i just finished reading middlesex by jeffrey eugenides. my mom suggested it to me, because (in her own words), "[i was] the only person [she'd] ever met who has used the term 'intersex' prior to reading this book". i guess that was my indication that my sociology radar would be twitching, in reading through the novel. that, and my love for 'virgin suicides' led me to pouring over this book - with a hope that i would fall in love, the way i did with the former.
written about a greek family, starting from the very beginning, the book revolves around a man named cal, and his upbringing as a young girl named calliope. however, the book begins with grandparents, and then parents, and incorporates a large portion of the family's greek background, as it plays a large part in the novel.
i will admit - it took me months to read. i'm an atypically quick reader - I was reading far earlier than normal, and my parents used to get angry at me because i would buy books and read them too quickly. so months to read a book - for me - is lengthy. the book took a lot of my effort to become invested in - the history at the beginning of it all was a bit much for me. i admit it - i'm not a history buff, and though i love it when it's a huge part of the story, i found there was little to be said for the integration of the history used in this novel, and the story itself. overkill maybe?
nevertheless, once i got about 1/3 or half of the way through, i was hooked... but had i not had the previous experience with the virgin suicides, and my mom's (and her book club's) promotion, i wouldn't have made it. it was exhausting to read, long, verbose, and not entirely engaging.... until about halfway through. then, i have to say, i wanted nothing more than to finish the book - which is saying a lot about a book i almost left at home at the halfway point.
it's worth a read. if you have the time, you love history, and genetics, it's a fantastic story. eugenides quite obviously spent years researching this book (it took him 9 years to finish), and it shows. it's a beautiful reflection of rebirth and creating an identity... as well as the 'american dream', and it's truths, harships, and the holes in its logic. by the end, i enjoyed it.
some of my favourite quotes in the book:
“I live my own life and nurse my own wounds. It's not the best way to live. But it's the way I am.”
“Regret, already sogging me down, burst its dam. It seeped into my legs, it pooled in my heart.”
written about a greek family, starting from the very beginning, the book revolves around a man named cal, and his upbringing as a young girl named calliope. however, the book begins with grandparents, and then parents, and incorporates a large portion of the family's greek background, as it plays a large part in the novel.
i will admit - it took me months to read. i'm an atypically quick reader - I was reading far earlier than normal, and my parents used to get angry at me because i would buy books and read them too quickly. so months to read a book - for me - is lengthy. the book took a lot of my effort to become invested in - the history at the beginning of it all was a bit much for me. i admit it - i'm not a history buff, and though i love it when it's a huge part of the story, i found there was little to be said for the integration of the history used in this novel, and the story itself. overkill maybe?
it's worth a read. if you have the time, you love history, and genetics, it's a fantastic story. eugenides quite obviously spent years researching this book (it took him 9 years to finish), and it shows. it's a beautiful reflection of rebirth and creating an identity... as well as the 'american dream', and it's truths, harships, and the holes in its logic. by the end, i enjoyed it.
some of my favourite quotes in the book:
“I live my own life and nurse my own wounds. It's not the best way to live. But it's the way I am.”
_______________
“But in the end it wasn't up to me. The bigs things never are. Birth, I mean, and death. And love. And what love bequeaths to us before we're born.”
_______________
_______________
"the vast reading room thrummed with silent energy: people thinking, writing. the painted cieling bellied overhead like a sail, and down below the green desk lamps glowed, illuminating faces bent over books. i was stooping over mine, my hair falling onto the pages, covering up the definition of myself"
if you're a history buff, and are interested in social constructs of gender - or just the idea of coming to know oneself at a few moments in life, and how that transpires - the book is worth the read.