Middlesex

I just finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Euginides in time for book club this evening. Wow. I was blown away, I didn't want it to be over.

Cal was a very interesting narrator, her description of her love for Object and the final acknowledgement of that love from the object, with ' the first and last kiss' was just amazing. i was so nervous when she was stoned in the outhouse with the stupid brother..when he had opened up her overalls and she was still hovering over object, i couldn't take it. I had to get up and make some tea to delay the 'entry' into a no fly zone...gosh it was excruciating. I got so involved in cal's life I couldn't bear to finish reading the book. The end was just breathtaking, the conversation between Desdemona and Cal, who I really had been wondering about for a while..where the hell did yia yia disappear to and there she was for the spectacular end.

Jeffrey is amazing, so sensitive. I can't believe he isn't a hermaphrodite. He spoke so convincingly in the first person I thought I was reading an autobiography...it was kind of how unbelievable it was that the narrator in Memoirs of a Geisha was a white male and not a japanese geisha.

The story was very well told, besides I realized I really did have so many questions about hijras when i saw them in bombay, whenever I asked around I would either be told oh they are just men dressed up like women to make money or there was another gross story involving horse hair and castration..there was always mystery surrounding them. It was interesting to get such a personal account and to learn about these people, who seem to have a more complete perspective of both sides. What was amazing was the observations of Cal...about both sexes..so perceptive. I could really feel the agony of Calliope, I knew her as a girl..and then saw her struggling in a male world. Very interesting, unique stuff. In a way i was a voyeur at the 69ers too..i didn't watch them in fish tank, but i wanted to reveal the mystery of this character. Very satisfying read, I shed tears at quite a few points.

The other interesting part of the book was the history of modern America through the eyes of these greek immigrants, it was educational and engaging. I able to get a sweep of American history from 1922 to 2002 through the story of one family that I really cared about..i found myself colluding with Desdemona and Lefty, i hid away their secret too..

Writers are amazing..to be able to get so deeply into something, to have such vivid imaginations, insightful observations and tell a story so captivating, I read for 6 hours straight, I couldn't do anything else. Jeffrey Eugenides is a great talent.