This Greek family saga, as narrated by a hermaphrodite, has many pages, but I flicked through them easily like so many moistened labia. Moments of tragedy lay concealed within, like undescended testes, but warm humour dominated, swelling forth like a budding penis.

The story is about the last carrier/inheritor of the 5-alpha-reducatse deficiency syndrome in the Stephanides family, spanning over 80 years. This condition is caused by a recessive genetic mutation, resulting in an intersexual individual, known as a 'hermaphrodite', a normative, historical term, which originates from the Greek mythological figure called 'Hermaphroditus'

The story begins in the Greek Mythology, winding its way through the history of a Greek community in Turkey, who were forced to flee with the burning of Smyrna in 1922.

The story continues in America, incorporating the immigrant experience and modern American history with much empathize on the 1960's and 1970's.

Callie, or Cal, short for Calliope, is the narrator, writing his memoir in a supple, complex and intimate voice. Some of the well-developed characters have Greek names, others have unusual nicknames, such as Cal's brother 'Chapter Eleven' and a girlfriend called 'the Object'

The title of the book not only suggests the androgynous nature of the protagonist, but also suggest the Anglophilian nature of American suburban pretensions.

The first 50 pages of the book determines if the reader will want to continue or not. Incest is a difficult, creepy subject to persist with, and I almost made a u-turn and called it a day, if it wasn't for so many Goodreads friends who finished the book! I have come to rely on your judgement and taste in books.

It was certainly an unusual book: part immigrant saga, part psychological novel, part comic, part medical mystery, mixed in with historical fiction and Greek mythology. The prose was undoubtedly beautiful. It is so multileveled that it certainly cannot easily be pigeonholed. It can probably be described as the metamorphosis of three generations of Greek immigrants in the American history. The portion of the book dealing with the history of Detroit was fascinating to me. The history of silk and the American adaptation of the industry by Muslim citizens kept me reading on.

It was also a brilliant book on so many levels, especially writing about intersexuality in such a detailed but endearing way, and including the extensive historical, literary, medical and psychological research in the text.

However, I felt at times that there was too much information dumping, although the rhythm of the book was never interrupted. The story was predictable as well. Everything was overall believable, embedded in reality and highly informative. It is not a book for the fainthearted, although a sense of humor will enable readers to lighten up the often dark undertones in the book. The author managed to keep the story palatable by his often sharp or otherwise subtle wit. In the end it is a beautiful story of love.

I enjoyed the experience, but to be honest, I am glad it is over. I got bored here and there, and made an effort to finish, although it was truly a great book to read.

Author Jeffrey Eugenides’ talent is huge, and taking a rare genetic combination and setting it in Detroit, Michigan takes such a talent. I loved this narrator who slipped from telling a story to speaking directly to the reader, then shifted storylines and time frames and smoothly wove an addictive tale.

Too many layers in this book to list them all here. What a treat I have just been served (especially for a Michigander and a granddaughter of Greek immigrants). 5+ stars.

Middlesex, 2002, Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Kent Eugenides (born March 8, 1960) is an American novelist, and short story writer. He has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: The Virgin Suicides (1993), Middlesex (2002), and The Marriage Plot (2011).

Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, first published in 2002. The book is a bestseller, with more than four million copies sold since its publication. Its characters and events are loosely based on aspects of Eugenides' life and observations of his Greek heritage.

Eugenides worked on Middlesex for nine years. He started writing during his short-term residence at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, United States, and finished the novel in Berlin, Germany; he had accepted a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service in 1999.

Eugenides spent the first few years trying to establish the narrative voice for his novel.

"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 l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license...records my first name simply as Cal."

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و سوم ماه آوریل سال 2012 میلادی

عنوان: میدل سکس؛ نوشته جفری اوژنیدس؛ مترجم نوشین ریشهری؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، دانژه، 1389، در 632ص، شابک 9786005070330، موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 21م

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 14/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

“Siamo tutti fatti di molte parti,
altre metà.”

Non so se vi capita di dover commentare un libro appena letto ed essere sopraffatti dalle troppe cose da dire e (o) dal profondo desiderio di comunicare quanto questa lettura sia entrata nel proprio profondo.
Devo dire che, personalmente, mi è successo più volte e questo è, per l’appunto uno di questi casi.
D’altro canto, penso, Eugenides ci ha messo nove anni per scrivere questo romanzo, come potrei io parlarne in poche righe?

Qualcosa, però, lo vorrei dire.

