Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
by Jeffrey Eugenides
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Book Reviews of Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: Not Quite Believable
Summary: 3 Stars
I sometimes begin a novel knowing pretty much what to expect from it. I'm either familiar enough with the author that its style doesn't surprise me or I've somehow already picked up enough information about its plot that the book holds few surprises other than its details. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, was definitely an exception to the rule because this was my first Eugenides novel (it's his second novel) and I had heard nothing at all about its plot.
Middlesex is a complicated novel of more than 500 pages, the multi-generational story of the Stephenides family who fled to America in the early 1920s for its very survival. At the core of this family saga is the fact that two members of the family, brother and sister, arrived in America as husband and wife, something that was to genetically impact the book's narrator and main character, Calliope Stephenides, who was born a hermaphrodite in 1960 Detroit. The novel's opening line sets the stage for the rest of the book:
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974."
Everything about Calliope's birth appeared normal to the attending Greek doctor and his nurse and for the first 14 years of her/his life Calliope was raised as the girl whom she appeared to be. Things suddenly changed for her after she reached puberty and an emergency room doctor recognized that Calliope was, in fact, not the girl she thought she was.
Eugenides fills each generation of the Stephenides family with memorable characters from the moment that Desdemona and Lefty are forced to abandon everything and flee to America to the point at which Calliope Stephenides finally becomes Cal Stephenides. Their story typifies the experience of many immigrant families who came to the United States in the early years of the twentieth century. We watch as Lefty and Desdemona, guarding the secret of their marriage all the while, struggle to gain an economic foothold in Detroit that will allow them to carve out a good life for themselves and their children in their new world. It wasn't always easy for them but, by the time their grandchildren are born, Lefty and Desdemona can look with pride at the American family that they have created.
Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, one that I expected both to be impressed by and to enjoy. And to a large degree that is what happened. But the novel did not quite work for me and I found it difficult at times to "believe" some of the characters or plot twists, especially the easy transition that Calliope made in becoming Cal. I found it hard to believe that a person who had been raised female for the entire 14 years of her life could so easily, and so suddenly, take on the persona of a teenage male. But, putting my minor quibbles aside, I do think that Middlesex is a book worth reading and I have a feeling that it has the makings of becoming a favorite book of lots of readers.
Book Review: very interesting story
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a story about three generations of the Stephanides family. Told by a very interesting person Cal Stephanides.
The first generation is Cal's grandmother Desdemona Stephanides. She lives with her brother Lefty in a small town in Turkey that was traditionally Greek. She raises silk worms and he sells the silk in the nearby town. Their parents were killed earlier and they try to fight an attraction that they have to each other. When the Turks invade they decide to go to Smyrna then on to Athens and America to live with their cousin Lina. While in Smyrna they get stuck when the Turks set fire to the city. During this time Lefty asked Desdemona to marry him if they survive. They are able to get out by pretending that they are French and manage to get on a ship. On the ship they pretend that they do not know each other and eventually get married. They arrive in Detroit to live with their cousin Lina and her husband Jimmy Zizmo. While they live with the Zizmo's Lefty works for Henry Ford, gets drown into Jimmy's bootlegging schemes and both Lina and Desdemona get pregnant on the same night, and soon after the birth of Lina's baby daughter Jimmy disappears.
For the first couple years of Milton Stephanides and Theodora (Tessie) Zizmo's lives they are raised together in the same house. Then Lina and Tessie move nearby. As they grow up they are still close (Tessie calls Milton's sister Zoe her daughter at first and spends a lot of time with the family growing up) Then when they are teenagers they find themselves attracted to each other. Milton plays an instrument and uses it to seduce Tessie even though she is involved with Mike, a minister in training at the local Greek Orthodox seminary. Tessie and Mike get engaged and Milt is not happy, so he enlists in the navy during WWII. While Milt is serving Tessie realizes that she loves him and shortly afterward they get married.
Calliope Helen Stephanides was born about 15 years after "her" parents marriage and five years after th birth of her brother Chapter Eleven. She thinks herself a normal girl besides the practice kissing with a friend when she was in Elementary School and the girl she befriends whom she calls "The Object" as in the object of her affections. They spend a lot of time together the summer they are 14, and despite loosing her virginity to the objects brother commence on an affair. Shortly afterwards Callie is injured and the doctors find something fascinating. This leads Milt, Tessie and Callie to Dr. Lucas in NYC. What they find there is that Calliope is genetically a male, but is missing something on the fifth chromosome that makes him look like a female. After some miss understandings Callie becomes Cal and runs away leading to some very interesting adventures and experiences for the family.
All this is told by a 41 year old Cal, who is involved in the foreign service and lives in current day Germany.
A very well written interesting story that catches you from the very first sentence.
Book Review: Completely different and fascinating family story
Summary: 4 Stars
Gathering my thoughts together about this novel has taken me several days. Obviously Calliope Stephanides is no ordinary girl. Eugenides surrounds the reason for this with 80 years of history and an intimate look at the Stephanides family. Calliope, our plucky narrator for the journey, relates the events to us in a matter of fact and relatable way. The story of the family itself and how her grandparents fled from Smyrna to start life anew in Detroit and were involved in all sorts of interesting endeavors (liquor runners during the prohibition, silk worker for the nation of Islam, military men, a hippy, and the family business) is just as interesting as Calliope and the confusion she experiences growing up.
You really feel for Callie-hiding in the back of the locker room so no one sees her, constantly wondering why her body is not changing like others her age and then finally discovering why she is different, being treated like a science experiment by the doctors and ultimately deciding how she is going to live her life. Eugenides doesn't use Callie's being a hermaphrodite as shock factor. He just spins the story around her and lets her experiences speak for themselves which makes it so much easier to connect with her.
