Middlesex
3 journalers for this copy...
Donated to 1001 books to read before you die.
Requested and sent on.
Posted on
This book was waiting for me when I got home from work today. Thanks mafarrimond. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte is in the mail but I suspect that Canada Post won't be as quick as the British mail system was. Hope it doesn't take too long. I requested this book because one of my friends said I had to read it. I'll try to get to it soon.
Back when I read Annabel by Kathleen Winter a friend recommended that I read Middlesex. Thanks to the 1001-library I obtained a copy but other books kept getting in the way. Finally this past week I decided it was time to read Middlesex. I was immediately hooked.
The story is told by Cal Stephanides who was raised for the first 14 years of his life as Calliope, a girl. However, he was a genetic male with XY chromosomes and a rare mutation that meant he appeared female when he was born. He starts the book with this riveting quote:
I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.
Before he gets into his story he tells about his paternal grandparents, natal Greeks, who left Turkey and immigrated to the USA. In Detroit his grandparents encountered Henry Ford, rumrunners and then black Muslim activists while trying to earn a living. Their story, alone, would have been a good book. Similarly, his parents, cousins almost raised as brother and sister, had an interesting narrative before Cal came along.
But it is Cal's story that I found most riveting. How would one react when confronting such a radical shift in one's identity? As I was reading this book I was reminded of another book that I read some time ago. As Nature Made Him is the true story of a young boy from my home city whose circumcision was botched and as a result he was raised as a girl. Somewhat like Cal's experience with a famous doctor, this boy, David Reimer, was studied and experimented upon by a famous doctor who was thrilled to have this boy and his identical twin brother as his subjects. David Reimer also learned his true identity when he was a teenager and decided to adopt his male gender. There is nothing I could find that indicates that Eugenides was aware of David's story but I think it is possible he knew of the circumstances.
This book won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I would say it deserves that accolade. Highly recommended.
The story is told by Cal Stephanides who was raised for the first 14 years of his life as Calliope, a girl. However, he was a genetic male with XY chromosomes and a rare mutation that meant he appeared female when he was born. He starts the book with this riveting quote:
I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.
Before he gets into his story he tells about his paternal grandparents, natal Greeks, who left Turkey and immigrated to the USA. In Detroit his grandparents encountered Henry Ford, rumrunners and then black Muslim activists while trying to earn a living. Their story, alone, would have been a good book. Similarly, his parents, cousins almost raised as brother and sister, had an interesting narrative before Cal came along.
But it is Cal's story that I found most riveting. How would one react when confronting such a radical shift in one's identity? As I was reading this book I was reminded of another book that I read some time ago. As Nature Made Him is the true story of a young boy from my home city whose circumcision was botched and as a result he was raised as a girl. Somewhat like Cal's experience with a famous doctor, this boy, David Reimer, was studied and experimented upon by a famous doctor who was thrilled to have this boy and his identical twin brother as his subjects. David Reimer also learned his true identity when he was a teenager and decided to adopt his male gender. There is nothing I could find that indicates that Eugenides was aware of David's story but I think it is possible he knew of the circumstances.
This book won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I would say it deserves that accolade. Highly recommended.
Journal Entry 6 by gypsysmom at Second Cup – Graham & Edmonton in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Sunday, September 18, 2016
Released 7 yrs ago (9/18/2016 UTC) at Second Cup – Graham & Edmonton in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
No-one has requested this book from the 1001 library so I am going to take it to the Winnipeg BookCrossers meeting to see if anyone is interested in it.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
This will prove to be an intriguing story, no doubt, and I am looking forward to reading it.
