Middlesex - why can't I enjoy this book?

[Meaghan]

I really wish I could tell you why I like it, but I am completely with you! I feel like I may be missing something but this is a rare book that I couldn't finish! You are not alone....wish I had better thoughts, but I don't!!!

[Deana]

I'll tell you what worked for me. I liked the book because I was so curious about his life. Because the story is true, I've had a lot of questions about human sexuality. I think being born straight is a little like being born white. It easily gives a middle of the road, mainstream perspective, and understanding anything on the outside of that perspective takes effort. Since in this book he was clearly "born that way" it helped me chew on some of my ideas of what's born and what's learned.

However, I think books, like people, have chemistry. I think that some books are wonderful books and wonderful people can pick them up and read them, but sometimes it just doesn't work. I've tried to read "As I Lay Dying" twice, and can't get into it. If it doesn't work for you, pick up another book. It's like eating peas, if you'd rather have broccoli, you'll be just fine. :)

[Jason]

i really like the wide sweep of history involved with it. i think it's amazing but to each their own.

[Tonya]

I started reading this book over a year ago and had trouble getting into it. I put it down many times and it wasn't until this weekend when I picked up about eight chapters in (where I'd left off months ago) and finished the book. I really enjoyed it. It definitely takes about half of the book before the main part of the story begins. It is also the kind of book that one needs to read in large chunks. If you start and stop frequently, the narrative becomes difficult to follow/take interest in.

[Carrie]

MIDDLESEX was BORING

[Deth]

I think what I enjoyed most about this book was the unorthodox journey of discovery. It challenges veiws on how we should raise children who are born with these issues, do parents have the right to decide the indentity of a child before their personality emerges. In Cal's case, why didn't his parents notice something was wrong sooner, why wasn't the doctor more honest?

[KHoopMan]

I just finished this book (literally 10 minutes ago), and I really enjoyed it throughout. I loved the writing, especially the subtle humor, and I loved Callipe. I love how she is so normal, despite a few generations of SCANDAL. My Mom said to me last week, "Life is too short to read a book you aren't interested in." So, even though I took alot from Middlesex, if you can't get into it don't force yourself!

[Jeanie]

I finally picked up this book last spring after having it sit around my house for over year -- a gift from a friend who highly recommended it. I just didn't think I wanted to read this story! But, once I got started, I was hooked. The voice of the narrator was important in keeping me involved and, as someone else mentioned, just understanding how this all fit into (several) true historical contexts was extremely important in my connection to it.

[Shanda]

I know what you mean - I just added it to my to-read shelf again. I started reading it a few months ago and put it down after a few chapters - hopefully I will like it the next time!

[Leslie]

I really had issues with this book. It made me angry that Cal was treated so savagely. I think it's something that I would never be able to say "I loved that book", but if I'd read it when I was in a different mood, I might have said what a meaningful, thought-provoking book. As it was, I hurried through it in time for my book club. I just found it disturbing.

[Angela]

I finished it a couple of days ago and it took me a while to get into it, but eventually I did. I really did enjoy it by the time I was finished with it and I honestly attribute a good portion of that to Eugenides' prose. I just enjoyed his writing. The story certainly kept me interested, it held my attention with little to no problems whatsoever (I'm really interested in gender, sexual "deviancy", and the like), but it was simply so easy to read that not finishing it never even crossed my mind.

I found Cal/liope to be a really well-portrayed character with a lot of satisfying and believable character development... and I could say the same about many of the other characters, too - especially the members of the Stephanides family. I hope you can find something to like in Middlesex!!

[[deleted user]]

Because it sucks.

[Molly]

Ummm ... Pretty sure you missed the mark ... They aren't talking about George Elliot's masterpiece, but rather a wildly successful contemporary novel called MIDDLESEX.

[Jesse]

If you want to read Middlesex but don't want to read Middlesex, you might try Chabon's Kav & Clay.

[Jeanie]

Kav & Clay -- a book you will love from page 1! It will definitely take your mind off Middlesex.

[Jessica]

Teri, I feel your pain. I usually give myself 50 pages to get into a book. I just reached page 56, and I am thinking of moving on to another book. I have been wanting to read it for a long time, and have heard great things about it. But I'm simply not feeling it. I've reached out to friends who have read it and enjoyed it, asking when it gets good... But if you are 2/3 into it, that's not a good sign. Ugh.

[Sheryl]

yeah, there definitely is a chemisty to it, but maybe it is also partly beliefs and what is okay to talk about and what is not. For me it was this thing of "is this really true? nah, this can't really be true" but then I know friends who have kids with indeterment gender and found it rich because of that. One of the things that really got to me was the almost deadpan way in which the tale is told. There is not a lot of anger there. It just is. Maybe that is what is so scary about it.