Mi facilito, pertanto, il compito partendo semplicemente dall’incipit attraverso il quale la voce narrante si presenta:

” Sono nato due volte: bambina, la prima, un giorno di gennaio del 1960 in una Detroit straordinariamente priva di smog, e maschio adolescente, la seconda, nell’agosto del 1974, al pronto soccorso di Petoskey, nel Michigan. Non è impossibile che un lettore specializzato abbia letto notizie sul mio conto nello studio del dottor Peter Luce, Gender Identity in 5-Alpha-Reductase Pseudohermaphrodites pubblicato nel 1975 dal “Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology”. Oppure potreste aver visto la mia fotografia pubblicata nel capitolo sedici di Genetics and Heredity, un testo ormai tristemente obsoleto. Sono io la ragazza nuda in piedi accanto a un’asta graduata per misurare l’altezza a pagina 578, gli occhi nascosti da una striscia nera.
All’anagrafe sono registrata come Calliope Helen Stephanides. Nella mia patente di guida più recente (rilasciata dalla Repubblica Federale Tedesca) il mio nome è Cal.”



Per raccontarci la sua vita, Cal riannoda i fili della movimentata storia di questa famiglia greca.
Da uno sperduto paesino turco, attraverso le fiamme che hanno ridotto in cenere la splendida Smirne (1922) per andare, poi, a rifugiarsi a Detroit, capitale dell’industria automobilistica.

America è una parola che indica luoghi e modi di vivere sconosciuti.
Le generazioni si susseguono lavorando per camuffare le origini e costruire una nuova identità culturale.
Avvince la storia della famiglia Stephanides inserita in episodi che sembra parlino anche d’altro ma, poi, a conti fatti, non fanno altro che allargare il focus e, così, si arriva al luglio 1967 e Detroit esplode in una rivolta che porta a galla tutte le contraddizioni della società americana.

Per gli Stephanides sarà una svolta che li porterà a vivere in un quartiere elegante:
a Middlesex Boulevard; la terra di mezzo dove Calliope sviluppa la storia di questo inconsapevole contrabbando genetico.

Un romanzo di grande e meravigliosa densità dove tutto si colloca con gran perfezione, dove l’autore si prende cura di ogni personaggio.

Piaciuto molto, molto, molto.
Tanto da non aver parole...



“Cantami, o diva, del quinto cromosoma la mutazione recessiva! Cantami di come fiorì sui pendii del Monte Olimpo, due secoli e mezzo or sono, tra capre che belavano e olive che rotolavano. Cantami le nove generazioni per cui viaggiò sotto mentite spoglie, sopito nel sangue inquinato della famiglia Stephanides. E cantami la Provvidenza, che sotto forma di massacro lo risvegliò per trasportarlo, come fa con i semi il vento, fino in America, dove le piogge industriali lo fecero precipitare su quel fertile terreno del Midwest che era il ventre di mia madre.
Scusate se ogni tanto divento un po’ omerico. Anche questo è genetico.”

Cinco estrelas, desde a primeira à última página...

Tudo o que eu queria dizer sobre este livro a Ana já disse n  AQUIn. E di-lo de uma forma tão bonita como eu nunca conseguirei. E juro que tentei...
Desculpa Ana, por te "roubar" a review, mas Middlesex compensa o "crime".

This was my second time reading Middlesex, and I have to admit I approached it with some trepidation, wondering if I would enjoy it as much the second time, if I would be as swept up in the story, if, indeed, it would hold up.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

"When I told my life story to Dr. Luce, the place where he invariably got interested was when I came to Clementine Stark. Luce didn't care about criminally smitten grandparents or silkworm boxes or serenading clarinets. To a certain extent, I understand. I even agree."
I agree too. This quote comes from page 263 and is really where the story picks up and gets into the subject the book promises--Cal's life as a hermaphrodite. Honestly, while the first 263 pages were interesting and had some important developing points, it could have been distilled a great deal. Eugenides is a great, fluid writer--very witty. But dang, he's wordy. I guess after reading several books by Cormac McCarthy I'm bound to get distracted by verbosity. I'm not saying I don't like long--my favorite book is The Brothers Karamazov--I just don't like all the superfluous words.
Still, the book is compelling so far. I'm not as driven to read it as I think I should be, but I don't find myself putting it down after every paragraph to check my email either.

