A long and sometimes seemingly endless family epic, Middlesex is actually a very enjoyable novel. If you ever have doubts as to whether you should wed your brother or sister and procreate, this book may help shed some light on the matter. Cal, the protagonist, is a very loveable character and the confusion and trials that she/he injures is quite moving. Middlesex tries successfully to normalise an otherwise abnormal condition. It makes you empathise with Cal and reveals that human is human regardless of gender or sex, and how nature and nurture shape an individual. A little confronting at times, but if you want your notions of what is socially normal challenged, and why social normality really shouldn't matter, then read this novel.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
A long and sometimes seemingly endless family epic, Middlesex is actually a very enjoyable novel. If you ever have doubts as to whether you should wed your brother or sister and procreate, this book may help shed some light on the matter. Cal, the protagonist, is a very loveable character and the confusion and trials that she/he injures is quite moving. Middlesex tries successfully to normalise an otherwise abnormal condition. It makes you empathise with Cal and reveals that human is human regardless of gender or sex, and how nature and nurture shape an individual. A little confronting at times, but if you want your notions of what is socially normal challenged, and why social normality really shouldn't matter, then read this novel.