[Kirsten]

I always describe it to people as an epic novel: the swath of time and history covered, the tortured hero, the strange twists along the way, and a certain Gothic feel. But I tend to be drawn to books such as this; I loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Devil in the White City, The Secret Friend. You don't need to love it, I don't like On the Road and that just about makes me un-American. Toss it if two-thirds of it hasn't compelled you to finish it.

[Dawn]

i didn't like it either

[Xinyuan]

i am with you too.i finished book two, and i left the book untouched for 1week and i pick up another book. having read across so many good reviews on it, i wonder why can't i really enjoy this book.

perhaps i will finish this book next week.

[Atomicgirl]

I keep thinking that there's something wrong with me when i can't enjoy any highly aclaimed books. Am i missing out on something profound? As a story with a tale to be told, it's ok but I did have to force myself to read the entire book. And when I was doing it, I kept asking myself why. I hate it when the best answer to that question is to say that I gave it a decent chance of being good.

At best, this book as just ok. Not lyrical. Not profound. Just long.

[Hilary]

i just finished the book (also moments ago..) and i really enjoyed it. i think the pacing is very unique, which could explain why some people really have trouble. i also think if you focus too much on the gender identity issues, you can miss out on a lot. i picked up this book b/c it was so highly recommended by friends... i didn't even really know what i was getting into. i think a lot of folks make Middlesex too much about the ambiguous gender of the narrator and don't appreciate the carefully crafted family and personal history that is truly the crux of the novel. yes, this is a book with an inter-sexed person as the main character (sorta), but more than that, it's a book about identity in a much larger sense (immigrant identity, family identity, american identity, midwestern identity, socio-economic identity, and so on...). and the prose is very lovely.

(ps. i hated On the Road, and i couldn't finish Kav&Clay. different folks...)

[Jeanie]

Hilary, you have totally nailed this book (from my perspective). The history of these people's culture from Turkey to the 1960s race riots of the U.S. And grandma -- what a wonderful perspective on nearly a century. Thanks!

[Jo]

I loved it for many reasons. My husband is Greek-American so appreciated and even understood the cultural aspects. I liked the Greek language that was tossed in here and there. I am very interested in sexual identity and the search for personal identity in general.

[Meg]

This is NOT a true story! Why would a biography win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?

[Meg]

It took me two tries to "get" this book, but I amn SO glad I gave it that second try. My first time, I didn't realize the joy in Eugenides' writing-- he uses cinematic tricks to play with his audience. This is a book for the reader to ENJOY-- not teach or preach (though you will see the world and all of its beautiful freaks differently than you ever did.) I did not want to finish this book as I neared the end because I just had too much fun reading it.

[Xinyuan]

i just finished the book this morning, and i have to say it was another great book from the author. i am quite lost in book 1 , about the Greek and grandma stories, however i am able to get along when it come to book3 and 4, which centred the narrator, and what happen to "her" early childhood and teen's life.

p/s:I had to admit its a hefty read.

[amy]

ugh, i've been trying to slog through this book for over two years now.... it just never grabbed me. i wanted to like it, to be drawn in, but it hasn't happened yet. i'm over 1/2 way through and i think it will take me another 2 years to finish it. i might have to ditch this book, something i've only done once before. there are tiny parts of it that do draw me in briefly, but not enough to want to plow through the book. glad it's not just me that finds it an umcompelling read.

[Sheryl]

Amy, I'm like you, I hate to leave a book unfinished. Why is that? It is just a book!

For me, it is like walking out of a conversation half way through. If it is a miserable conversation, I can at least say, excuse me I have to . . .

With a book, we cannot say to the author, excuse me while I . . .

We are just stuck with this amorphous feeling of something incomplete and I don't know how to close it off . . .

But I guess I have to agree that if it isn't grabbing you, pass it on to someone who will enjoy it.

You can look at it as depriving some other person of having a good read with it!

[Houry]

I read it because my sisters and mother loved it and told me I would be moved.

I wasn't moved.

[Alexis]

I just finished Middlesex too and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who had a hard time truly enjoying it. While it covered an interesting topic, and was thought provoking, I thought good chunks of it were just dry. It didn't have that can't put it down feel that I love in a book. I think there wasn't enough story of Cal's life.

[Atomicgirl]

Alexis, I felt the same way. Some parts of the story were almost enthralling, and other times the book just dragged along. I just wanted to get to the end.

I can see how it would appeal to people who are interested in family histories, but I'm not one of them. I wished there was more written about Cal.

