Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: After reading The Virgin Suicides and being impressed by Eugenides' remarkable handling of narrative (in that case to create an eerie distance between the boys of the neighbourhood and the Lisbon girls), I had to read Middlesex immediately. An epic in every sense of the word, the story begins in turn-of-the-century Greece and takes us on a journey through the histories of the Stephanides family as they travel to America, resulting in Calliope. Unlike most girls her age, Calliope must uncover a buried family secret and become Cal. Rather than create distance, Eugenides here draws you in to his characters, showing a great deal of sensitivity to his young heroine/hero.Cal is one of the most interesting narrators of recent years and, in particular, the way his/her adolescense is described and handled is writing of the best sort. What's important though is the fact that Eugenides earns this through his detailed and clearly well-researched description of the two generations preceding Cal. There are plenty of rounded characters here that you find yourself looking back to what a different approach Eugenides took with The Virgin Suicides with the dreamy shadows of the Lisbon girls. Whilst both are more than impressive, Middlesex is so epic, bringing in such a variety of important themes (not least that of what defines your identity), that it should probably be viewed as the better work. Still, both are such excellent examples of the modern novel that anyone who liked Middlesex should definitely seek Eugenides' earlier work. Whilst the end of the story has a slight tendency towards over-exaggeration and some loose ends are tied up a little too nicely, the fantastic, and the way memory creates the fantastical from the ordinary seems to be one of the author's main concerns, and his glittering depiction of exciting car chases, burning cities, burgeoning sexuality and death is among the most interesting and compelling I've read for a fair while.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book
Review: Jeffery Eugenides' Middlesex is a wonderfully invigorating thrill ride. If you enjoy reading about richly described characters who grow as the novel flows, this book is most definetley for you. The story follows the lives and relationships of the family of Calliope Stephanides, a hermaphordite. Calliope must uncover a deep family secret in order to discover the origin of her deformity. The reader of this story follows Calliope's family history, her short-lived relationships, and eventual self-discovery. The novel has several endearing characters, such as Calliope's elder brother known throughout the story as Chapter Eleven and her Father, Milton Stephanides.Chapter eleven is a free style hippie who is a direct contrast to his father, a completely straight forward military man who only plays by the rules. Not only will the reader of Middlesex walk away with an extreme sense of satisfaction, but they'll walk away with quite a bit of knowledge as well.
Eugenides uses several incidents from American history to string his story along. The Detroit Riots of the late Sixties which are described with vivid detail. From this the reader learns about American Poverty and violence in history. Eugenides' book also discusses the role of Henry Ford's Americanizing, anti-immigrant melting pot. This is an important part of the story because it details the transformation of Calliope's grandfather Lefty into a full fledged American at the cost of his Greek culture. Henry Ford would do this in reality in order to welcome immagrants into American society. However, as soon as the ceremony was over, he would always ironically find something wrong with their past individual history and would fire them and hire new immigrants. This would create a wave of English speakers who were eligible to work. Eugenides' characters are Greek, and to tell their story, he uses several parables from classical Greek Mythology to enhance his storytelling. One such example is the Greek play "The Minotaur." By explaining the unnatural relationship by which the minotaur was created, the story of Calliope's deformity is explained and becomes a metaphor for his whole life. Classic Greek mythology explains a hemaphrodite's creation by uniting the characters, Hermes, the messenger god who is also known as Mercury, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. These two examples make Eugenides' story more believable, authentic, and his characters more like real people who don't want to lose their cultural identity.
But on the whole, identity is what Middlesex is all about. Throughout the story, the main character struggles with his cultural and sexual identity. Desdemona, Calliope's grandmother, changes her identity to that of a obedient Muslim woman in order to work and help her family. She becomes confused in this when she listens in on a speech by a manipulative Reverend Fard, who says that white people are the Satanic and that they are all going to hell. But when she meets Fard and realizes that is is just a misconstrued soul who has lost his identity, she gains hers back and discovers that her identity as a Greek is more important to her than anything else in her life.
