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Fiction ChronicleNovember 2001 On the hysterical playground by Max Watman A review of The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen; After the Plague and Other Stories, by T. C. Boyle; Up in the Air, by Walter Kirn; John Henry Days, by Colson Whitehead; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon & Pafko at the Wall, by Don DeLillo.
Why can’t you ever write a plain sentence like “He finished his
drink, left the pub and went home?”
—Kingsley Amis to Martin Amis Some very good books have been written by misanthropes. One certainly can’t accuse Dawn Powell of being keen on people, or Evelyn Waugh of cutting anybody slack. But their books are satirical novels, their characters largely conceived to illustrate, or prove, just how awful everybody is. I am not sure if Jonathan Franzen is a misanthrope, but he demonstrates in his new novel The Corrections a dislike for his subjects that is sharp and unflinching. He humiliates these awful people in public and in private, shows us their social and intimate incapacities, and brings us internal monologues that reveal petty, selfish motivations. The Corrections is not, however, a satirical novel. Franzen was clearly after a broader stroke, and as a resul ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 20 November 2001, on page 67 Copyright © 2012 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/hystericalplayground-watman-2105
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by Max Watman Reviews of "The View from Castle Rock: Stories," by Alice Munro; "Talk Talk," by T.C. Boyle; and "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," by Marisha Pessl. by Stefan Beck On The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, Zone One by Colson Whitehead, The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco & Cain by José Saramago. by Stefan Beck On The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Slim by Jonathan Coe, Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan, Swamplandia! by Karen Russell & The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. by Stefan Beck On Freedom, 03, A Visit from the Goon Squad & Dogfight, A Love Story.
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