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tamracielle's review against another edition
4.0
I would say my actual rating is 3.5 stars. It took me awhile to get into this book. It was something of a disappointment after Middlesex, which was brilliant. I thought I might be able to relate to the three main characters, as I was also a college student during the early 80’s, but no. The endless details of their intellectual, self-absorbed, Ivy League existence got to be a bit much. I did eventually get pulled in, however. Eugenides adeptly captures the angst of messy relationships, and his portrayal of a main character struggling with bipolar disorder is heartbreakingly accurate.
mdevlin923's review against another edition
1.0
Follows the lives and relationship turmoil of Madeleine, Mitchell, and Leonard as they graduate and move on to the difficulties of working life.
It's not surprising that a combination of romance and literary/religious criticism resulted in the tediousness and pretentiousness of this book.
It's not surprising that a combination of romance and literary/religious criticism resulted in the tediousness and pretentiousness of this book.
tillybeller's review against another edition
4.75
Loved the ending of this - really subvert d my expectations and made the ending feel like the next beginning
erinastin's review against another edition
3.0
All the characters fell flat for me. Read middlesex or the virgin suicides instead
cmby's review against another edition
3.0
Disappointing and annoying. Seemed like a book written only for English majors, but without any heart.
carlyxdeexx's review against another edition
3.0
I read MIDDLESEX a while ago after getting a copy signed by Eugenides at a Princeton bookstore. I remember really loving that book and lamenting the fact that I hadn’t known how much I loved it until after having met the author.
I don’t think this book would have left the same enduring impression on me. It was okay. As annoyed as I was by the characters’ fatal flaws (particularly Mitchell’s), I liked how Eugenides embraced them, writing compassionately and with tenderness from each perspective. With more thought and some deeper reading and researching, I could put together a thorough analysis of the book’s allusions, its references and call-backs to other books, great minds, etc. But I’m on the bus and I have a data limit, so I’ll just say this: to me, this book was about the sheer unpredictability, power, and variety of love. Mutual and unrequited, romantic and familial, treasured and feared, in holding unbearably close and in letting inexplicably go. And the continuous existence of pain that comes with love in all its forms. And that we can still write about it, even now. The social expectations, the framing, it’s different, but the love, it’s the same. And it never gets old.
Don’t @ me, comp lit peeps. But thanks for reading.
I don’t think this book would have left the same enduring impression on me. It was okay. As annoyed as I was by the characters’ fatal flaws (particularly Mitchell’s), I liked how Eugenides embraced them, writing compassionately and with tenderness from each perspective. With more thought and some deeper reading and researching, I could put together a thorough analysis of the book’s allusions, its references and call-backs to other books, great minds, etc. But I’m on the bus and I have a data limit, so I’ll just say this: to me, this book was about the sheer unpredictability, power, and variety of love. Mutual and unrequited, romantic and familial, treasured and feared, in holding unbearably close and in letting inexplicably go. And the continuous existence of pain that comes with love in all its forms. And that we can still write about it, even now. The social expectations, the framing, it’s different, but the love, it’s the same. And it never gets old.
Don’t @ me, comp lit peeps. But thanks for reading.
yatinarora's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
_nijinska's review against another edition
3.0
Este livro poderá não ficar no cânone, mas creio que o autor fez algo inusual. Decidiu enfrentar uma tradição/tropo do romance ocidental que já não é o que era, mas que ainda pesa na estrutura de muitos romances actuais, deu-lhe um twist. Esse twist não só se adequa às ansiedades modernas, como não é uma pretensão de abolir a ansiedade do casamento do romance, pelo contrário parece mais interessado em extender em paridade dos géneros, essa ansiedade, reconhecendo a inevitabilidade da atracção dos corpos-mente.
Ambição não lhe falta e chega a ter momentos geniais, mas no geral não é uma grande expressão estética.
_
Notas: a) Descrição de doença mental, depressão, manyac depression
b) A acção revolve à volta de três personagens, sendo que a feminina seria a 'principal', não só pela narrativa começar pelo seu ponto de vista, mas por ser ela o vértice do triângulo amoroso. A prosa é escrita na terceira pessoa contudo vai alternando os pontos de vista das três personagens. Sendo que as partes da personagem de Leonard são talvez as mais interessantes, podendo arriscar dizer que pela identificação do autor com a personagem, usando o argumento de ambos serem de ascendência grega, se bem que isso pode ser uma brincadeira para enganar o público a fazer tais ligações. O que me importa é que havendo a identificação do autor ou não com esta personagem, ela pareceu-me a melhor escrita das 3.
Ambição não lhe falta e chega a ter momentos geniais, mas no geral não é uma grande expressão estética.
_
Notas: a) Descrição de doença mental, depressão, manyac depression
b) A acção revolve à volta de três personagens, sendo que a feminina seria a 'principal', não só pela narrativa começar pelo seu ponto de vista, mas por ser ela o vértice do triângulo amoroso. A prosa é escrita na terceira pessoa contudo vai alternando os pontos de vista das três personagens. Sendo que as partes da personagem de Leonard são talvez as mais interessantes, podendo arriscar dizer que pela identificação do autor com a personagem, usando o argumento de ambos serem de ascendência grega, se bem que isso pode ser uma brincadeira para enganar o público a fazer tais ligações. O que me importa é que havendo a identificação do autor ou não com esta personagem, ela pareceu-me a melhor escrita das 3.
totheliteraturelighthouse's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25