graduationpartyideas

Middlesex passed my most basic test for a book: I plowed right through in a matter of days. Many types of books can encourage binging, but I would say this was binging for the right reasons. A richly populated world was created, I entered in, I cared, fictional lives went on (as did mine), and I left satisfied. Eugenides continues his gift for writing a traditional novel with a non-traditional narrator, and although the 1st person omniscient has been done before, it was done well here and I didn't care a bit that the narrator was sharing things he couldn't possibly know; I was just happy to know those things. With such an unusual protaganist, the author doesn't let quirkiness overrun the novel. The family history element of Middlesex reminded me of Everything is Illuminated, without becoming folk tale (perhaps a plus of EiI, but it bugged me), and the movement of the plot was well placed in reality (and history). The intrusion of the Nation of Islam was the only place that felt overtly plotted, and I was very nervous that we were going to fully enter Oprah territory during the San Francisco chapters. While the hermaphrodite's tale does drive and inform the narrative, in some ways it gets lost in the story of family. Maybe that's the point.

2023-07-24 05:26