Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides

Loved this book, hated the last part. That about sums it all up. The story about Cal and his illustrous Greek family brought a load of laughs to my face. Eugenides is a master in sketching his characters and scenes. Every character in this book did something to me in a good or bad way. The first part of the book about Cal's grandfather and mother is hylarious as well as extremely tragic. The way he describes the invasion of Smyrna by the Turks was very shocking but very realistic. The second part and than especially the parts concentrating on Cal's mum and dad was not so interesting but still his grandfather and mother, his funny aunt and after that Cal's own development as a girl made it very worth while. The part in which Cal's “situation” is discovered is still bareable but after that it goes totally downhill. It seems like Eugenides looked at his manuscript and thought “hell, this is getting big” and descided to put an end to it in a very unsatisfying way. A lot of loose ends and for me a very unfullfilled feeling after the last page. Shame. It could have been so much better.