A review by zen_chick
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

5.0

This book!!! It's long, loooooong. Epic in scale spanning 3 generations of a Greek family who emigrated to the States during a war with Turkey. The narrator is Cal/Callie, who tells the story of his family looking back from his present day. Can I just say the LANGUAGE of this novel is absolutely breath-taking. Eugenides is so skilled in his writing, it was really lovely to read his descriptions, to relish in his characters and their remarkable story. It's told with a sense of wonder that charmed the hell out of me. I mean....this QUOTE..."I was thinking how amazing it was that the world contained so many lives. Out in these streets people were embroiled in a thousand different 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."

I listened to the audiobook version and the reader (actor?) was just masterful. The only regret I have is that I was thus unable to slow down and relish the language, or re-read a particularly beautiful passage. But that just means that I have the pleasure of reading the physical book and enjoying the story all over. JOY!!