Middlesex

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 * Pulitzer Prize Winner is Excellent
Review: Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex" belongs to the sprawling intergenerational book genre, but he explores themes with a fresh perspective. Calliope (later Cal) is the omniscient narrator of a story that begins in 1922 Smyrna, Asia Minor and ends almost 80 years later in Berlin. Most of the story takes place in Detroit, a city that he describes with great insight and emotion. Eugenides expertly switches between the voices of the grown-up Cal and the young Calliope; therefore, we experience events as Calliope did, but with the perspective of Cal (at age 40). Calliope is a winning storyteller, observant, funny, and with realistic childhood and adolescent feelings. Throughout the book, Eugenides demonstrates that Callie's circumstances underlie experiences shared by all: Pain, love, confusion, feelings of being both the same as and different from. I think Eugenides somewhat underestimates the emotional toll that Callie's journey would entail, particularly during her long separation from her family as she makes the psychological transformation from Calliope to Cal. Usually; however, the insights and feelings are so true that it reads like an autobiography.

While the story is compelling, there are some problems that interfere with a fluid read. At times, narrative transitions are handled awkwardly through either through over use of ellipses (...) or with somewhat clunky sentences: 'Milton stepped on the gas, ignoring the scarcity not only of petroleum but of many other things as well,' which breaks into a long list of scarce hope, food, phone calls, clean socks, etc. He also overplays his hand at the Greek tragic motif he is constructing ('Sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation'!'; though he later, in apparent contradiction, concludes that we can forge our own truer identities) and in his broad caricatures of ethnic and religious types. There's also a sly quality that sets up "surprise" situations: In the most egregious case of 'magical realism,' or just plain gimmickry, Eugenides uses the conceit of using his fictional character 'Jimmy Zizmo' as the 'real' identity of the actual character, Nation of Islam Muslim founder W.D. Farr, and the denouement concerning Calliope's father and uncle lacks credibility. Mostly though, Eugenides' story is compelling and humorous, and he masterfully evokes place and character (industrial Detroit; a hilarious indictment of an ultra-hip 1970s-era surgeon/sexologist), with a casual ease that nicely belies the serious themes.

The book bears some resemblance to Michael Chabon's own Pulitzer Prize winner, "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay." In both, the immigrant experience and the forging of a new identity are central, characters journey to find their own "American dream," and urban settings help shape their lives. While Chabon is the more nimble phrase writer, Eugenides is similarly poignant and symbolic. Like Chabon, Eugenides uses metaphor (based on reality) as he explores the ideas of being 'different,' the sometimes-artificial nature of boundaries, and the Greek notion of fate. It is an entertaining and often moving story that, despite some minor annoyances, I recommend very highly.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining but flawed novel
Review: I found much of this book quite enjoyable, but ended up feeling that Eugenides had not quite lived up to his promise.

The novel follows three generations of the Stephanides family, and it faces a general problem with such multigenerational works --it's hard to get the reader deeply involved in the lives of the grandparents, then put these characters aside and transfer one's interest to the parents, and then finally to make a third transfer of interest to the children.

Eugenides succeeded in getting me interested in the grandparents (Desdemona and Lefty), their escape from Turkey, and their life in America. But the second generation, Milton and Tessie, was less compelling. Milton becomes a cliche'd Archie Bunker sort of character, and Tessie isn't well-developed at all. They are not very interesting or memorable characters, and we spend way too much time with them.

Cal/Callie's story is fascinating, but it seems to end far too soon. The book ends shortly after s/he has discovered and accepted her transgendered nature at age 15. But the narrator is roughly 40, and we don't get to learn anything about the intervening 25 years. How did Cal get from being a newly discovered boy to being a diplomat in Germany? What was his life like in the intervening years? And what is it like now?

There are real flashes of brilliance in this book, but ultimately I was disappointed and feel that it doesn't come together.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be scared away by the length
Review: Even though the book is over long and the cover is very ugly, "Middlesex" is still a great read. It is about the meaning of tolerance, what it means to have an identity, and the importance of having a supportive family.

In case you haven't heard, the book is about Callie, a young girl who doesn't quite fit in. She is taller and thinner than everything else and doesn't possess the natural grace of other girls her age. All Callie wants is to grow into a woman so she can have children of her own.

Unfortuately, Mother Nature had a different plan for her. When Callie was born, her doctor failed to realize that something about her wasn't quite right: she was born with malformed genitalia. She is actually a male hermaphrodite.

Because no one bothered to find out why Callie wasn't maturing as expected, she lived into her teenage years before learning who she really was. When Callie finally learns of her actual identity, she embraces it and begins living her life as Cal. Cal will then have to find a way to relate to a family that knew him as Callie.

Before you read this book, keep in mind that the author takes about one hundred pages to actually introduce Callie. He sets up an intriguing backstory explaining why what happened to Cal happened. The book also ends too quickly, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the life that Cal makes for himself.

Middlesex is a great read and it really makes you care about the characters.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Be Intimidated!
Review: This was the best book I have ever had the privilege to read. Yes, the size of the novel was daunting. But after the first chapter I was hooked...and you will be too!
Mr. Eugenides book is such a wonderful mix of history (personal, national and international) and fictional story telling. I learned from it, laughed at it and even cried.

