971. Middlesex

Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
2002

Around 545 pages

This is the book that Jeffrey Eugenides was born to write; The Virgin Suicides was just practice for this masterpiece.  I usually have to take a walk after reading a new favorite novel to fully reflect on everything and just marvel over the fact that something so perfect exists in this world. This was definitely a walk-worthy book.

Our narrator is Cal Stephanides, an intersex man of Greek descent. The first half of the story depicts Cal's grandparents emigrating to Detroit, and then we get Cal's life as he comes to terms with his gender identity.

I don't agree with the criticism that this is too sprawling or disjointed. If anything, this was even more focused than your typical family saga, because everything is about Cal. It's mind-blowing to contemplate the infinite number of circumstances that have to line up for our existence to occur, and somehow Eugenides is successful in capturing that cosmic complexity.

He also managed to infuse the story with his Greek heritage, with the themes and the many allusions to mythology. It really felt like a love letter to his cultural lineage. The conversation around gender identity has changed a lot since 2002, so it's impressive that such a nuanced and thoughtful novel revolving around the subject achieved such mainstream success.

Perfect from start to finish.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Won the Pulitzer Prize.

Translated into 34 languages.

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