College Students! discussion
Past Discussions of Group Reads
>
Middlesex--For Those Reading Through
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm
(new)
Jul 01, 2010 11:54AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
I'm on page 259...do you guys know why Cal refers to hir's brother as "Chapter Eleven?" I noticed that Chapter 11 happens to be the chapter where Cal begins hir story, but...I don't know. Did I miss something, or will I get the significance later?
Mod
Jamie me too. I have very high expectations for this, but also had them for On the Road and was a terrible disappointment. Anyway, I'll start the book when I go on vacation (in a week) to enjoy it better.
I've had this book for a long time and I've been meaning to read it. I hope I can get to it with you guys!
i find this book so strange.....anyone with me on that?
Emily wrote: "i find this book so strange.....anyone with me on that?"I've only read the first chapter but it's definitely interesting so far.
***Spoilers for Book One***Not going to lie, I'm a little grossed out with Desdemona and Lefty's relationship.
I agree! I started reading this book last summer, got to that part and put it down. My sister said it gets better, and this group was reading it so i''m trying to pick it back up...
Eww, why is this on the book list? I read about half of the book before I got too bored, but boring or not, this book is an insult to all intersexed people and other gender/sex/sexual minorities and basically anyone else who has any self-respect. The author even says he just chose an intersexed character in order to exploit their sensationalized minority status.Everyone should read a book by Julia Serano instead. It's called "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity," and in it she criticizes Middlesex and other media depictions of trans and intersexed people by CISSEXUALS. If you are going to read a book about an intersexed person, at least read one written BY an intersexed person.
I've tried reading this several times but only while visiting friends who recommended it but then when it came time for me to leave I was never enthralled enough to borrow it. Finally bought my own copy so we will see how it goes. I'm planning to start sometime soon, whenever I finished my polygamy book because I think one weird family is enough at a time.From what I remember the one relationship is a little strange but once I got over that it wasn't so bad.
When they explain the family tree, it's pretty hilarious.
I'm on book 3 and I'm loving it so far. I think the back and forth between current and past life is really intriguing; I don't know how I haven't gotten confused yet.@Arianna - I'm really curious about "Chapter Eleven" too. I also checked to see if there was a correlation between the Ch 11 in the book and the brother, but it doesn't seem like it. Hopefully that'll be worked out by the end?
** BOOK ONE SPOILERS **
@Jen - I totally admit that I'm uncomfortable by Lefty and Des. I think that's important though - it's really intriguing how the author shows the give and take between the discomfort (that the characters have, too!) and the different kinds of love.
Louche wrote: "Eww, why is this on the book list? I read about half of the book before I got too bored, but boring or not, this book is an insult to all intersexed people and other gender/sex/sexual minorities an..."
MINOR BOOK ONE SPOILER(S)
i haven't finished the book yet, but i don't find it boring at all - not yet, anyway. i have trouble with some of the language eugenides uses (ie: hermaphrodite), as well as the direct connection between intersex identity and incest...
however, i don't think it's a completely useless novel. maybe i'll change my mind when i'm finished, but not now. it's difficult to criticize a book and be taken seriously when you haven't even read the entire work. a full review will come when i'm done with it.
can you give us a link or source where eugenides is quoted as saying that "he just chose an intersexed character in order to exploit their sensationalized minority status" - is that a direct quote? i really would like to read that article/interview.
"Everyone should read a book by Julia Serano instead ... If you are going to read a book about an intersexed person, at least read one written BY an intersexed person."
i don't necessarily agree with you. by this logic we should also avoid books written by males that are told from a female perspective (and vice versa), etc. it's certainly important to take into account the writer's own identity and background and think about how that affects the story... but that doesn't mean we SHOULDN'T read them.
also: julia serano is a huge trans activist - but i've never seen her identify as intersex... or is there another writer who does that you were referring to?
i'm hooked after just the first passage. i don't know if i'll finish before august, but we'll see. :)
I only started reading it two days ago too, and doubt I can make it through today... but it's definitely a very interesting book so far.About "Chapter Eleven", wikipedia says
Chapter Eleven is Calliope's brother. His name plays off how he leads his father's company into bankruptcy. Chapter Eleven refers to the United States bankruptcy law of the same name.
in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
POSSIBLE SPOILER
I thought Zizmo's death was weird, but... I seriously didn't see the Fard Muhammad thing coming.
Bárbara wrote: "I only started reading it two days ago too, and doubt I can make it through today... but it's definitely a very interesting book so far.About "Chapter Eleven", wikipedia says
Chapter Eleven is Ca..."
The Zizmo/FM thing was a surprise to me, too. I was very impressed with the way Eugenides tied in the Nation of Islam's beginnings. I loved that bit.
