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Middlesex, Book One
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Alison, the guru of grace
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Mar 03, 2009 03:09PM
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I am anxious to listen in on this discussion.
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So far, I think book number one was really vague about some things that will come into play later on in the book. I was surprised when it seemed to end so abruptly. So far I think I am a little taken aback by the storyline, but I just didn't see it coming at the beginning of the tale.
*Contains lots of spoilers but only about stuff from BOOK 1*
I loved the book right from the beginning. In the first couple of chapters I found all the intertwined storylines a bit confusing, like the spoon-guessing, then Lefty and Desdemona and Cal's modern life, but eventually, it added all up to a tension that sucked me into the book.
I loved the variety of characters, especially that we got to know so many characters and saw them all through everyone's eyes. It was especially striking with Desdemona for me. At the beginning, we met her as Tessie's mother-in-law, then we saw her through her own eyes as a young girl and then through Lefty's eyes as her brother as well as her lover. I thought that was a great way of introducing characters because you got a very multidimensional picture of them, especially the difference between Desdemona as an older woman who does not really fit into modern American society and Desdemona as a young, strong girl who manages her and her brother's life all on her own made her way closer to me than she would have been if I had just seen her as a grandmother.
Like you guys posting above me, I didn't know what to expect from the book. I knew roughly that it was about a boy growing up as a girl because Middlesex has been incredibly popular and famous a couple of years ago here in Germany (around 2004 until 2006 or something), but it has always been a book I meant to pick up sometime. I'm glad I did because I really liked it.
I loved the book right from the beginning. In the first couple of chapters I found all the intertwined storylines a bit confusing, like the spoon-guessing, then Lefty and Desdemona and Cal's modern life, but eventually, it added all up to a tension that sucked me into the book.
I loved the variety of characters, especially that we got to know so many characters and saw them all through everyone's eyes. It was especially striking with Desdemona for me. At the beginning, we met her as Tessie's mother-in-law, then we saw her through her own eyes as a young girl and then through Lefty's eyes as her brother as well as her lover. I thought that was a great way of introducing characters because you got a very multidimensional picture of them, especially the difference between Desdemona as an older woman who does not really fit into modern American society and Desdemona as a young, strong girl who manages her and her brother's life all on her own made her way closer to me than she would have been if I had just seen her as a grandmother.
Like you guys posting above me, I didn't know what to expect from the book. I knew roughly that it was about a boy growing up as a girl because Middlesex has been incredibly popular and famous a couple of years ago here in Germany (around 2004 until 2006 or something), but it has always been a book I meant to pick up sometime. I'm glad I did because I really liked it.
Alison -- when one of you moderators can find time, the info needs to be entered so that the current book shows up in the currently reading/discussing box on the group page. And so that the next book, 1984, also shows up in the box. I just noticed it is still on February and doesn't show that Middlesex is even the next one.
I like it too. I agree with many of Marion's comments. These characters are far from being one dimensional.I also just love reading books like this. They are written so sincerely, yet if I read a couple of the sentences aloud to my husband he looks at with shock.
It amazes me how much we feel for Desdemona and Lefty by the end of book one, instead of just being grossed out or disturbed.
Yes, Gwynne, I agree with you on that. I remember hearing about a real-life case where a brother-sister couple had children together. Most of them really were deformed and handicapped and I found it just such a cruel thing to do, having children even though they knew they were most probably going to end up handicapped anyway. But I really felt sympathy for Lefty and Desdemona.
My mother works for the local police dept and we were talking about the high number of cases of incest cases that were coming through. We were just talking about cases in which parent/child incest happens vs. sibling incest. And I guess when thinking about incest that produces children, the children born to siblings have so many more genetic markers that are alike versus parent/child incest because a child will only share half with that parent. I know it is disturbing to think of, but it is a reality of some families.I say that, but I agree that between Lefty and Desdomona it did not seem dirty or shocking. I felt sympathy towards them and their situation.
I have to say that this book really surprised me. The beginning chapter was really catchy and I didn't have any idea where it was going. But when I reached the part about Lefty and Desdomona I was completely disgusted and didn't think that I could continue. Than the amazing author worked it out in such a way that by the end of book one I couldn't have cared less. It was truely an example excellent writing. I just bought The Virgin Suicides also by Jeffrey Eugenides. I can't wait to start it. If it's written almost as well as Middlesex I'm sure I'll love it.
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Yep, it's done and looks great! Michele fixed it when she popped the latest Monthly Book onto the list for us.
Elizabeth, I got The Virgin Suicides for a friend and read the first chapter. The writing style is really different (it's a "we" narrator), but it's equally great and captivating. I am sure you will enjoy it. I could barely make myself stop after the first chapter.
Hi everyone! I’m a newcomer to this bookclub and Goodreads. I’ve just started to read Middlesex. My friend read it a few years ago and said he couldn’t put it down. So I really can’t wait to get further into this book. Now I’m only on page 40 but already find it quite interesting. The setting and descriptions of the characters give a sense of exoticism. I also agree with Tiffany (msg# 9) that the thing between Lefty and Desdemona is depicted in such a way that it isn’t disgusting anymore. I like how the author describes the little strange and conflicting feelings inside the characters.
