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A review by becca_osborn
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
4.0
While I LOVE Eugenides' writing style so much, this was (IMHO) one of his weaker works. Still, it won the freaking Pulitzer and I didn't, and I can see why it did.
Callie/Cal was an endearing character, and while the history of her family feels long, you can see its importance at the end; none of it can be left out. The parallelism (I think) between the house and Callie's learning of herself and her transformation is intriguing, and the play on words is interesting, too. There were some beautiful images of twisted love--though disturbing, you wanted to read and know more. Does it make a person gross that they wanted to know the intimate details of Callie's genetic mutation, or does it just say something about the insatiable curiosity of human nature?
Also, I love Desdemona.
This book would be interesting to pair with One Hundred Years of Solitude. You could do a lot with gender/family structure studies--a lot of the themes in each remind me of the other (sudden wealth; riots; the grandmother who would never die; the interpreting of ancient languages, etc.).
*spoiler alert*
The novel ends kind of abruptly--you want to know more, and you hear Cal talking about being older as he narrates, but we only get an end image of Cal still as a teen. Perhaps the process of entering ambassador goodness (I think that's what it was) isn't as important to the story--but we're still curious. I think a book that leaves one asking questions and wanting to know more means impeccable writing, so that's why I give this book 4 stars even though it wasn't my absolute favourite in plot. =)
Callie/Cal was an endearing character, and while the history of her family feels long, you can see its importance at the end; none of it can be left out. The parallelism (I think) between the house and Callie's learning of herself and her transformation is intriguing, and the play on words is interesting, too. There were some beautiful images of twisted love--though disturbing, you wanted to read and know more. Does it make a person gross that they wanted to know the intimate details of Callie's genetic mutation, or does it just say something about the insatiable curiosity of human nature?
Also, I love Desdemona.
This book would be interesting to pair with One Hundred Years of Solitude. You could do a lot with gender/family structure studies--a lot of the themes in each remind me of the other (sudden wealth; riots; the grandmother who would never die; the interpreting of ancient languages, etc.).
*spoiler alert*
The novel ends kind of abruptly--you want to know more, and you hear Cal talking about being older as he narrates, but we only get an end image of Cal still as a teen. Perhaps the process of entering ambassador goodness (I think that's what it was) isn't as important to the story--but we're still curious. I think a book that leaves one asking questions and wanting to know more means impeccable writing, so that's why I give this book 4 stars even though it wasn't my absolute favourite in plot. =)