To sum up, Middlesex impresses the reader with many strong themes. The reader learns that no matter what, no one can ever change who he/she is on the inside. Self discovery and a little humor are both used to make the reading fun and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Deserved the Pulitzer
Review: It's not often a book that won the Pulitzer captures my attention. After all, literary prizes tend to go to books that are--for lack of a better word--literary. Jeffrey Eugenides defies that tradition by giving us _Middlesex_. The story of Caliope's transition to Cal, the story of Greek immigrants, the story of family secrets hidden then revealed--it reads like a Greek tragedy tinged with comedy. Cal's journey and transformation are only part of the story. Everyone in Cal's family has had their own transformation, bringing with them the defective gene that will someday produce Caliope. The secrets that are hidden--marriages, heredity, criminal acts--all of it comes together seamlessly. Eugenides's scenes are so well drawn-out that you'd swear you were there: in the cabin, on the boat, in the diner as the flames errupt. Cal's voice tells the tale with a tinge of sarcasm, regret, and pride, developing the storyline while keeping some things for himself, only to reveal them later. _Middlesex_ is an epic work that crosses generations, explores social mores and customs, and gets to the heart of what identity really is.
Rating: 
Summary: No need to finish.
Review: I read this book for my book club and was one of two who actually finished the novel. Not a single member of the club enjoyed it and reviews all around were terrible.
Rating:
Summary: No wonder it won the Pulitzer
Review: "Middlesex" is an amazing accomplishment, a splendid book which builds beautifully. Jeffery Eugenides has created a serious work of literature which obliquely addresses a controversial topic--the "gender wars"-- by locating his true protagonist as the gene which causes the central conflict in the narrator. The premise of this book could have resulted in a mess of pontification or bathos in lesser hands, but the humanity and good-natured wit of Cal Stephanides seems to resist cooptation by either side of the nature/nurture debate. The narrative voice of this work is unique: a blend of third and first person omniscience, with flourishes taken from the grammar of cinema, and flawless transitions between them. One is left feeling compassion and satisfaction for the narrator and his journey. My two criticisms are slight: one, that we'd have more of the present-day story; and two that the ending seems a little melodramatic...? But I found myself slowing down so that this book wouldn't end--always the best reaction and a testament to Eugenides' power as a storyteller and artist. He finds a perfect balance between artful prose and a compelling story which inspires compassion while touching a common humanity. The best contemporary novel I've read since Thomas Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon" (although it's nothing like that one stylistically).
Rating:
Summary: Middlesex
Review: Here is a whole new perspective! I felt every emotion, all the longings. With each new revelation throughout the story, you feel a new almost learn something about yourself. This is obviously an extremely well-researched book and is a very good life motto in and of itself. I would certainly recommend this novel for anyone who may have this illness or any other AIS related issue along with friends and family who'd like to expound their comprehension of the mechanisms associated with illnesses of this nature.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story expertly told
Review: I'm not a huge fiction reader, but fell in love with this book when our book club read it earlier this year. Eugenides deftly weaves past, present and future into a compelling narrative that is literally difficult to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: does not
Review: Middlesex is a book full of complex characters. the shift of the novel from the present to the past is very good. however, the novel does not offer satisfactory reading. the concept of the novel is very good but does not offer the reader any scope to think aobut how calliope feels. the book does not have any underlining moral. the book is just an entertainer, which does not even entertain. in such a situation, it would be ideal to think aobut how the society treats calliope as a girl and later as a boy. however, euginides does not tell the reader anything aobut that. it does not even seem that the book has any point to make. overall, if you have seriously nothing better to do, you might want to read this book. but if you are looking for a sample of some good literature, please do not read this book, for your own sake.
Rating: 
Summary: intelligent written, attention grabber
Review: To start with, this book is quite longer than it should be but then again one can't explain on this when one find him/herself going through this book non-stop. It's so hard to put it down. If I don't have class or homeworks to do, I would just sit there and read it through. I've never read books by this author before but his writing style really grabs me. The book is cleverly written with good selection of vocabularies. For someone from other country like me, I find it very difficult to deal with those vocabularies but they help me learn big words. I would recommend this book to everyone. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise and enjoy!!!
Review: I enjoyed reading since i started until finishing this book. Everything seemed to be very strange as an Asian student like me about Western culture.. When I finished one chapter...it really gave me an inspration to think what's next in the next chapter..The most interesting part for me is the conclusion.. Book four... in which Cal decided to become a boy and live for the rest of her life as a boy... I also didn't expect that Father Mike will do bad thing to Milton... Why Cal was born like ?...this is a mysterious part for the whole book .... because it was hidden until the last chapter....And I've never heard of a person who has both male and female sexual organs like Cal....It's really a big surprise for me..
The book gave me much information about Western culture in which people dare to live for themselves...they face with their personal problem like sexual intercoures...In my cuture...Myanmar ..it's very rule and everybody avoids to talk about it although it's reality in our life....I have to say thanks for what I had known from this useful book because it gave me fresh and reality view that will affect my thinking for a long time later...I will recommend this book to my friends in Myanmar because I want them to understand about the reality...sexual..gender...and so many things...
| 