So far I've found Middlesex to be unlike any other book I've read. The narration style is dry and detached in a humorous way... I love the use of small details to tell the story - snippets of conversations (Lefty won't be smoking hashish in America because "it's not that kind of country"), the passage about how you can tell the nationality of a woman by her odor, etc. The calculated, strategical way that Lefty and Desdemona meet, fall in love, and get married on the boat over in the back of my mind disgusted me a bit, but mostly just amused me. So I agree with above comments that Eugenides tells the story in such a way that allows his readers to somehow get past the "disgust" factor of the incestuous relationships and connect with the characters on a higher level.
Point of irony: Lefty loses the ability to speak on the day that Calliope is born. Thoughts on this?
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Also, here's a link to 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. I'm pretty sure that's not a spoiler, as I believe it is mentioned in the first chapter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-alpha-...
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Anyway, I'll get to it here eventually... I have 3 books I'm actively in the middle of and several library books that must be gotten to, so it may be a bit.
Do tell about this one, what you think!
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I will say that I struggled a little bit at first because of the vast descriptions of the war and the captain and all the fluff. It was hard to get through at some points. But now I am totally immersed in it and have almost completed part 2.
Alison, you were interested in the Greco-Turkish War. I'll try to give you a quick overview, it's been a while since we did that in school.
You are right, Smyrna is in Turkey, but there have been some Greek minorities (like Lefty and Desdemona's village) who had lived in Turkey. They had been oppressed, but could live there freely in general. After WW 1, the Ottoman Empire was severely weakened and thus the Greek thought it was a good idea (mostly because GB encouraged them) to capture some of the land where the Greek minorities lived as that land had been seized before by the Ottoman Empire. The Greek were pretty cruel and killed most Muslim civilians they met on their way, so the Turkish weren't any nicer when they reconquered the land. Greece would have never lost if GB and other European countries had kept their promises to help them, but they wouldn't risk the newly emerging security after WW 1.
Hope that makes it clearer now : )
You are right, Smyrna is in Turkey, but there have been some Greek minorities (like Lefty and Desdemona's village) who had lived in Turkey. They had been oppressed, but could live there freely in general. After WW 1, the Ottoman Empire was severely weakened and thus the Greek thought it was a good idea (mostly because GB encouraged them) to capture some of the land where the Greek minorities lived as that land had been seized before by the Ottoman Empire. The Greek were pretty cruel and killed most Muslim civilians they met on their way, so the Turkish weren't any nicer when they reconquered the land. Greece would have never lost if GB and other European countries had kept their promises to help them, but they wouldn't risk the newly emerging security after WW 1.
Hope that makes it clearer now : )
The first thing that struck me about the book was the combination of elegance and humor in the writing. I know many people found the subject of incest between Desdemona (Now there's a fated literary name!)and Lefty offputting, but I think that, aside from being integral to the story, it serves as a metaphor for the insular nature of immigrant communities, especially from the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean countries. When they (along with Dr. Phil) escaped from Smyrna, they were in a sense a nation unto themselves.Marion, there's a wonderful quote from Major Maxwell to Phillips as he sits on the deck of his ship drinking cognac and watching the destruction of Smyrna that really speaks to your comment about Britain's and Western Europe's inaction. After he declares that the British can't get caught up in the region's "Byzantine" struggles, he says, "... You are aware of what Strabo said of Smyrna, are you not? He called Smyrna the finest city in Asia. That was in the time of Augustus. It's lasted this long. Take a good long look, Phillips. Take a good long look."
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Deborah said: "The first thing that struck me about the book was the combination of elegance and humor in the writing." This author's style is really unique. I like how he jumps back and forth between backstory and present day. The ability to move up and down the family tree and backwards and forward in time makes him such a powerful narrator.
I read this for a bookclub almost 5 years ago. This was definitely one of those books that suffered due to my expectations. I was expecting much more on gender issues etc and had a hard time with all the backstory. I feel like if I were to read it again now with different expectations I would enjoy it much more. I just don't know that I have the time right now to re-read this one. I remember being struck by some of the names (one that comes along later so I won't put it here ) and Lefty too. Was there a story about Lefty's name? It's been so long but I feel like I was struck by his name being so Americanized versus all of the other names. It just always makes me wonder why.
It's definitely a really well written and well researched book. Eugenides definitely has a gift.
It's so funny now that I've finished book one, but I was feeling a little ashamed thinking that I would post about how I enjoyed the love story between Desdemona ad Lefty.... but I see that so many of the others feel the same way. Definitely a tribute to the author....Thanks Marion, for the post about the war. The background helped me understand the time period a little bit better. I started the novel, and due to life being super stressful, needed to read some fluff books instead of deep thinkers.... I just picked the book back up today (thanks Elizabeth!), and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Interestingly, I had never heard of the book (besides it being present on my lists), and I had no idea what the book was about. At first, I was appalled, but thanks to the writing, I'm looking forward to finishing it. I'm greatly enjoying reading. But this might be one book I don't share about with my mom. :)
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Everything will make more sense later on, Dini : )
Especially the thing with Dr. Philobosian.
Especially the thing with Dr. Philobosian.
I started reading Middlesex about a week ago. I kind of like it. I found it a bit strange reading about Desdemona as an old-school-greyheaded-know-it-all who tells the sex of a child and then going back in her life to when she was a young girl in Smyrna. Kind of weird relationship with her brother...I liked the part about the Greeks been driven out of Turkey in 1922 by Mustafa Kemal (Attaturk) because, well one of my friends is Turkish from Izmir (present Smyrna) and her grandparents were forced to make the opposite move in 1922, from a Greek Island to Chesme (near Izmir). So I like the historical setting in the story.
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Just started it, on page 50 I think, and I'm really liking it so far.
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