Middlesex

After probably a decade of this paperback sitting on my bookshelf, moving around from home to home with me, I've finally read the Modern Classic™, Middlesex.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book, but overall, I found the intricately woven style of the story so compelling. The first half of the book was my favorite. I loved reading about Cal's family history; Desdemona and Lefty (Cal's grandparents) were such interesting, vibrant characters, and tbh if the entire book had been about them I wouldn't have been mad. I enjoyed everything about their story—their love of their hometown, their journey from Greece to America, navigating their new home as immigrants, and crafting a history where they could safely be together.

My hesitations about this book revolve around Cal's experience with being intersex. From what I've read, Eugenides is not intersex, and did not speak to a single intersex person about their experiences before or during the writing process. I'm sure he did his own research, but to write an intimate account of a life you have no personal experience with, I really think the only way to truly do it justice is to talk with people who do have that personal experience. Since only about the last 1/4 of the book really focused on Cal's intersex identity, I wasn't overwhelmingly bothered by this, but there were definitely times when I felt Cal's story could've used a little more nuance and authenticity. The vague mentions of Cal's gender journey worked well as a thread to tie all the different stories together throughout, but the ending of the book, which really attempted to focus on Cal as an intersex person, felt shoehorned in, and thus the ending fell flat for me.

I don't typically need or use half stars, but I think this one has to be 3.5 stars for me. I loved a lot of this book, liked a lot of this book, and was also disappointed by a few things, and unfortunately those things (specifically, LGBTQIAP representation) are really important to me. I don't think Eugenides did a poor job by any means, I just think with a bit more effort, he could have done better.