UPDATE: I have finished the book. In the end, I felt like it didn't deliver. I see a lot of connections Eugendides is making about identity, but they didn't seem developed. In fact, there were many symbols throughout the book that were very clever but ultimately seemed to be only that--a device used to show cleverness and not to really further the plot. Another problem I had with the book was the fact that Eugenides tells too much about his characters and yet I still feel like it is underdeveloped. For example, he has great characters in mind and some great episodes to show how they feel, but then he simply runs through the story and then tells you how the character felt--I wanted to feel how the characters felt.
I enjoyed two things about the book. First, the Forrest Gump-like trek through American history. There are really some fascinating episodes in this book. And Eugenides does an excellent job ellaborating on them. Sometimes I felt like he should have written an essay on American history rather than this novel. The second thing I enjoyed was Eugenides sly, clever writing. I know that above I said that some things seemed to be there just to showcase the author's wit, but some of those things were really clever and enjoyable. The writing kind of reminded me of Jim Carrey's acting: at moments it was brilliant, hysterical, and spot on; but at other moments it was just too much, needed to be toned down, better controlled.
As I said, this book didn't deliver for me. I liked it because of its promise. The idea is fascinating. However, as talented as Mr. Eugenides is, a little more control would be nice.

à la surprise de : personne je n'ai absolument pas aimé ce livre qui était, dans ses meilleurs moments, vaguement divertissant (de la même façon que le mauvais jeu de mots d'un collègue vous arrache une ombre de sourire), dans la plupart de ses moments, un peu pointless, et dans les pires de ses moments, réifiant et sexiste af, ce qui est un peu dommage pour un roman qui prétend déconstruire le genre et mettre en lumière le sort des personnes intersexe.

déjà : énorme, énorme, énorme avertissement car personnellement je n'ai AUCUNE envie de lire ce genre de récit, encore moins si je ne m'y attends pas, ce qui était hélas le cas ici : les 100 bonnes premières pages du livre sont consacrées à une histoire d'INCESTE entre les grands-parents du narrateur, qui étaient frère et soeur !!! et c'est censé être rigolo !!! vraiment !!! c'est mâtiné de petites anecdotes en mode #grotesque ou #insolite haha on rigole bien dites donc on doit mentir pour que personne ne sache qu'on est frère et soeur et mariés hahahaha des BARRES DE RIRE PUTAIN QU'EST-CE QUE C'EST COCASSE non c'est pas cocasse moi je trouve ça nauséeux traitez-moi de police de la pensée si vous voulez mais j'assume avec à peu près zéro difficulté de trouver nauséabond tout texte qui rigole de l'inceste, ou le normalise ne serait-ce qu'en partie, et présente ça comme une sacrée situation haha !!! dites donc !!!!!

énorme malaise également quant à l'OBSESSION de l'auteur pour les parties génitales de son protagoniste, dont il s'entend évidemment qu'elles jouent un rôle important dans sa construction, précisément parce qu'elles sont stigmatisées et font l'objet de violences médicales comme hélas c'est le cas pour bcp de personnes intersexes, évidemment qu'au moment de l'adolescence le regard sur son propre corps peut être très intense, mais il n'y avait PAS à verser dans une telle fétichisation - encore moins excusable que par la suite, quelques rapides personnages trans ou intersexe passent de façon fulgurante dans le texte et n'existent, en gros, que par leur anatomie avant d'être évacués et qu'on n'en reparle plus jamais !!!!! youpi !!!!

également nausée absolue de passer 80 pages sur "l'histoire d'amour" entre le narrateur et une jeune fille appelée l'Objet. oui. l'Objet. c'est ainsi qu'elle sera désignée. 3 à 4 fois par page. pendant 80 pages. est-ce à l'image de la façon dont elle nous est décrite, présentée et caractérisée ? je vous laisserai le deviner. vous avez deviné.

bien sûr qu'Eugenides sait écrire, que c'est fluide (raison pour laquelle je suis allée jusqu'au bout, en plus de vouloir constater jusqu'où ce roman allait être repoussant), qu'il y a certains passages çà et là qui recèlent une vraie poésie, mais tout ça est noyé dans un océan de digressions tantôt lassantes, tantôt agaçantes, avec des transitions si maladroites que c'est un miracle que les pages tiennent toutes debout dans la reliure (je vous jure, on a des trucs du genre "mais revenons à l'année 1922 où mon grand-père... [anecdote]. Cela ressemble un peu à ce moment où en 1981 je suis à Berlin et je fais ceci et cela... [anecdote]. Mais pour en revenir à 1922 (iopjgfiogodgdi bref je deviens FOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU fais un effort (en fait c'est ça qui me saoule avec les écrivains mec cishet tout ce que vous voulez : ils font pas d'effort. ils savent qu'on les lira. ils n'ont pas à faire l'effort d'être lisibles. ça me fout tellement en rogne que je reviens un rognon) structure ta narration lisse tes ellipses FAIS UN TRUUUUUUUUUC je vous laisse je vais manger de la soupe adios muchachos

