"I was born twice." It's an epic beginning for a novel, which is in itself epic in its twists and turns. Middlesex is the story of Cal Stephanides, a forty-year-old man who was born a girl called Callope; at the age of sixteen, his hermaphroditism was discovered. A second birth, as he explains it, and a large chunk of the novel is the story of Calliope's trials and tribulations as she's socialised into a gender that doesn't quite fit.

But to get to that point, we have the story of the previous two generations of the Stephanides family, Greek-Americans living in Detroit by way of a tiny village in Asia Minor. It's also the story of how Cal came to have the requisite genetic condition and surrounding circumstances for such a transformation. It's a long story, entwined with a great deal of history: the Turks' burning of Smyrna, the Second World War, the 1967 race riots, the Nation of Islam, all forming a backdrop and context to the family's story. They move through the burning of the harbour, speakeasies and hot dog stands, moving to the suburbs, and I recognise the greater narrative, the story of an immigrant family and their identity, their homesickness and their difference, their gradual assmilation, and finally, their loss of what's left behind.

There are discordant notes in this grand tapestry, of course - sometimes the inner life of the teenage girl isn't particularly well rendered, and occasionally things get a little too soap-operatic - but on the whole, it's an achievement. I could have done with a little more about Cal's life post-"second birth", actually - a little more on how he deals with a life lived male, and how he deals with the family secrets he inherits, but as it is, it's a substantial, solid achievement - a warm bath of a novel, just the right level of comedic, and full of insight into identity. ( )

This is a reread of one of my favorite books. The protagonist has 5-alpha-reductase deficiency syndrome, a genetic mutation where the effect is a type of hermaphroditism such that he appears female until puberty, when he essentially switches to becoming male. The story follows the protagonist's understanding of himself and of gender in general. He starts with his grandparents, who emigrated from Turkey and set the genetic stage by marrying even though they were brother and sister. It follows through his parents and then his own life, sexuality, and self-discovery, and is interwoven throughout with mythology (he's Greek, so there's a lot of classicism incorporated) and the transformations that society is going through as he is growing up (and transforming himself) (the family settles in Detroit, and there's lots of discussion of race and the dynamics of immigrant and racial populations, as well as a great scene in the Detroit riots).

The writing in this book is excellent. Eugenides has a very fluid style full of subtle allusions and echoes of Greek poets. All of the science and gender research in it is very correct, too. The protagonist's interactions with a particular gender researcher are modeled on an actual case in the gender literature - gender researchers always get very excited when a case shows up that sheds light on the nature vs. nurture debate: the protagonist here (and the real person he's based on) was one such case, being genetically male, but raised as female until puberty. In the famous case the researcher, named John Money if you're interested, believed that the subject proved that nurture (the gender of raising) was the determining factor, claiming that the subject was completely female. Over time, though, the story unraveled and it turned out that aspects of the subject had been concealed, and the subject eventually switched their gender identity to living as a man. The fictionalized version in Middlesex does a very good job exploring all the factors going into this, and is accurate to the real story, as far as I know it.

To summarize, then, Middlesex is a wonderfully written exploration of gender and identity. It is also a great, accurate introduction to most of the common themes you'd encounter in a psychology of gender class. In addition, it's a great story and a compelling family drama. You should read it. ( )

hadn't read this in a while--had almost forgotten how perfect it is!

The transfiguration of one person’s life based on choices made by others can be drastic. An intriguing tale takes a look into different cultures and societies and the taboos that exist amongst them. The underlying meaning of the book, I feel, is a longing to belong and feel loved despite circumstances that are beyond our control. Although a strange tale it was believable until the end where the story took a turn and became a completely different book. The ending felt like a soap opera turned desperate. ( )

http://letitread.blogspot.com/2009/12... ( )