Started Reading: January 2, 2024
Finished Reading: January 12, 2024
I have read 100% of this book
Verdict: You MUST read this book! (5 of 5 stars)
HOLY SHIT. I've been a fan of Jeffrey Eugenides before I even knew I was a fan, since stumbling upon the movie The Virgin Suicides way back when cable TV was still a thing. It led me to fall in love with the novel, and I've wanted to read more of his work for years now, particularly this book. I'm so happy I finally read Middlesex! I went into this book with the pre-conceived notion that it would focus mainly on the intersexed Cal (a.k.a Calliope) and their experiences in moving through our binary world, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's more about the generations-long history of the family that begot the intersexed person. The omniscient narrator starts way back in the Greece/Turkey region describing the romance between their grandparents. We then follow them to the US, where they settle in Detroit and raise a family of their own, who then raises a family of their own and leads us to Cal. The latter portion of the book brings us into Cal's childhood and coming of age, and back around to his family and his current-day life.
Eugenides' writing is just top-notch. So many poetic passages that masterfully set tone and do so much with so few words. His writing always paints such a rich image, and utilizes wordy, literary style as well as brevity in perfect measures. I honestly couldn't have asked for more than what this book offers, and it was instantly one of my all-time favorites.