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What Members Thought
April 2008 selection of the GB Book Club.
This is not what I thought it would be. I had braced myself for something self-consciously shocking and revolutionary, and instead discovered a quietly intimate story of several generations of the Stephanidies family, narrated by the youngest member... who happens to be a hermaphrodite. Cal is more than just the sum of his parts -- if you'll excuse the pun. He's a daughter, a grandchild, an awkward teen, a girl in love... to paraphrase the author, Cal's ...more
This is not what I thought it would be. I had braced myself for something self-consciously shocking and revolutionary, and instead discovered a quietly intimate story of several generations of the Stephanidies family, narrated by the youngest member... who happens to be a hermaphrodite. Cal is more than just the sum of his parts -- if you'll excuse the pun. He's a daughter, a grandchild, an awkward teen, a girl in love... to paraphrase the author, Cal's ...more
I always meant to read this novel - it was one of those books you feel like you should read because it got a Pulitzer Prize and was popular for such a long time, but for whatever reason I never got around to it. When I finally began reading, however, I was instantly hooked! Eugenides is a captivating storyteller who throws in surprise plot-twists when you least expect, and his main character Cal is both likeable and relatable. I was sad when I realized I had finished the book, but it left me wit
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I found this novel fascinating--different from his first book, The Virgin Suicides (which I also loved), not as experimental or startling on the surface but deeper and richer in characterization and storyline. I love the way the Armenian genocide informs the story and how the echoes of the past play out in the present. It's really smart and funny and wincingly poignant ... as if normal adolescent sexual turmoil isn't bad enough, imagine finding out that you've been raised with the wrong gender i
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This is a great read that crosses several generations of a Greek-American family. It was sort of an epic in a sense. I really felt connected to the narrator. It was funny and sad and shocking at times, and I was really bummed when it was over.
Aug 21, 2007
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
Aug 31, 2007
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
