Family fun

Book: the corrections
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Completion Date:
Method: borrowed (mum)

I don't know if I've ever read such an honest portrayal of family life before. This book was quite astounding in this regard actually because franzen so simply conveyed the complications and hazards of family life. I was thrilled for this entire novel. Each of the characters are so complex and frustrating, and by the end you see your own family hurried within them.
The most compelling character relationship i felt was between the eldest son and his wife. She was so infuriating and so real. Throughout the novel they are constantly entangled in a battle it seems over his parents and their children. She seems to use their kids to manipulate him into doing what she wants. It's all about winning for the 2 of them, and David seemed to always come out on the bottom. I feel like this is a book that I'm going to have to read again when I am older. It seems like the kind of novel where each time you read it you feel sympathy for a different character depending on your current situation.
Maybe one day I'll have inlaws and understand why Caroline acted the way she did. To me she felt selfish and rude. She was constantly using davidson children against him and treating him like he was a total asshole when she was being the jerk. It seemed she never stopped to really consider what kind of pain she was putting her husband in.
This novel left me feeling both victorious and very sad. I felt that no one won or really felt that much better, but I suppose that's a pretty honest portrayal of family life. There are all these small battles and struggles that are won or lost but there's no great victory, just continuing to deal.


xo- ellebee