"She was so much a personality and so little anything else that even staring straight at her he had no idea what she really looked like."

The Corrections! It's not terrible, am I right? I did tell all of you last week that Franzen, he's not so bad at the writing, so am I feeling a teeny bit smug right now?

A little bit. But that might just be this book rubbing off on me. Or rubbing UP on me. It's pretty gross, is what I'm saying.

Anyway! Things to discuss. So far, I kind of hate Enid, I definitely hate Chip (in my Franzen experience, each character gets a focus on them, and I'm kind of hoping Chip's is over) and I basically like Denise and Alfred. Oh, poor sweet ill Alfred, who actually I've just remembered is a big racist, so actually maybe I don't like him... I think a thing Franzen has done really well already is exploring the complexity of family relationships- Enid has a problem with Denise because she's not living the life she expects for women, Chip has a problem with Alfred because something something childhood trauma, Alfred and Denise are like one faction and Enid is kind of out there on her own... It's interesting, anthropologically speaking, is what I'm saying.

But, more importantly, let's be mean about Chip. I think it was Australian Kayleigh who said first that he seems like the fictional equivalent of Franzen, and if we're talking about how terrible they both are, then I'm going with HELL YEAH he is. I just... What is WRONG with him? Because, I mean, there's this:
"'Oh, Chip... Your script starts off with a six-page lecture about anxieties of the phallus in Tudor drama!'"

Of COURSE it does. Of COURSE. Because, let's face it, Chip is the kind of guy who sniffs couches to try and get a 'vaginal tang' (NO) and whilst he may have a Phd, he's also incredibly emotionally stunted when it comes to women, probably because of, let's say, his mother. That seems like the direction we're going with this. If there's one silver lining to Chip, it's that even Franzen doesn't exactly idolise him or try to make him seem anything less than pathetic- there are a lot of things wrong with his life (because he's an ARSEHOLE) and that's kind of the point of him, I think.

Hmmm, what else..? Well, it's pretty ironic that Chip's all like 'BLARGH capitalism and advertising and everything is evil,' when basically all he thinks about is the acquisition of money. What are you going to use that money for, Chipster? Feeding starving children and saving the rainforests? Loljk it's actually just to get some more fanny.*

I actually meant to start a list of all the different descriptions of vagina in this book, but I always read it without paper or even digital paper (you know, my phone) near me, so I've kind of lost track... But there's 'an affectionate warm rabbit', 'pussy like a seasoned baseball glove' (that one ESPECIALLY horrified me because I HATE the word pussy. Hate it.) and, if I remember rightly, something about a quim. Not to mention the boobs! Just to be clear, this isn't me being a prude, it's just me being like 'GOD, Chip, stop being so GROSS' because did I mention that I hate him? I reaaaaaaally do.

So I realise that I just said all the bad things, but really, I am genuinely enjoying myself with The Corrections. I'm enjoying hating Chip, I'm enjoying trying to decipher mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships, I'm looking forward to meeting the other brother (it's going to happen- I fear he might be even more of an arse than Chip!) and just generally for more of this book. It's really pretty good, in spite of all those things I just said. Yeah.

*Fanny as in vagina... I've just realised that you lot are mostly American and fanny is, you know, less gross over there. Damn.