November 2007 Host: Amy

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Summary

This is an epic novel of three generations of a Greek-American family told through the eyes of a hermaphrodite, Calliope Stephanides. The story begins with the grandparents of Callie who, in 1922, fled Greece as it burned all around them. Due to a lack of eligible mates in their tiny village, the grandparents, who are brother and sister, begin their own intimate physical relationship and get married as they cross the Atlantic. Unknown to them, a recessive gene will be passed down to their grandchild, Calliope, who ends up with secondary male sex characteristics. This wasn’t discovered until Callie was fourteen - she had been living as a girl and eventually rediscovered her/himself as a man. This is a rich novel as it also describes family difficulties during historical times such as the Greek-Turkish wars, prohibition, world war II, and the Detroit riots. The author is a winner of the Pulitzer prize.

Discussion

-About half of us did not finish the book due to time constraints and the length of the book. We all agreed that it was a very good book, and those who did not finish, had every intention of doing so. It was not light reading nor a book you wanted to rush through. After all, it took the author nine years to write the book, his research and attention to detail were impressive. While reading the book, you actually felt as if you were transported to such places as Greece, Detroit in the 1920s and 1930s, and San Francisco.

-This book also sparked discussions of our own personal lives which I probably shouldn’t repeat here. Let’s just say that it was probably one of the more animated (and fun) discussions the book club has had.

-The author’s first person narrative was at times intense - one particular instance being from Callie when she was in her mother’s womb, e.g. “Only I from the private box of my primordial egg, saw what was going on.”

-The characters were all well developed which led to some disappointment about the grandmother Desdemona being left out towards the end of the book.

-There was some impatience while reading the book. It seemed to take forever to get to the crux - when Callie finally discovers her fate.

-Callie, who later becomes a man, is raised as a girl. During the initial and subsequent physical examinations, certain physical characteristics are missed by the aging family doctor. This goes on for fourteen years. An interesting question posed here is that, as a parent, if you were aware that your child were a hermaphrodite immediately after birth, would you choose their sex and have surgery while they were an infant, or would you let things be and wait for the child to decide what their own gender is after they go through puberty.