The Corrections: Too Long or Just Right
The 568-Page Family Novel and the Question It Forces
The Corrections is a book that divides readers almost entirely on the question of length. Jonathan Franzen does not summarize or compress. He stays inside each character's experience until you understand not just what they want but how they arrived at wanting it. I came down firmly on the side of every page being necessary, but I understand the argument for the other side and I have made it myself in the middle of the winter sections set in Lithuania.
Franzen earns the length. The Enid chapters alone justify the commitment.
568Pages
"He was afraid of a world without children because children were safe and he was not.
"Jonathan Franzen
Reading The Corrections
Impact
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Section
The Corrections rewards patience in the same way a very long family dinner rewards patience. You need to be willing to sit with people who are not easy company.