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Title: Middlesex : A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides ISBN: 0-312-42215-6 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (268 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: 4 1/2 * Pulitzer Prize Winner is Excellent
Comment: 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: 5
Summary: Expertly Imagined
Comment: "Middlesex" reads like a modern day Greek Tragedy; exploring concepts of gender, sexuality and identity on a backdrop of Greek mythology and twentieth century Greek and American history. The novel is written in the form of a memoir. The main character and narrator is Calliope. It is no accident that this character shares a name with the Greek Muse who reigns over epic poetry and rhetoric; for Cal is an excellent story teller and Eugenides a clever writer. This well placed symbolism is one of many examples where the author weaves elements of Greek mythology with elements of the characters' reality. Born an intersex child to first generation Greek-American parents, Callie is raised as a girl until a nearly tragic accident exposes her condition.
Cal's life story covers his conception, birth, adolescence and rebirth. His story spans continents and travels back in time as he reconstructs his family history in an effort to understand the origin of the gene that reigns over gender and identity. This journey of self discovery starts in 1920s Greece, around the time of the Turkish invasion. Eleutherios (Lefty) and Desdamona, Cal's grandparents, flee from their small village when it was set ablaze by Turkish soldiers. They devise a scheme to gain access to a boat headed for New York City and the freedom that America insinuates. They settle in Detroit during its early motor production heydays. In addition to a silkworm box and cultural traditions from their homeland, Lefty and Desdamona bring to America the secret of their union - not only are they husband and wife but brother and sister as well.
As Callie enters adolescence, she becomes dejectedly aware of her late development as a female. As she anxiously awaits the development of breast, she instinctively pursues her desires for the Object of her affections. The longer the delay in the start of her period, the stronger her insecurities with her body and her looks. After a car accident during a summer vacation with the Object and her family, Calliope is rushed to a hospital where doctors notify her parents that she has both male and female genitalia.
Militates (Milton) and Theodora (Tessie) are Calliope's parents. Milton is the son of Lefty and Desdamona. Tessie is the daughter of Lefty's and Desdamona's cousin. Upon learning of their daughter's condition, Milton and Tessie take Callie to a gender identity specialist in New York City. Throughout Callie's evaluation by Dr. Luce, she is kept in the dark about the details of the condition being evaluated. After sneaking a look at her medical report when Dr. Luce wasn't present and piecing together bits of information overheard during her examinations, Callie learns the details of her situation and the doctor's recommendation to surgically alter her genitals and physically make her female. This recommendation is based on false information that Calliope provided to Dr. Luce during her psychological evaluations. Unaware that the stories she created to protect herself could in fact destroy her, Callie professed an attraction to boys although her experience with sexuality and her sexual desires were that of a heterosexual male's.
The only thing that kept Cal's life from becoming a complete tragedy is his instincts for flight in a situation that would have resulted in the destruction of the self he identified with most; a mutilation of parts that are as natural to him as a penis is to a boy, a vagina to a girl. Cal's instinct for self-preservation fueled his escape from New York City and his subsequent life in San Francisco as a homeless kid, sex club sideshow, and writer. Eugenides demonstrates with clarity, humanity and insight, the complexities of gender, sexuality and identity within the context of a family history, a 1970s middleclass American social construct and an individual spirit. This is storytelling at the height of creativity. "Middlesex" is expertly imagined and is a worthy addition to America's literary canon. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 4
Summary: A fantastic novel
Comment: This is a fantastic novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The physical and mental struggle of Calliope is perfectly depicted. Although it is a story, it is very close to real life. It could happen to any family. As i went through the book , I had a feeling that Cal was sitting in front of me and relating her life story. Seeing oneself as a girl till teenage and then preparing oneself mentally and physically as a man, is truly a painful experience and Eugenides has been successful in making the readers feel the pain and experience the struggle of Cal, through his writings and usage of heart touching dialouges.
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Title: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides ISBN: 0446670251 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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