| Product: |
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides |
| Date: |
19/02/04 (189 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: beautifully written, unique story
Disadvantages: ??
You know what it's like at airports, those couple of hours in departures, shuffling aimlessly from shop to shop, hoping to magically pass the time. I always end up parting with cash in the bookstore, because somehow it's justified when you're off on holiday. This time I dithered over the lovely stacks of books, and ended up with 'Ignorance' by Kundera, 'Platform' by Houellbecq, and 'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Middlesex, winner of the 2003 Pulitzer, follows three generations of the Stephanides family, from the grandparents driven out of Asia Minor Greece to the grandchildren in Modern day America, and principally Calliope, our narrator. I'm not often a fan of those novels which drag things out over so many years of a family, sometimes it seems a trite formula where gaps and holes can creep in, but not so here.
Calliope sums up on the first page of the book all that is to follow, telling us how she was born twice, once as a baby girl, and again as a teenage boy. This cryptic summary is like a pebble dropped into still water, and the rest of the book is the concentric rippled rings pulsing outwards, growing ever bigger as the story unfolds and gives the reader the means to piece together the truth with each new scrap of information or sudden flash back. Each revelation left me wide eyed as suddenly a new chunk of the story fell into place.
I would have loved to have been there when Eugenides outlined his project to his publishers: 'Well, I fancy writing a book about a genetic mutation that spirals the generations to manifest itself in ambiguous hermaphrodite genitals'
Hmm
That's what the basis for the story is. Desdemona Stephanides brings this mutation, along with her silk box, a husband, an old Armenian doctor and a family secret, to America when she flees her home in the face of horrific genocide. The main story deals with Desdemona and Calliope, the grandch
ild in which the events culminate. Desdemona, the matriarchal head of the family, also provides a character in which many endearing myths and superstitons and placed, which forces her to watch her brood with a deep rooted fear of being punished for her sins.
Eugenides has tackled the science admirably, he doesn't slip into jargon, which would alienate the average reader and be unnecessary, instead he deals with it in a humourous and sensitive way. It would have been all too easy to make Calliope a grotesque figure of fun, but she remains good naturedly human throughout.
The family have been placed beautifully into history, from Greece, through the race riots and the prohibition era in Detroit, to modern day America and Europe. Along the way we are forced to examine how sexuality, gender, appearance, the perceptions of others and our quiet genetic history combine to create a sense of self. Infact it is silently educational throughout, thought provoking and beautifully written, packed with pathos.
Essentially Eugenides has achieved what must be the goal of all authors: he has produced a work which is comic and painfully tragic by turns, and compelling reading from start to finish.
The subject matter may seem bizarre and alien, but no one could fail to be moved by the well detailed characters, the historical roots, and the looping, weaving text that pulls us through to the conclusion, you want, need, Calliope/Cal to be happy, to be accepted.
'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides, £6.99
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Last comment:
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MALU - 19/02/04 The next time I have to pass some time on an airport . . .
You may want to check the title, there's a typo. |
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