Want to know how good this book is? in one night, I became so absorbed by it, I started reading at 10pm and the next time I looked-up from the pages to check the clock it was 5am!!!
Invest the time...you will NOT regret it!

Rating:
Summary: What is the Point?
Review: I'll agree with a lot of reviewers that "Middlesex" is well-written (mostly) and I enjoyed it very much. However, what keeps gnawing at me is, "what was the point?" In my quest to find meaning to this book I even read most of the Amazon reviews hoping for a clue, but it still eludes me. So, for now, I can only see "Middlesex" as a book where a lot of interesting stuff happens.

My first big problem with this book is that it focuses too much on the past generations and not enough on Cal/Calliope him(her)self. I just didn't see why so much time was given to the grandparents and parents. I think the incestuous relationship between the grandparents was in there because that was the "cause" of Cal's condition, but it seemed to me that he also said that because of all the prior inbreeding in the little village that defective gene already existed, so was the brother-sister marriage of the grandparents really the "cause"? I'm not convinced it was and so I don't see any reason to give them such a huge chunk of story.

I also didn't understand the point of Cal's relationship in Berlin. Was this just to give us a glimpse of how he lives as a man? The other part I didn't understand is why after 26 years of not revealing himself, he does so with this woman. It seemed tacked on.

I largely suspect that most of the historical facts and elements in this book are correct (I'm from Michigan but not Detroit so I can't say otherwise), but there are at least two inaccuracies in this novel. First, Cal says they made B-52s in automobile plants during WWII, but the B-52 was not around until the jet engine was perfected in the '50s. The person who read the book before me actually made a note of this in the book. Second, Cal talks about Al Kaline as a great first baseman and it's true that he did play 135 games at first during his major league career, but he was far better known as an outfielder for the Tigers (2,488 games in the outfield). So what? you say, A couple little slips don't matter. I don't know about you, but when I see the author making mistakes in their research, it shakes my confidence so that I have to call everything into question.

The pivotal problem in my mind is that the reason Cal decides to run away from home seemed weak and contrived. He find out that he is male in terms of organs so he decides to just up and start living like a man? Instead of running away, why not confront the doctor and postpone the surgery? Why not just say, "Hey, I want some time to think about this." When Cal does run away, I really didn't like the "Showgirl"esque strip club scenes. It seemed like a shortcut to get Cal to accept being a hermaphrodite instead of really coming to grips with it on his/her own.

Anyway, I have a number of complaints with this book, but it is an entertaining narrative. It does keep you reading through the end. I was just hoping for more. And if someone does figure out the overlying point of this book, don't hesitate to share it.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful novel
Review: Georgously written, this book was a pleasure from the first word to the last word. The kind of book one hopes to find but rarely does. An uncanny account of a complex family, covering three generations. This is a must read for anyone that loves getting into intimate details of the characters and really caring about them on a highly intelligent level. This is honestly one of the best books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: What A Fantastic Book!
Review: Having just finshed the last line of this exceptional, moving and compelling book I can truly say it will be placed on my list of all time favorites. When I bought this,I only knew that it was about a hermaphrodite. I had no idea this journey of a girl that discovers she's actually a boy would be so utterly fantastic. Moving between the present Cal and back nearly eighty years to his Greek immigrant grandparents who started the mutation that manifests itself in the body of the narrator, Jeffrey Eugenides writes with a creative narrative flair that unfolds in a near cinematic way.The winning voice of Calliope/Cal brought to mind John Irving's "Owen Meany", and the book left me with the same feeling of awe when I finished.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Contemporary Fiction I've Read In Years!
Review: This spellbinding novel is informative, entertaining, and has just the right touch of dark humor sprinkled throughout. I couldn't put it down, and was sad to see it end. Cal is a protagonist for the 21st century, and you will find her...him... irresistable!

Rating:
Summary: A delicate topic--terrific story
Review: A good story is always the basis for an award of 5 stars from me. This story swept me from the quiet Greek town, through the tumult of war, into the immigrant experience in Detroit. The family secret never revealed results in the narrator's unusual life journey from girlhood to manhood.

Rating:
Summary: An ambitious undertaking with outstanding results
Review: How to describe this sweeping epic, this amazing journey of the girl who became a boy? Cal Stephanides, the girl in question, was never really a girl'she was merely misdiagnosed at birth. We follow her life from birth to middle-age, as well as the journey of her conception. And to understand the events leading up to that, Eugenides treats us to the incestuous history of the Stephanides clan, spanning from Greece at the beginning of the 20th century to modern-day San Francisco and Detroit.

Such an elaborate story would seem a daunting read, and I did initially find that to be the case; the first hundred or so pages were a little taxing to get through, especially deciphering the Greek tangle of familial relations. But I'm glad I stuck it out because this was such an absorbing tale, told with grace and a surprising amount of wit. The characters are thoroughly developed (except, perhaps, for modern day Cal, who I would've liked to hear a little more about), and Eugenides moves them deftly through the decades'through many major events in American history like the Depression and the race riots in Detroit.

His descriptions of the emotional angst Cal endures throughout a sexually ambiguous adolescence and the subsequent discovery of his biology are SO well done. I was also amazed by the detailed history of hermaphrodites Eugenides includes. Really, I can't express my awe enough for this book.