The Corrections

After reading Franzen's "Freedom" - I decided to give "The Corrections" a try. His writing is always slightly humorous but tinged and turned with a variety of other emotions that make his work strikingly human. There's a lustre of pain that endures in privacy throughout the books with a sense of hopefulness overshadowing the crude realities. Franzen's writing isn't immediately poetic, but changes with the experience of the characters and creates an amazing narrative voice in which the action pulls and pushes through family ties and haunting legacies. 

You can probably tell this is gonna be a good review :)

I found this book on amazon in my recommendations list since I read other books by Franzen and this one has to be my favourite. 

Characters:

My favourite character is Enid Lambert. I thought she was the harsh reality of every character in the book - she deals with her husband's Parkinson's disease and has a fright about bringing characters together. She is the string holding the family tightly and seems to have a determination that sets her apart from the rest. 

Themes:

My favourite theme was pain and suffering. As I said, Franzen has the ability to make his characters terrifyingly human. Almost an uncanny voice that settles inside them and tremors itself throughout the experience of the novel - you get pulled in and out of people's experiences and pushed and shoved around others. It's a brilliantly written novel with some amazing interpretations of what causes pain and what makes a person through experience. 

Storyline:

My favourite part was when the reader realises that Alfred's health is deteriorating. There's a sense of utter hopelessness because characters are in pain, characters are in hopelessness and characters are experiencing new and confusing things. We are terrified for them and they are terrified for us - a human understanding of emotion with a complex motivation behind it. 

Verdict:

I give this book 9

100% for characters: I loved the characters Enid and Alfred. They sort of shaped each other. 

100% for themes: A powerful narrative with some hauntingly amazing descriptions. A stronghold of Franzen's writing.

100% for storyline: Franzen never fails to impress with his amazing and complex stories of experience.