[Jane]

It is difficult to read. I started and quit this book several times before getting thru it. The writing is what kept me going. The symbolism was enjoyable for me. Maybe the fact that I am familiar with the Detroit area helped a bit. Hang in there. It is a journey.

[Amy]

I loved this book! My sister gave it to me because she couldn't get into it; a lady at work said she wasn't enjoying it...I don't know why this book is giving so many people such a hard time, I was held rapt! My interest may partially be that I live in Detroit and work there, so there was the local draw, an unfamiliar topic in such a familiar setting...

[Brandy]

I find this to be a great book so far. I am about 1/3 of the way through and I just started this morning. However, I often dislike books that are supposed to be wonderful and receive rave reviews, so if you don't enjoy it, I personally don't think it is a sign of defective literary taste!

[Amy]

Brandy- I'm glad you're liking it, it only gets better as you go~

[Eileen]

I was one of two members of my ten-person Book Group who could not get through this book. Guess that means we are a minority...

I read about one-third. I could not get past the incest that the author was trying to pass off as "ok." I think that John Irving handles the topic much more honestly in "Hotel New Hampshire."

It's just another case of, "No two people ever read the same book."

[[deleted user]]

I am totally with you... why all the fuss?? I listened to it on a long drive (which may change ones perspective on a book, I'm not sure) but I felt like all of the background info about his family was way too much. That could have been done in like the first chapter. Once he starts in on his personal experience, I think it's a little more interesting... so try to make it to that part and see what you think.

[Sheryl]

Teressa said: I felt like all of the background info about his family was way too much. That could have been done in like the first chapter.

Funny, I was just describing the book to hubby and it was just this background on the family that I retold more than Cali's life. Perhaps that is the hidden sociologist in me. I love knowing how we to where we are now and that is just what Cali was sharing. It gives so much texture and insight into who she is today.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy that part.

[Alicia]

I was sad that I was not able to enjoy this book either, but like others said to each their own. I felt the character development wasn't there(plenty of words) , and I was not able to sympathize and give empathy due to this lack of development. I thought parts of the book were interesting and eye opening, but I guess it was just not a good match for me.

[Lobeck]

I've been reading through the comments and feel that it's important that people understand the perspective from which this book was written. I'm glad that a few people said that this book got them thinking about gender and identity, but it's important to realize that this book is written by a cisgendered man who, according to Julia Serano in her book Whipping Girl, just created the details of an intersexed individual's life from his imagination. (Cisgendered = describing a person who identifies with the gender s/he was assigned at birth). As an earlier poster pointed out, being born cisgendered can make people oblivious to the trans/gender queer/intersexed/etc. experience, and a book born of the imagination of a cisgendered man adds no real details about this experience but instead may send readers away with false information. If you really want to learn more about gender identity, I highly recommend Whipping Girl by Julia Serano. And to respond to the original poster's question, I didn't enjoy this book either, and I fully support you in putting it down.

[Michael]

Another perspective: I thought the narrator's voice was unique; I loved the character development, especially of Calliope; thought the gradual unveiling of family history and individual history, woven around the American 20th century, was a successful use of the individual and the epic; and I laughed; and I cried. I wondered about the first chapter, but from then on it felt to me like a book like many Pulitzer Prize winners: a coming-of-age journey that could only happen in the US. The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon, another prize winner, comes to mind.

[Jeanie]

Michael, I loved your write-up, you should become a literary critic! You said everything I thought but couldn't verbalize. Thank you!

[Karin]

I didn't like this book either. I wanted to like it, I thought I should, but instead I just didn't care! And that surprised me. I did manage to struggle through to the end, sure that eventually I'd change my mind, because so many people felt differently than I did, but my mind was never changed. I didn't even feel like there was a particularly unique perspective to the life of this hermaphrodite. I was all round bored and disappointed.

[Ishtar]

I thought I was the only one who could not get through the novel. A few chapters in, and I had to move onto something else.

[craige]

What I am trying to understand is how someone could NOT be totally enthralled by this book. I was hooked from the very first sentence.

[Faith]

can't get into this book either! i have picked it up three times and i just don't care enough about the character to keep reading. i keep trying though.

[Alexandra]

I thought the style was superb. Although it took me some time to get into it because the part with the family history is kind of slow, once I got to the middle I got to love it.

[Val]

I listened to this on audio and it was so beautifully read. I am not sure I could have read it on my own but it is one of my favorite books ever. Why not go to the library and try the audio?

[craige]

Not to get too far off the subject of Middlesex, I just want to point out that I disagree entirely on the point about needing to relate to a book to be able to enjoy it. Does that mean I should only be interested in books about 30-something married women working in NYC? Hardly.