Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections

The Corrections is a 2001 novel by American author Jonathan Franzen.

Storytelling Techniques and Organization Decisions in Their Respective Novels

Introduction

Nathan Hill’s The Nix (2016) and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections (2001) are celebrated contemporary novels that employ complex narrative structures to explore family, identity, and sociopolitical change. Both are known for their ambitious scope and multi-layered storytelling, yet their approaches to narrative organization and technique differ. I enjoyed both novels immensely, and I absolutely get the hype (though I do understand why the novels may not appeal to every reader out there). Another novel I’m reminded of is City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg, as all three novels, in terms of scope and length (As a writer, I love me a good long book that’s captivating and just interesting all around; it’s a feat few writers are capable of), but also because, for me, it highlights the skill of the author, meaning they know how to write a long novel that keeps readers reading and not abandoning the book mid-read. For this post, however, we’ll focus on an analysis that compares the narrative structures of the Corrections and the Nix, examining how the authors construct their stories and the effects the choices the make have on theme and character.

While they're both big books and revolve around family dynamics and conflict, Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections isn't as easy as it seems

Multi-Perspective Storytelling

Both The Nix and The Corrections use multiple perspectives to tell their stories. It’s a convention I’ve used in my novel(s), and it allows readers the ability to peek behind the curtains, if you will, to access the inner lives of a few central characters.

Franzen’s novel follows the Lambert family, shifting the narrative focus between

parents and their adult children. Each chapter centers on a different family member, weaving together personal crises and the relationships said characters have with the other characters. The use of this convention is something I found revelatory in my own works, for it showcases the complexities and dysfunctions in the families I’ve written about, and from varied vantage points. Franzen is obviously highly skilled at how he constructs such narratives, the flow of which are smooth as silk.

Like Franzen and The Corrections, Hill’s The Nix alternates perspectives, in particular between Samuel Andresen-Anderson, a writer and professor, and his estranged mother, Faye. The narrative includes secondary characters and their alternating timelines, including Faye’s younger years in the 1960s, as well as Samuel’s childhood. Hill’s shifts, however, tend to be more fluid and less chapter oriented than Franzen’s, as they occasionally move between points of view within a single scene or section of the novel.

The Nix is set across multiple decades and follows the life of Samuel Andresen-Anderson and his mother, Faye, who abandoned him.

Temporal Structure and Flashbacks

Franzen’s novel is largely linear, set in the late 1990s with flashbacks to earlier periods in the Lambert family’s life. These temporal shifts provide context for present-day conflicts, highlighting the sources of the Lambert family’s dysfunction. The majority of the novel takes place over the course of a few months leading up to a family Christmas gathering, past events interlinked to provide context.

Hill’s novel, in contrast, takes more chances when it comes to the structure of the novel. Nix jumps back and forth across multiple decades, from the 1960s student protests in Chicago to the 2011 Occupy movement. Samuel’s life, from his early years through adulthood are part of the story. These flashbacks help clarify Samuel and Faye’s past, but also their contemporary lives. Memory, thus, is critical to the book’s plot and dictates why Hill has structured the novel as he has.

Interludes and Digressions

Both novels incorporate digressions and interludes that expand their scope beyond the central plot. Franzen is fond of internal monologues that explore the psychological depths of his characters. He pushes themes and introspection, and obviously character motivations, which allow us to understand why characters do what they do.

Hill’s novel, meanwhile, is playful, using satire to bring clarity and humor to serious situations. Nix features chapters that depart from the main narrative to focus on secondary characters, to offer commentary on culture, in particular online gaming and sensationalism in the media. Meaning is derived from Hill’s swerving away from the main stories, and they connect the disparate chapters in impressive transitions. His skill at bouncing around, at telling a grand story with beautiful lines and ease, is right up there with the Pynchons and Mistrys and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s exploration of a family in crisis in Fleischman is in Trouble.

Stylistic Approaches to Narrative

Franzen’s voice in The Corrections is omniscient. The author employes free indirect discourse to merge the narrator’s perspective with the realizations of his characters. His prose is extremely detailed, psychologically painful, and his use of empathy and irony are on point.

Hill’s approach is more experimental. He employs metafiction and humor, which some readers may find intrusive. Written in the third-person, Hill departs from traditional narrative boundaries to great effect. Motifs are important to Hill. A grand sort of saga is always at play, however tightly focused. He knows what he’s doing stylistically and narratively, and it shows.

Hill’s approach is more experimental. He employs metafiction and humor, which some readers may find intrusive.

Conclusion

While the authors use similar conventions, specifically the use of varying narratives by character, their goals are slightly different. Franzen’s novel follows a more linear path. The psychological realities of his characters reminds us of, well, the problems and issues we face within our own families. Hill’s novel is not as linear as Franzen’s. His themes tend to be more historical in nature, but the overall feel, the effect that both writers provide their readers feels like they’re along the same troubled wavelength, a wavelength that most of us writers can sometimes feel, but rarely duplicate no matter how hard we try. Their works are something to aspire to, but like Pynchon or Kingsolver, Updike and Groff, there’s just something there that tells us we’ll never quite reach the heights of the castle from which these authors produce their works.

Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections was an interesting exercise for me because of how invested as a reader but also as a writer I became during the process of reading both novels. They are distinct, but there's something to the sort of general style that is reminiscent of the nebulous concept of the "Great American Novel," many of us strive for in our fiction.

Cully Perlman is author of The Losses. He’s also a blogger and substantive editor. He can be reached at Cully@novelmasterclass.com 

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