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''The Corrections'' is a 2001 novel by American author Jonathan Franzen. It revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern couple and their three adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-twentieth century to "one last Christmas" together near the turn of the millennium. The novel was awarded the National Book Award in 2001〔 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. ''The Corrections'' was published to widespread acclaim from literary critics. The sense of anxiety and apprehension found in its characters has been compared with those of Americans following the September 11th terrorist attacks, despite the novel's publishing having preceded that event. As a result, many have interpreted the novel as having prescient insight into the mood of post-9/11 American life, and numerous publications have ranked it with the best works of contemporary fiction.〔(The New Classics: Books )〕〔(All-TIME 100 Books )〕 == Plot summary == ''The Corrections'' explores the lives of the Lamberts, a traditional and somewhat repressed Midwestern family whose children have fled to the East Coast to start new lives free from the influence of their parents. Chronologically, the novel shifts back and forth throughout the late twentieth century, depicting in detail the personal growth and mistakes of each family member. Alfred Lambert is a railroad engineer and the stern patriarch of the Lambert family, based in the fictional Midwestern suburb of St. Jude. After his children grow up and move to the East Coast, Alfred retires, but soon begins to suffer from Parkinson's disease, causing his ordered, strict personality to fracture. Alfred's loyal wife Enid has long suffered from his authoritarian behavior, and her life is made more difficult by Alfred's worsening dementia. She is also concerned by their three children's questionable life choices, as well as their abandonment of mid-western Protestant values. Gary, the eldest Lambert son, is a successful but alcoholic banker in Philadelphia. His family suspects he is depressed, although he tries to deny (mostly to himself) the existence of any mental illness. Chip, the middle child, is a Marxist academic whose disastrous affair with a student loses him a tenure-track job and lands him in the employment of a Lithuanian crime boss defrauding American investors. Denise, the youngest of the family, is a successful chef in Philadelphia but loses her job after interlocking romances with both her boss and his wife. As the economic boom of the late nineties goes into full swing, the family's problems become impossible to ignore. The separate plot-lines converge on Christmas morning back in St. Jude, when Enid and her children are forced to confront Alfred's accelerating physical and mental decline. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Corrections」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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