Of course I am a little biased in this being a native of the state but I really enjoyed that the majority of the book was set in and around the Detroit area. Seeing Detroit before it was Motown and experiencing it right on through the race riots of the 60's and the turbulent 70's was enjoyable for me.
There were a few issues I had with the book though. I cannot quite put my finger on why but this book took me about 100 or so pages to get into. It's not that I was bored with the story or anything like that. The narration and Callie's grandparent's escape from Smyrna were interesting but it just didn't click with me right away. Personally, I am glad I stuck with it but I think many would have tossed it aside before they got to the point where it really picks up. Also when Callie is going through her crush on her friend she has her first sexual experience with her friend's brother. This is the first time she's ever had someone pursue her like that and she gives in without much fuss? I hate that the author would use the "I was drinking and doing drugs" angle as the excuse for this happening. I heard that enough from certain friends in high school. I thought it was crap then. I still think its crap now. I do not see someone who is so self conscious about their body having sex with the first boy who pays attention to her. Despite those few hang ups I had it was an interesting story. I like this author's writing style and the quirky characters he creates. I think I will definitely be giving his first book The Virgin Suicides a try at some point. I hope it's as good as this one was.
Book Review: amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
I first picked up this book b/c of it sounded "eh" and I've heard nothing but amazing reviews about it. Also b/c it took place in none other than Detroit. Who if you know me at all, I LOVE Detroit, and even more so since I've moved away from home.
With moving away from Detroit this year which is everything I know and everyone I know is there I found this book very comforting in the fact of he was very descriptive of Monroe St.(which is where bars are at now and where I went to go drink) or talk about a few things that are true. The pink nights with the sky, though it's not as pink as he said it is now maybe it was then but not as pink or now that i think about it, it is a little. And just how he said everything about Detroit was true and in place and there and I can see it in my mind. To me, it was like a big warm blanket as I read on as he talked about the city. Talking about Greek town, though I know it's not the same as the years that he's talking in the book, still was just like s flash of warm memories and just being there and that feeling came back to me.
At first I really didn't like the book. It took a promise to Rhian that I would try it one more time, after 3 times of not being able to get into the book. I really wanted to enjoy it too b/c of well I bought the book(I hate buying new books and not liking them) and b/c of it seems really amazing but it was just Blah. At first it is kinda blah and a lot of family history that goes on but now that I read the whole book I think that it is really needed. Or at least to get a feel for the family and just lets you really get to know them.
I thought and felt that this was very personal and added to the greatness of the book.
As well as I also loved that it was kinda like gloves off totally honest and open about how she felt, about The Object and all. I mean this is a topic that I think everyone wonders about but no one really talks about it. I was talking about it to a co-worker about how would you feel going through this, what would your emotions be when finding this all out and this book just kinda opens that doorway and opens the door way to peoples minds to letting people really letting them be who they are which this shows that we have no control over. Which I've always said and highly agree with.
Although I was kinda confused of why she called her older brother "Chapter Eleven" through out the whole book and had to Google who he even was b/c I kept getting confused. At first I honestly thought he was the dog b/c Eugenides didn't say anything like any acts that only humans would do so I thought he was the dog. ha ha.
I honestly think this is a MUST read and everyone who reads it will love it. They may be in a state of "Wow, this book is really shocking/honest/ not my style" but at least try it.
Book Review: Amazing, Unique Epic
Summary: 5 Stars
Middlesex is the story of the Greek Stephanides family. Narrated by Calliope (later Cal due to a genetic hermaphroditic condition), the story is a discovery of the reasons why Calliope becomes Cal, but is also the story of one family's journey. The narrative is omniscient and starts with Cal's grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty, who live in Turkey and are also brother and sister. Greek-Turkish wars force them to leave and negate reasons for not marrying each other. They emigrate to America and make their way to Detroit, where they meet up with a cousin. Desdemona and Lefty eventually have children and work on becoming settled in the New World. One of their children, Milton, marries another cousin, Tessie. The product of this union, with their recessive genetic flaws, is Calliope. At birth, Calliope appears to be a girl and is raised as one. After the family narrative more or less concludes, the focus shifts to Calliope, her childhood, and her teenage years, when her self-discovery takes place and we come full circle back to Desdemona and Lefty's incestuous coupling.
This book is wonderful and rich and I had a lot of trouble putting it down. I loved Cal's voice and the approach to the narrative, omniscient and sometimes speaking to the reader. Jeffrey Eugenides gives a complete picture of each character, even minor characters, so that the reader understands their motivations, flaws, emotions. Although the reader knows from very early on that Calliope becomes Cal (in other words, the end result), the journey is the real jewel here. I read voraciously just to find out what path we would take to get to the conclusion. One also gets a strong sense of place in this book, as the places the characters inhabit are almost characters themselves. From Desdemona's cocoonery in Turkey to the Stephanides home, Middlesex, in Detroit to the city of Detroit itself, you can almost smell, taste, and hear the settings. Eugenides also weaves a multitude of historical events into the story, including the Greek-Turkish wars, Prohibition, World War II, and the Detroit Riots. From characters to time to place, this is an extremely tightly wrought, fascinating book.
My only problem with the book was very small. Cal's brother is called Chapter Eleven throughout the book and the reason for the strange nickname is never explained. Cal explains why he calls a female friend with whom he is in love "the Obscure Object," but never explains why he calls his brother Chapter Eleven. I thought it may have to do with running his father's business, but that wasn't it, and the character didn't seem significantly bankrupt in any way to me, if it was a metaphor. I hope I didn't miss something; I found that to be the only flaw in this beautiful, riveting story.