I have to admit I was sorely disappointed with this book. I expected… well… greatness! It won a Pulitzer for God’s sake! I guess the Pulitzer Prize must be more political than I thought, because I cannot for the life of me understand what about this book’s writing was particularly ground-breaking. Sure, the subject matter is flashy, but I felt that the “epic scope” this novel was trying to achieve fell rather flat. The book's prose was not amazingly poetic, nor was the novel’s construction. I feel the book relied too heavily on the multi-generational back story it provides to launch it into the realm of say  East of Eden or  The House of the Spirits; but it never quite hit the same height Steinbeck or Allende achieved. The novel was only sprawling in the time period it accounts for, not in its universal appeal.

I expected more insight from such a highly acclaimed book, but as it was I found the main characters 2-dimensional and transparent. The author seems to have very little respect for his characters – they are like puppets he uses to act out the “greater moral themes” of the book, regardless of whether or not these actions are respectful of the characters’ unique personalities. A cruel and unforgiving propaganda piece; literary only at face-value.

L-am citit cu întârziere pe Jeffrey Eugenides, sunt 20 de ani de când a scris Middlesex. Cred ca impactul asupra mea ar fi fost mult mai puternic atunci decât acum, asta pentru ca lumea s-a schimbat destul de mult, sau o parte din ea măcar, cea in care mă găsesc și eu. Cumva mintea mea făcuse loc destul pentru ca această lectură sa se așeze confortabil, cu tot înțelesul ei. Asta nu înseamnă că nu este în continuare relevanta, dimpotrivă, le-as oferi-o multora drept lectură obligatorie. Daca exista un lacăt peste noțiunile de corespondenta dintre sex și gen, aici este el spart. Cu blândețe și cu luciditate si chiar cu mult umor. Este o carte care ne impune sa ne revizuim normele, pe cele mai străvechi si pe cele mai fixe. Lumea este prea săracă și prea strictă atunci cand împarte oamenii doar in femei și bărbați. Este o realitate. Cine se opune ei este in poziția celor care spun ca pământul e plat.
Dar in afară de asta, cartea este si o foarte reușită poveste a unei familii de greci, cu trei generații, un război, un secret, o strămutare, o devenire si o decădere. Nu se putea ca ea sa nu-mi vorbească foarte intim. Pe toti refugiații, strămutați, emigranții, o sa-i unească întotdeauna un petec de teritoriu comun. Oricât de diferite sunt experientele lor, traiectoriile lor, ei au in comun o piesa de baza, exact ca șasiul unei masini. Orice model se configurează deasupra, lucrul care sta la temelie, este tot ăla.
Foarte mișto, este o carte de citit, nu stiu daca de recitit, neapărat.

3.5 Liked it but did not like it enough as the other reviews made me expect. I am confused about this book, this is my third rating and can be more. There are parts I enjoyed that ran effortlessly, and there are parts I wanted to just skip but didn't. Its the story of a Greek family that lived in Turkey and moved to USA. The writer begins his story at 1912 and narrates the story as if he was there, in an imaginative mode. A very complicated story of a genetic disease that grips a large family and keeps coming up during the book like a jack in the box. There is open expression of hostility to Turks; there is incest and immigration issues and working class history of US.

5 alpha reductase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder (meaning you only get it if both of the copies you inherit from your parents are defective) that results in pseudo-hermaphroditism.

For your information, excerpt from NIH site:
5-alpha reductase deficiency is a condition that affects male sexual development before birth and during puberty. People with this condition are genetically male, with one X and one Y chromosome in each cell, and they have male gonads (testes). Their bodies, however, do not produce enough of a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT has a critical role in male sexual development, and a shortage of this hormone disrupts the formation of the external sex organs before birth.

Many people with 5-alpha reductase deficiency are born with external genitalia that appear female. In other cases, the external genitalia do not look clearly male or clearly female (sometimes called ambiguous genitalia). Still other affected infants have genitalia that appear predominantly male, often with an unusually small penis (micropenis) and the urethra opening on the underside of the penis (hypospadias).

During puberty, an increase in the levels of male sex hormones leads to the development of some secondary sex characteristics, such as increased muscle mass, deepening of the voice, development of pubic hair, and a growth spurt. The penis and scrotum (the sac of skin that holds the testes) grow larger. Unlike many men, people with 5-alpha reductase deficiency do not develop much facial or body hair. Most affected individuals are unable to have biological children without assisted reproduction.

Children with 5-alpha reductase deficiency are often raised as girls. Some of these individuals adopt a male gender role in adolescence or early adulthood, while others adopt a female gender role.