe it was the Christmas chaos, I don't know anymore. However, there was something that took me out the book and this is why it just lied on my bedside table without me reading it since end of December last year. Hence, I took it with me on my holidays this month and finished it there. When I started reading it again, it immediately captivated me again. It's such a great book and I honestly can't understand why I haven't finished it last year already.

Here is a picture of the book on the balcony of the hut where I spent my holidays:

I read it in English and the language is great. It is so much fun to read it because it is incredibly well-written. It's a social study that deals with an American family consisting of a couple that does not fit together (Enid and Alfred Lambert) and their three children (Gary, Denise and Chuck) that struggle with their lives due to their childhood, their parents' personalities and the time they were born in and grew up in. All are messed up and struggle with life - apparently until the correction(s) which is something different for each of them. It's a sad book but at the same time very interesting and full with hope and emotions and insights. The author shows a very sharp mind by describing these 5 persons and their lives (and also the lives of the people they meet and relate to). When I finished it, I had to cry because of its sadness. This does not happen often. ;-)

I love this book and can only highly recommend to read it! Read it in English as the language is so much fun to read. The parts with Chuck and Julia for example were so funny; I was laughing out loud while reading - but already the beginning reads so wonderful (and you get caught immediately by the language and by the way Jonathan Franzen drags you deep into his story):

"The madness of an autumn prairie cold front coming through. You could feel it: something terrible was going to happen. The sun low in the sky, a minor light, a cooling star. Gust after gust of disorder. Trees restless, temperatures falling, the whole northern religion of things coming to an end. No children in the yards here. Shadows lengthened on yellowing zoysia. Red oaks and pin oaks and swamp white oaks rained acorns on houses with no mortgage. Storm windows shuddered in the empty bedrooms. And the drone and hiccup of a clothes dryer, the nasal contention of a leaf blower, the ripening of local apples in a paper bag, the smell of the gasoline with which Alfred Lambert had cleaned the paintbrush from his morning painting of the wicker love seat."

Doesn't this read great?

To summarize: it truly is a really great book. I highly recommend to read it and I intend to reread it myself as well as soon as I have read a couple of other books on my To Read list. And I will also definitely read more by Jonathan Franzen! In English! :-)