O Sing Muse, of Middlesex!

I read a book this summer. Sue me.

As you might know (from how much I've talked about it previous posts), I went to Korea in June.

And if you didn't know, the plane ride to Korea (or East Asia in general) is a whopping 14 hours from LA. Alas, I'm also cheap (and Korean), which means that I didn't take the 14 hour plane ride that went straight from LAX to Incheon Airport, but a transfer ride that went to Seattle in two hours, abandoned me there for four hours, and then took me to Seoul within a hellish 12 hours.

It was a hard time traveling, my friend.

The one good thing about all of this dragging around suitcases and staring at grey walls is that it gives you a priceless sort of free time where you have the excuse to not be productive. Free time is one that's been sorely lacking in my life and I took the opportunity to actually read a book for fun.

For once.

Middlesex is the Pulitzer-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, an author whose name coincides with the main character for another favorite novel of mine (The Thief by Megan Turner, go check it out). I have to admit, one of the main reasons I started reading the novel was because of the author's name.

But as with all good books, I became completely absorbed in its universe.

The plot for Middlesex feels simple: a person who was born a girl becomes a boy later in his/her life. I first thought it was going to be some fantastical transformation, something that belonged to the Greek myths continuously referenced from the character's heritage.

Instead, it's about genetics. It's about a family's history, immigration, the development of American industry, gender roles, the influence of culture, the intersex movement, and a city landscape that is Detroit.

Here's the thing about books: they begin with one simple premise. A boy is a wizard. Teenagers fight each other to the death. A man becomes rich for a woman. A Russian heiress has an affair.

The development and quality of the book simply depends on how well you can layer onto this premise, on the voice you can give it to leave an impression on the reader. With Middlesex, I also found a literature nerd's wet dream - the inclusion of themes.

The American Dream, nurture vs. nature, the polarity of opposites, the inheritance of a generation, it's all here.

We find the voice of Cal (previously Calliope) Stephanidies, recounting his story as an intersex individual. But within that voice, and within this curious genetic mutation, we also find three generations of the Stephanides family, starting with Cal's grandparents, who brought themselves and their Greek culture in pursuit of survival, and later, the American Dream. It's a family epic, it's a coming of age story, it's a romance and a medical mystery, and it's exactly the sort of work I end up having (literal) dreams about.

There are times when you look at something and you just cannot help admiring the craftsmanship of it. How did they do it? How could they have possibly thought of that, and then put it together to become the perfect version of it?

(As a writer, beyond the admiration, I also feel the slightest bit of envy. If there's a word for the sort of work completed in Middlesex, it's genius.)

Middlesex was a brilliant introduction to a great American author. I'm aware that this was his second novel, and I have yet to obtain a copy of his first (which was also critically acclaimed, and adapted into a critically acclaimed film). If you have the time, I really do highly recommend it.