A quick note before I post - we're moving to Baltimore! I took a little promotion at work and looks like we'll be moving in the next two weeks, so I'll probably not be doing much reading or posting in that time. I had to read this kind of quickly because it's a library book and due back =)
Overall I enjoyed the book. The first two-thirds (Lefty & Desdemona, Tessie & Milton) held my attention better than the last bits that were mostly about Cal. All of the historical background got a little cumbersome towards the end, and I started to feel like Eugenides was trying to delay revealing Callie's biology. Also, because Cal had been narrating the book from the beginning, I felt like I already knew how Callie's story was going to end. Learning more about Smyrna, the riots in Detroit and hermaphrodites was eye-opening.
You can see a picture gallery of the Detroit riots here.
I think Eugenides wrote Lefty and Desdemona's story quite masterfully, because after my initial shock of their incestual relationship it didn't continue to bother me. Maybe this was because of the new backgrounds they created on the ship? I'm not sure.
One of my favorite parts was the description of working on an assembly line in Henry Ford's Melting Pot: "Wierzbicki reams a bearing and Stephanides grinds a bearing and O'Malley attaches a bearing" The repeated text in those paragraphs really emphasized the drone of the line.
One thing that kind of bothered me was how people were named. Did Chapter Eleven and the Object have names? Why did Callie always refer to her parents as Tessie and Milton and not mom and dad?
And how about that under water peep show? I still can't quite figure out how the portholes worked - seems like you wouldn't be able to get a very good view...
One last thing to comment on that hit home for me was Desdemona's lament towards the end of the book: "Why God no let yia yia die, Tessie? Everybody's dead! Everybody but yia yia! Yia yia she is too old to live now." Harold's grandmother has often mentioned the same thing. She's in her 90s and has buried a husband, a long-term companion, several of her children and most if not all of her friends.
Oh, and a last-last thing. The tradition of the wedding crowns and cutting them apart at death is tear-inducing. What a lovely ritual.
I finished reading the book today. I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would. It was well written.
In Book Two the chapter Ex Ovo Omnia reminded me of a very old song - "I'm My Own Granmpa".
I was glad for Callie that at the end of the book she learned the family history that played such a part in causing her to be the way she was.
I understand HollenBeck Girl's comment about Callie referring to her parents by their names instead of mom and dad, but it was ok with me because that helped me to keep the characters straight in my head.
It was interesting reading about the different Greek traditions. There is this touch of superstition mixed in with religion that gives color to their customs.
Sourmelina was mentioned kind of briefly - after Tessie was grown she took a lover and moved to the southwest (New Mexico, I think?) and dropped out of the story until she, Tessie & Desdemona moved to Smyrna Beach at the end of the book.
M - as I was reading this book I could hear Mrs. LeBlanc in my head talking about a Dr. Rank's character in A Doll's House -- how children pay for the sins of their parents. Funny how her voice popped up after all these years!
There was so much going on in this book that I forgot to mention the big topic -- nature versus nurture. I've always been on the "nature" side of the fence myself. I feel that nurture gives you the tools to make conscious decisions about your nature. Whether you choose to over-ride your genetic tendencies (and how you do so) is very much learned from your environment.
PS - I'm all settled in Baltimore, found my local library and am ready to read. =)
I am sorry to be so slow with this book, but the end of the semester is just crazy. I'm off traveling again this weekend but our finals week is next week, so I should be able to finish and move on by the end of next week. It is Barb's pick next, right?
Overall it was ok. I liked the beginning but the end seemed to go on forever and took me forever (seems like) to finish. I really enjoyed the story of Lefty, Desdemona and Sourmelina, especially Sourmelina's reaction to finding out Lefty and Desdemona were married "Just my luck, soon as I leave the village, things get interesting." I guess since it was such a small town and pickin's were slim, the best match for Lefty was someone he knew well, the sister.....
I did like reading about the Smyrna fire. I had never known about that and went on Google and read about it.
The reference to Harold Robbins' book "The Lonely Lady" looks like a book that Angie should read. Check it out A - it is sex, sex, sex.
I didn't like the name Chapter Eleven for the brother and especially that it was never explained.
And I found the car chase to Canada a bit far fetched. Supposedly it is in the middle of the night, yet there is a lot of traffic to dodge. It was not believable.
Also I had to empathize with Cal as she was being seen by the specialist. She wasn't honest with him and gave him the answers she thought HE wanted to hear. And as a teenager, you so get that feeling to do what the adults want you to do. And she was going to "pay the price" for not being honest to herself.
And yes A, had to agree with what you said about yia yia wanting to die. I remember Grandma saying almost those exact same words about how all her friends were dying.
I still haven't finished, but I am much closer and thought I would mention some things that caught my eye as I was reading.
