The Writers' Avenue Issue 3: YOLO

Special Feature: "Middlesex"

by Jeffrey Eugenides 

Review by Leys

“I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974...”

If there was ever a tremendously ambitious novel that seemed to rejoice in touching particularly sensitive subjects such as incest and hermaphroditism but handled them not just appropriately but also gracefully, it would be Eugenides’s tour de force, Middlesex. A story, no, an epic about a Greek-American who suffers from 5-Alpha-Reductase Deficiency, otherwise known as hermaphroditism, and two generations of family scandals and secrets, Middlesex is a delightfully inventive piece of literature that deserved winning the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. 

The novel is brilliantly imagined and cleverly plotted. It talks about Calliope Stephanides, a Greek American who, up until she reached the peak of puberty, was unaware of the recessive mutation in her fifth chromosome that literally changed her life overnight.  Though the book centers around Calliope and her transition to Cal, the novel encompasses more than just his life but his family’s as well. Middlesex is divided into four books. The first and second book narrates the story of Cal’s grandparents and his parents, the third and fourth are all about Calliope and her strange and painful but ultimately beautiful journey to finding her real identity. We are also given in depth accounts of several people who, though directly related by blood, are completely different from each other which gives the story its complexity and tenderness. The novel has as many twists and turns as the mythological Labyrinth of Crete. It has more than just personal and private conflicts that antagonize the characters; Middlesex also touches upon social and racial conflicts in the early seventies and how those affected the community Cal grew up in.

Eugenides really outdone himself with this book. The writing is gorgeous and clever, the kind that any reader would want to savour in their mouth for a few seconds before turning the next page. Whether it’s on a battle-scarred village in Asia Minor or in the glory days of Motor City Detroit, Eugenides paints perfect pictures of his profound story with his remarkable gift for words. There’s a lyrical quality to his writing that can really draw the reader in and a bit of cheekiness that can keep anyone’s attention.

The characters in Middlesex were exceptionally vivid. Eugenides gives the readers colorful personalities that are not only realistic but also enjoyable to read about. Every character in the book is given the right amount of attention and, by the end, we know what drives them to do what they do or what held them back from doing what the reader knows is the right thing

However, it should be said that although one of the book’s signature asset and strength is its extremely detailed narration of the Stephanides’ family history, Middlesex’s concentration on the little but significant tidbits of Desdemona and Lefty’s (Cal’s grandparents) move to Detroit as well as Tessie and Milton’s flirtation is also what many consider to be one of the things that dragged the plot to an almost sluggish pace. The narrator, Cal, is rather omniscient and although his narration is witty and delightful, the exhaustive way he described events that occurred before his parents were even born was a bit too far-fetched. Ironically, Cal spends so much time piecing together the puzzle of his genetic history that only half of the book is dedicated to his own life. Because of this, the last half of the book feels a bit rushed and abrupt. Most even feel like they hardly got to know Cal at all. 

Middlesex is an enchanting novel about finding your true self and developing enough courage and self-acceptance to fight for it. It’s a story about one Greek family’s life in America and their struggles to achieve the American dream. The novel is intimate and sweet but also cynical and funny, an epic worth the time and energy.