One Book Lighting Me Up In All The Wrong Ways

A Special Super Bowl Sunday Substack

Until today, I’ve only written about books that light me up because they are awesome.

Sure, I read a lot of books that I don’t like, but I keep those opinions close and don’t share them on a public platform. I respect the monumental challenge writers face to get books published and pressed into our hands.

Whether we like or dislike a book can be compared to buying shoes. Only YOU know the styles you prefer and what fits your sweet feet. The subjective nature of our reading choices is why I hesitate to share opinions about books that aren’t for me.

But you know what’s coming. Watch out for the incoming rant!

But first, I want to acknowledge several points in favor of Franzen’s writing.

First, The Corrections won the National Book Award and is #5 on the New York Times Top 100 Books of the Century. Those are impressive stats that can’t be ignored. Loads of readers love this book.

Second, my dislike for this book might be a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. Friends, this was not the book to begin reading on the day historical fires ignited Los Angeles. I was turning pages between watching the news and deciding whether I should pack a GO BAG.

Third, Mr. Franzen’s skill—dare I say artistry—is magnificent. He had me hook, line, and sinker for the first eighty pages. I was instantly immersed in a character-driven, deeply descriptive, and complicated family drama. That’s reading territory I adore. I kept thinking how did a human write this stunning prose?

For proof of my adoration, just look at all those book tabs!

An example of amazing writing happens on page 11. Enid asks her husband, “Al, what you are doing?”

Al responds, “I am—” and before he can finish the sentence the author takes us into Al’s mind for almost an entire page. As a reader, we get to see into the thought process of a person who might be struggling with Parkinson’s-induced dementia. The writing feels authentic. Near the end of the page, Franzen takes us out of Al’s brain and finally gives us the end of the sentence— “packing my suitcase.”

After reading this passage, I was so stunned that I exclaimed to my husband, “I can’t even imagine writing this well. How does Franzen describe something he hasn’t experienced with authenticity, authority, and poetic rhythm? What a brilliant mind!”

Franzen’s insightful descriptions of dysfunctional characters gutted me with razor-sharp language and visceral images.

But sometimes, great writing and impressive awards aren’t enough to keep me reading until the last page.

After a lot of thought, I gave up on page 239.

Since I DNF’d the book, I understand that you might believe I have no basis for ranting about this lauded book, but here are two reasons I quit reading.

First, I didn’t like any of the characters. Not a single one. I need just a sliver of at least something to like in at least one character. I didn’t find anything for 200+ pages and didn’t want to spend precious hours continuing the search. If Franzen didn’t give me a bone by page 239, I think it’s reasonable to quit reading.

But that’s not the biggest thing that lit me up about The Corrections.

As I was reading Franzen’s amazing writing, it began to feel like he was sitting over my shoulder expecting me to be impressed by his amazing writing. After a while, it felt performative and selfish—like Mr. Franzen has a huge ego and no regard for the experience of his readers who have invested time and money in his writing. And I think that’s a mistake.

That doesn’t mean everything needs to be a fluffy beach read. Far from it. I savor books with challenging characters and subject matter that inspire me to ponder new insights about the human experience. For example, masterful artists like Percival Everett in James and Louise Erdrich in The Night Watchman write with astounding precision about the atrocities of slavery, and Native American abuse in our country. Without whitewashing tough subject matter, Everett and Erdrich still offer slivers of hope by the end of their books. I feel like both authors care about my experience as a reader. I don’t think Franzen cares about his readers at all. I think he’s more focused on showing us that he’s super smart and clever.

Franzen’s disdain for the reader’s experience by submitting us to characters whom I think he even loathes, while also showing off with performative writing was my tipping point. I decided not to stay around for 327 more pages to see if the possibility of any character corrections would be offered by the end.

You might wonder if I’ve gone too far using the word disdain to describe Franzen, but did you know about the controversy he had with Oprah? In 2001, she selected The Corrections for her book club. Franzen criticized her past selections as "schmaltzy" and felt appearing on her show would not align with his perception of "high-art literature," leading Oprah to withdraw her invitation for him to appear on her show. Nobody disdains Oprah. And I bet Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, both of which were Oprah selections, might not consider their works “schmaltzy.”

Of course, it’s possible that I’m missing the whole point of The Corrections because Franzen might not include me in the “high-art” reading audience he was courting. I rarely react to a book so strongly—and that my friends—might be the key. Maybe all the conversations I’ve had about this book, and all the writing I’ve devoted to this book are evidence that Franzen’s work merits its #5 position on the New York Times Best Books of the Century List because it got discourse flowing.

In the end, what I love about reading is that different opinions make talking about books interesting! If you’ve read The Corrections and love it, please let me know. If you haven’t read it, there’s a copy waiting for you in my Little Free Library.

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The April 27th Once-in-a-While Book Club is now full. We are reading The Serviceberry. If you’d like to add your name to the waiting list or join us next time, email me (lorrietom@lorriet.com). Happy reading.

The Palos Verdes Women’s Mini Retreat on March 16th is full, but if you’d like to attend, let me know if you’d like your name added to our waiting list. (If there are enough people on the waiting list, we can add another date!)

Look for news coming soon about the Third Annual Poetry Pie Writing Challenge. The challenge begins on April 4th, but I explain the fun event with a Substack post on March 21st.