The Silver Spoon: Tessie's response to the gift of a thermometer: "I'm not so sure we're going to have anything at the moment." :-) Really, a thermometer?
An Immodest Proposal: We burned our Christmas wrapping paper in our fireplace this year and also admired the different colored fire.
Henry Ford's English-Language Melting Pot: I can't believe they made her throw out her silkworms!
Also from this chapter: "Lina was one of those women they named the island after." :-)
Minotaurs: The positions, circumstances, and direct cause of Lefty and Desdemona's intercourse. What an interesting way of writing this section!
Also from this chapter: "Look closer. There. That's rights: One mutation apiece." I'm conflicted, does this mean that Lefty is the father of Tessie too? It made it sound that way.
Tricknology: Zizmo's preaching was certainly interesting.
News of the world: "Asian chicks are the last stop." This is the first time I have ever heard of this. Had you heard this before? Also,the presidents with too many vowels. Has Obama broken this trend or is it just a brief interlude?
Ex Ovo Omnia: I'm still confused. So, is Tessie Lefty's child. I tried to work through this description of family relations and got lost again.
Home Movies: Can you imagine having a name like Marius Wyxzewixard Challouehliczilczese Grimes? His parents were just evil.
There are parts of this book that I really like and other parts that I just cannot seem to get into. I have Joy's book requested through ILL, so I won't get too far behind. :-)
Finally finished! The end went quickly once I finished slogging through the middle. I have to say that I disagree with A, the first third and the last third held my attention much better than the sections on Tessi and Milton. I found the second third to take forever.
And A, I don't remember Mrs. LeBlanc talking about A Doll's House, sorry. How do you remember these things??
I think Eugenides handled many difficult topics well, from Lefty and Desdemona's relationship to Cal's biology to the Octopussy were all handled in such a way to move past the squeamishness into understanding, I thought.
Did I mention that the name of the older Polish gentleman I bought this house from was Lefty? He was a character! And I keep imagining him when I read Lefty.
On another side note, my father married my aunt a few years ago (his brother's widow- not blood relative). We had lots of fun with all the jokes on names. For example, my brother became my step-cousin and I called dad "Uncle Dad" for a while.
To correct A, Sourmelina did not move to Florida with Desdemona and Tessie in the end, Zoe did. Sourmelina disappeared after that brief visit when her partner died.
J- I see the bridge to Canada here in the Sault just about every day (you can see it from campus) and even in the middle of the night several times after hockey games, etc. and it is ALWAYS busy with cars lined up. Now, it is 2012 and stricter border control since 9/11, but I have a tendency to believe the traffic at the border crossing since that was the Detroit bridge which has always been very busy.
I have some more comments which I will leave in another post so that they fit.
First of all, while I found the actual book difficult to get really immersed in (which I'll discuss in a moment), I think this is a fascinating plot. When I taught Gender and Women's Studies at WMU, we discussed sex, gender, and intersex, and I always asked my students why we don't just have a third gender. Afterall, there are thousands of intersex babies born in the US every year and yet usually doctors and parents choose to operate and make them fit with one or the other (As Luce wanted Milton and Tessie to do). Why not have a third sex? This always stumps my students. They never know what to say or how to handle it because it is such an alien idea to most of them. This book would be a great resource to help them learn and maybe understand better intersex children and adults.
With that said, I just couldn't get into this book. I felt like the plot kept getting lost in the historical details and side-stories. Even though it is written in the first person, it felt more like a third person narrative to me and I have a harder time connecting with characters in books written in third person. While I think Eugenides handled very difficult topics well, I really think this book could have used a little more editing. But then that is just my opinion. :-) I'm really glad I read it.
Just some last comments on the last half of the book, by chapter:
Middlesex: Desdemona went to bed and "For the next ten years, except for a bath every Friday, she never got out again." Can you imagine spending years of your life in bed, because you chose to do so? I can't.
The Obscure Object: The idea of her clitoris/penis as a crocus just struck me as both funny and... sweet? What a nice way to think of it.
Hermaphroditus: My colleague here at LSSU teaches a class on human nature where he talks about evolutionary biology and how it impacts gender. He taught this the past semester while I taught Women and Politics. I would argue that gender is societally constructed and then he would talk about how it is evolutionary. The poor students! I kept thinking about him while I was reading a bout the evolutionary biology explanations on the first page of this chapter. I just don't find it all that convincing!
And, on a last parting note, I have to say that I did not much care for Chapter Eleven until the part where he picked up Cal from jail. What a trooper! I wonder if my brother would be so accepting if I showed up as a man one day? Or would I if he showed up as a woman?
