Friday 24 July 2009

Going Back To My Roots

Finished The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.

Wow. I don't know if it is because I am now back in the American Midwest, or what...but this book had a powerful effect on me.

Sprawling yet intimate, this novel really captured the hopelessness and futility and facades that many families (in this case, a Midwestern one) possess. Yet there was also a feeling of longing and belonging. We may not like to admit where we come from, but we also feel that inevitable pull towards our roots.

Each member of the Lambert family is deeply flawed in his or her own way, but there is profound sympathy to be felt for each character - even in their most pathetic and needy moments.

I feel about this book as I felt when I watched the film Fargo...a heightened and/or distorted view of Midwestern reality. There is the similar feeling of gentle mockery - but no savagery. It is because we love where we are from that we can critique and analyse it to our heart's content.

Highly enjoyable...and for me, a very appropriate re-beginning.

Up next: Possession by A.S. Byatt.

1 comment:

  1. Ooo, I really liked the Corrections. The part when the father falls from the top deck of cruise ship & wife sees him pass by the windows as he goes down still cracks me up. I met Franzen, he's just like his writing. He's whiney, but I like his stuff. And I'm excited for what you think of Possession. It's why I decided to go back to grad school. Watch out, Sarah! :)

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