Wow.
I cannot remember the last time I read such a wonderful, moving, challenging, and well-told story. This wasn’t light entertainment, and I didn’t read it quickly — I wouldn’t have wanted to. This it the type of book that needs to be digested. But most of all, it needs to be read. Whoever you are, and whatever you normally read, I recommend you read this book.
It wasn’t perfect, but there was no chance of giving it fewer than 5 stars. In fact, I find myself wishing I could give those stars another dimension — 5 gold stars, for examples. I have given many deserving books 5 stars for pure entertainment value, but in this case, the meaning is different. This is one of those books that will change the way you look at the world.
Using a first-person narrator and the voice of a dramatic story-teller, Jeffrey Eugenedes traces the history of the 5-alpha-reductase gene as it traveled through three generations beginning with his grandparents, born in a small, inbred Greek town. This gene, lying dormant for generations, finally caught up with Cal (born Calliope) in 1960, when he was born with indistinct gender characteristics that led him to be raised as a girl.
Going back to 1922, however, his grandparents have other concerns as they flee their native country due to a Turkish invasion. They go to America, have children, and eventually grandchildren. All the while, as the author brings the story and the history to life in stunning, vivid detail, we consider such issues as race relations, the American dream, incest, and ethnic identity. Then, in 1960, when Calliope is born, we are also forced to consider the basis of gender identity, and nature vs. nurture. Calliope holds nothing back as we live his transformation into Cal — from his early sexual play to his lingering feelings of femininity.
My only complaint, and I sensed this coming a long way off, was that I thought it ended too soon. I have heard some complaints that the book’s focus was split, trying to work the immigrant story in with the hermaphrodism. I disagree. I found the history both deeply compelling in and of itself, as well as perfectly relevant. To begin and end with the hermaphrodism would have been to make this character one-dimensional, defined only by the oddity that most of us struggle to understand. But if you only get one thing out of this book (and I would be surprised if that were the case), then you should come to understand that a person is more than a gender, more than an ethnicity, more than the product of his upbringing, and far, far more than a single abnormality caused by a chain of ill-luck.
No, I thought all of that needed to be there, and yet, only a few months after Cal is reborn, the story ends. I won’t give details, because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I did want to get a sense for what life was like as he truly began to live with and adjust to his new gender role. It felt like a missing piece of the puzzle, and yes, even though the book was already long, I would have enjoyed more.
Or maybe that would have been too much. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m glad I chose this for my book club, and I can’t wait to discuss it.
Title: Middlesex
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommended to: Everyone
I cannot remember the last time I read such a wonderful, moving, challenging, and well-told story. This wasn’t light entertainment, and I didn’t read it quickly — I wouldn’t have wanted to. This it the type of book that needs to be digested. But most of all, it needs to be read. Whoever you are, and whatever you normally read, I recommend you read this book.
It wasn’t perfect, but there was no chance of giving it fewer than 5 stars. In fact, I find myself wishing I could give those stars another dimension — 5 gold stars, for examples. I have given many deserving books 5 stars for pure entertainment value, but in this case, the meaning is different. This is one of those books that will change the way you look at the world.
Using a first-person narrator and the voice of a dramatic story-teller, Jeffrey Eugenedes traces the history of the 5-alpha-reductase gene as it traveled through three generations beginning with his grandparents, born in a small, inbred Greek town. This gene, lying dormant for generations, finally caught up with Cal (born Calliope) in 1960, when he was born with indistinct gender characteristics that led him to be raised as a girl.
Going back to 1922, however, his grandparents have other concerns as they flee their native country due to a Turkish invasion. They go to America, have children, and eventually grandchildren. All the while, as the author brings the story and the history to life in stunning, vivid detail, we consider such issues as race relations, the American dream, incest, and ethnic identity. Then, in 1960, when Calliope is born, we are also forced to consider the basis of gender identity, and nature vs. nurture. Calliope holds nothing back as we live his transformation into Cal — from his early sexual play to his lingering feelings of femininity.
My only complaint, and I sensed this coming a long way off, was that I thought it ended too soon. I have heard some complaints that the book’s focus was split, trying to work the immigrant story in with the hermaphrodism. I disagree. I found the history both deeply compelling in and of itself, as well as perfectly relevant. To begin and end with the hermaphrodism would have been to make this character one-dimensional, defined only by the oddity that most of us struggle to understand. But if you only get one thing out of this book (and I would be surprised if that were the case), then you should come to understand that a person is more than a gender, more than an ethnicity, more than the product of his upbringing, and far, far more than a single abnormality caused by a chain of ill-luck.
No, I thought all of that needed to be there, and yet, only a few months after Cal is reborn, the story ends. I won’t give details, because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I did want to get a sense for what life was like as he truly began to live with and adjust to his new gender role. It felt like a missing piece of the puzzle, and yes, even though the book was already long, I would have enjoyed more.
Or maybe that would have been too much. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m glad I chose this for my book club, and I can’t wait to discuss it.
Title: Middlesex
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommended to: Everyone