13 comments:
A quick note before I post - we're moving to Baltimore! I took a little promotion at work and looks like we'll be moving in the next two weeks, so I'll probably not be doing much reading or posting in that time. I had to read this kind of quickly because it's a library book and due back =)
Overall I enjoyed the book. The first two-thirds (Lefty & Desdemona, Tessie & Milton) held my attention better than the last bits that were mostly about Cal. All of the historical background got a little cumbersome towards the end, and I started to feel like Eugenides was trying to delay revealing Callie's biology. Also, because Cal had been narrating the book from the beginning, I felt like I already knew how Callie's story was going to end. Learning more about Smyrna, the riots in Detroit and hermaphrodites was eye-opening.
You can see a picture gallery of the Detroit riots here.
I think Eugenides wrote Lefty and Desdemona's story quite masterfully, because after my initial shock of their incestual relationship it didn't continue to bother me. Maybe this was because of the new backgrounds they created on the ship? I'm not sure.
One of my favorite parts was the description of working on an assembly line in Henry Ford's Melting Pot: "Wierzbicki reams a bearing and Stephanides grinds a bearing and O'Malley attaches a bearing" The repeated text in those paragraphs really emphasized the drone of the line.
One thing that kind of bothered me was how people were named. Did Chapter Eleven and the Object have names? Why did Callie always refer to her parents as Tessie and Milton and not mom and dad?
And how about that under water peep show? I still can't quite figure out how the portholes worked - seems like you wouldn't be able to get a very good view...
One last thing to comment on that hit home for me was Desdemona's lament towards the end of the book: "Why God no let yia yia die, Tessie? Everybody's dead! Everybody but yia yia! Yia yia she is too old to live now." Harold's grandmother has often mentioned the same thing. She's in her 90s and has buried a husband, a long-term companion, several of her children and most if not all of her friends.
Oh, and a last-last thing. The tradition of the wedding crowns and cutting them apart at death is tear-inducing. What a lovely ritual.
I finished reading the book today. I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would. It was well written.
In Book Two the chapter Ex Ovo Omnia reminded me of a very old song - "I'm My Own Granmpa".
I was glad for Callie that at the end of the book she learned the family history that played such a part in causing her to be the way she was.
I understand HollenBeck Girl's comment about Callie referring to her parents by their names instead of mom and dad, but it was ok with me because that helped me to keep the characters straight in my head.
It was interesting reading about the different Greek traditions. There is this touch of superstition mixed in with religion that gives color to their customs.
I wonder if Chaz Bono read this book.
Did I miss something? What happened to Sourmelina. She just seemed to drop out of the story.
Sourmelina was mentioned kind of briefly - after Tessie was grown she took a lover and moved to the southwest (New Mexico, I think?) and dropped out of the story until she, Tessie & Desdemona moved to Smyrna Beach at the end of the book.
M - as I was reading this book I could hear Mrs. LeBlanc in my head talking about a Dr. Rank's character in A Doll's House -- how children pay for the sins of their parents. Funny how her voice popped up after all these years!
There was so much going on in this book that I forgot to mention the big topic -- nature versus nurture. I've always been on the "nature" side of the fence myself. I feel that nurture gives you the tools to make conscious decisions about your nature. Whether you choose to over-ride your genetic tendencies (and how you do so) is very much learned from your environment.
PS - I'm all settled in Baltimore, found my local library and am ready to read. =)
I am sorry to be so slow with this book, but the end of the semester is just crazy. I'm off traveling again this weekend but our finals week is next week, so I should be able to finish and move on by the end of next week. It is Barb's pick next, right?
I just picked the book before Middlesex - Shouldn't it be somebody eles's pick now?
Joy picks next. =)
FINISHED!
Overall it was ok. I liked the beginning but the end seemed to go on forever and took me forever (seems like) to finish. I really enjoyed the story of Lefty, Desdemona and Sourmelina, especially Sourmelina's reaction to finding out Lefty and Desdemona were married "Just my luck, soon as I leave the village, things get interesting." I guess since it was such a small town and pickin's were slim, the best match for Lefty was someone he knew well, the sister.....
I did like reading about the Smyrna fire. I had never known about that and went on Google and read about it.
The reference to Harold Robbins' book "The Lonely Lady" looks like a book that Angie should read. Check it out A - it is sex, sex, sex.
I didn't like the name Chapter Eleven for the brother and especially that it was never explained.
And I found the car chase to Canada a bit far fetched. Supposedly it is in the middle of the night, yet there is a lot of traffic to dodge. It was not believable.
Also I had to empathize with Cal as she was being seen by the specialist. She wasn't honest with him and gave him the answers she thought HE wanted to hear. And as a teenager, you so get that feeling to do what the adults want you to do. And she was going to "pay the price" for not being honest to herself.
And yes A, had to agree with what you said about yia yia wanting to die. I remember Grandma saying almost those exact same words about how all her friends were dying.
