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ozblom24's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
historysworstmonster's review against another edition
5.0
As expected like millions before me I enjoyed this book a lot. The complicated tail of the family history that gives emotional and genetic detail which leads to our main character's birth/life was just as interesting as his own story.
mcnallyswife's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cfurniss22's review against another edition
5.0
Swooped in at the last minute to be on my list of favourites for 2021.
give_me_tea_or_give_me_death's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
millsjeff's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It’s disingenuous to present this as the story of an intersex person. This is a standard American immigrant saga narrated by an intersex member of the family. Eugenides makes a great case for why books such as these should not be written by cishet men.
Desdemona, the grandmother, is the most interesting and developed character and even she is sidelined with nothing to do but paint in broad strokes for a middle quarter of the work. Her medium? Overworked metaphors.
Admittedly, I like the ideas. I like the plotting. I found myself struggling to engage with the prose. I found myself struggling to laugh at any of the jokes.
What was surely a mold breaking work 20 years ago is now little more than something to cringe at. Trite, twee, and a bit smarmy. I wanted to see how it unspooled, but rolled my eyes for much of the journey.
Desdemona, the grandmother, is the most interesting and developed character and even she is sidelined with nothing to do but paint in broad strokes for a middle quarter of the work. Her medium? Overworked metaphors.
Admittedly, I like the ideas. I like the plotting. I found myself struggling to engage with the prose. I found myself struggling to laugh at any of the jokes.
What was surely a mold breaking work 20 years ago is now little more than something to cringe at. Trite, twee, and a bit smarmy. I wanted to see how it unspooled, but rolled my eyes for much of the journey.
corymackenziegray's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
qwu's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just wow.
It always makes me somewhat sad to read stories that go across generations. They often start off in a funny, cute way, but then the characters grow up/old, bad things happen, and a kind of sadness sinks in. Throughout reading Middlesex, I was constantly reminded of Midnight's Children, but we shall leave that for another day.
You can't really pinpoint the story to Calliope only, because a large part of it is also about Calliope's grandparents and parents, which I actually like better. I like to close the book for a while, close my eyes and lean back in my chair thinking about how Lefty is transformed into the quiet, good-natured old man, how Milton is transformed into a successful business owner, how Calliope is transformed into a man. I like to think about all of that. Most of the time I fail to recollect when, and how it exactly happened, but it just did anyway. And I love the book even more for that.
It is exactly like our own lives. We change, we transform and we thrive. Or not. We don't necessarily go through changes that drastic like from a woman/man to man/woman, but we do experience transformations at some point in our own ways. Think about it. How fascinating is that.
And I'd hate to be a self-centered weirdo who only thinks about her own problems. This quote from the book literally brought me into tears.
I was thinking how amazing it was that the world contained so many lives. Out in these streets people embroiled in a thousand matters, money problems, love problems, school problems. People were falling in love, getting married, going to drug rehab, learning how to ice-skate, getting bifocals, studying for exams, trying on clothes, getting their hair cut, and getting born. And in some houses people were getting old and sick and were dying, leaving others to grieve. It was happening all the time, unnoticed, and it was the thing that really mattered. What really mattered in life, what gave it weight, was death. Seen this way, my bodily metamorphosis was a small event. Only the pimp might have been interested.
It always makes me somewhat sad to read stories that go across generations. They often start off in a funny, cute way, but then the characters grow up/old, bad things happen, and a kind of sadness sinks in. Throughout reading Middlesex, I was constantly reminded of Midnight's Children, but we shall leave that for another day.
You can't really pinpoint the story to Calliope only, because a large part of it is also about Calliope's grandparents and parents, which I actually like better. I like to close the book for a while, close my eyes and lean back in my chair thinking about how Lefty is transformed into the quiet, good-natured old man, how Milton is transformed into a successful business owner, how Calliope is transformed into a man. I like to think about all of that. Most of the time I fail to recollect when, and how it exactly happened, but it just did anyway. And I love the book even more for that.
It is exactly like our own lives. We change, we transform and we thrive. Or not. We don't necessarily go through changes that drastic like from a woman/man to man/woman, but we do experience transformations at some point in our own ways. Think about it. How fascinating is that.
And I'd hate to be a self-centered weirdo who only thinks about her own problems. This quote from the book literally brought me into tears.
I was thinking how amazing it was that the world contained so many lives. Out in these streets people embroiled in a thousand matters, money problems, love problems, school problems. People were falling in love, getting married, going to drug rehab, learning how to ice-skate, getting bifocals, studying for exams, trying on clothes, getting their hair cut, and getting born. And in some houses people were getting old and sick and were dying, leaving others to grieve. It was happening all the time, unnoticed, and it was the thing that really mattered. What really mattered in life, what gave it weight, was death. Seen this way, my bodily metamorphosis was a small event. Only the pimp might have been interested.