The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

This is the second time I’ve read this book (getting ready to read his new book just launched) and it is one of the most powerful portraits of dysfunctional modern family life that anyone has ever written I think. Alfred, the father and emotionally brutal patriarch, is suffering from Parkinsons, and his wife Enid is not so valiantly trying to manage his condition. But, as the name of the novel suggests, his illness becomes the catalyst for all kinds of emotional corrections to take place amongst the family members – Chip the ne’er do well son, Gary the materialist, Denise the successful chef and of course Enid herself. The novel is rich in emotional detail and I’m sure everyone who reads it is going to recognise some uncomfortable personality or experience from their own lives. It homes in on people and their personalities with all the accuracy of a heat seeking missile. It’s uncomfortable, it’s funny, it’s shocking – it’s brilliant. 5 stars.