I still haven't finished, but I am much closer and thought I would mention some things that caught my eye as I was reading.
The Silver Spoon: Tessie's response to the gift of a thermometer: "I'm not so sure we're going to have anything at the moment." :-) Really, a thermometer?
An Immodest Proposal: We burned our Christmas wrapping paper in our fireplace this year and also admired the different colored fire.
Henry Ford's English-Language Melting Pot: I can't believe they made her throw out her silkworms!
Also from this chapter: "Lina was one of those women they named the island after." :-)
Minotaurs: The positions, circumstances, and direct cause of Lefty and Desdemona's intercourse. What an interesting way of writing this section!
Also from this chapter: "Look closer. There. That's rights: One mutation apiece." I'm conflicted, does this mean that Lefty is the father of Tessie too? It made it sound that way.
Tricknology: Zizmo's preaching was certainly interesting.
News of the world: "Asian chicks are the last stop." This is the first time I have ever heard of this. Had you heard this before?
Also,the presidents with too many vowels. Has Obama broken this trend or is it just a brief interlude?
Ex Ovo Omnia: I'm still confused. So, is Tessie Lefty's child. I tried to work through this description of family relations and got lost again.
Home Movies: Can you imagine having a name like Marius Wyxzewixard Challouehliczilczese Grimes? His parents were just evil.
There are parts of this book that I really like and other parts that I just cannot seem to get into. I have Joy's book requested through ILL, so I won't get too far behind. :-)
Finally finished! The end went quickly once I finished slogging through the middle. I have to say that I disagree with A, the first third and the last third held my attention much better than the sections on Tessi and Milton. I found the second third to take forever.
And A, I don't remember Mrs. LeBlanc talking about A Doll's House, sorry. How do you remember these things??
I think Eugenides handled many difficult topics well, from Lefty and Desdemona's relationship to Cal's biology to the Octopussy were all handled in such a way to move past the squeamishness into understanding, I thought.
Did I mention that the name of the older Polish gentleman I bought this house from was Lefty? He was a character! And I keep imagining him when I read Lefty.
On another side note, my father married my aunt a few years ago (his brother's widow- not blood relative). We had lots of fun with all the jokes on names. For example, my brother became my step-cousin and I called dad "Uncle Dad" for a while.
To correct A, Sourmelina did not move to Florida with Desdemona and Tessie in the end, Zoe did. Sourmelina disappeared after that brief visit when her partner died.
J- I see the bridge to Canada here in the Sault just about every day (you can see it from campus) and even in the middle of the night several times after hockey games, etc. and it is ALWAYS busy with cars lined up. Now, it is 2012 and stricter border control since 9/11, but I have a tendency to believe the traffic at the border crossing since that was the Detroit bridge which has always been very busy.
I have some more comments which I will leave in another post so that they fit.
First of all, while I found the actual book difficult to get really immersed in (which I'll discuss in a moment), I think this is a fascinating plot. When I taught Gender and Women's Studies at WMU, we discussed sex, gender, and intersex, and I always asked my students why we don't just have a third gender. Afterall, there are thousands of intersex babies born in the US every year and yet usually doctors and parents choose to operate and make them fit with one or the other (As Luce wanted Milton and Tessie to do). Why not have a third sex? This always stumps my students. They never know what to say or how to handle it because it is such an alien idea to most of them. This book would be a great resource to help them learn and maybe understand better intersex children and adults.
With that said, I just couldn't get into this book. I felt like the plot kept getting lost in the historical details and side-stories. Even though it is written in the first person, it felt more like a third person narrative to me and I have a harder time connecting with characters in books written in third person. While I think Eugenides handled very difficult topics well, I really think this book could have used a little more editing. But then that is just my opinion. :-) I'm really glad I read it.
Just some last comments on the last half of the book, by chapter:
Middlesex: Desdemona went to bed and "For the next ten years, except for a bath every Friday, she never got out again." Can you imagine spending years of your life in bed, because you chose to do so? I can't.
The Obscure Object: The idea of her clitoris/penis as a crocus just struck me as both funny and... sweet? What a nice way to think of it.
Hermaphroditus: My colleague here at LSSU teaches a class on human nature where he talks about evolutionary biology and how it impacts gender. He taught this the past semester while I taught Women and Politics. I would argue that gender is societally constructed and then he would talk about how it is evolutionary. The poor students! I kept thinking about him while I was reading a bout the evolutionary biology explanations on the first page of this chapter. I just don't find it all that convincing!
And, on a last parting note, I have to say that I did not much care for Chapter Eleven until the part where he picked up Cal from jail. What a trooper! I wonder if my brother would be so accepting if I showed up as a man one day? Or would I if he showed up as a woman?
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