Franzen, if he interests you ...

Tim Strzechowski dedalus204 at attbi.com
Mon Jul 15 23:28:57 CDT 2002


I agree.  Just finished _The Corrections_ recently and, as a stylist,
Franzen is quite refreshing.  His prose is purple in just the right measure,
and some of the scenes are downright hilarious.  Although the "dysfunctional
family" angle I found more akin to Anne Tyler, I think there are "moments"
that would tickle any Pyn-head.

Plus, he thumbed his nose as the Oprah-beast . . . gotta love 'im for that.

Tim


----- Original Message -----
From: <MalignD at aol.com>

> I recently read Jonathan Franzen's book, The Corrections, which I found
> pretty terrific and recommend to any who might consider it.
>
> Franzen is one of a number of writers (Foster Wallace, Richard Powers,
Neal
> Stephenson) deemed Pynchon wannabes.  It doesn't seem particularly apt in
> Franzen's case.  He has an apparently formidable intellect, but it is very
> different from Pynchon's or, at least, he puts it to very different use;
> i.e., Franzen uses his erudition to support and enrich the story he's
telling
> whereas I think of Pynchon using his erudition to connect the themes he
> develops to events and ideas outside his novels.  In this sense, Franzen
> reminds me more of Bellow that Pynchon.  Also, Franzen is very strong at
what
> I think is Pynchon's major weakness--creating rich, three-dimensional
> characters.
>
> There is in the Corrections a section that I took to be a brief homage to
> Pynchon, wherein a man whose worsening Parkinsonism and Alzheimers has
made
> him incontinent and his fear and humiliation around this takes the form of
an
> animated turd that haunts and taunts him.  It's not one of the books
stronger
> sections.
>
> But the novel is funny,  smart, very well written, worthy, I think, of its
> hype.
>
> If you're interested ...
>





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