Middlesex

Middlesex is a book by Jeffrey Eugenides, its a novel based on the life of a hermaphrodite. The book gives intimate details about Cal, whos the main Protagonist. It encompasses the journey of a young girl called Callie who transforms into a man named Cal. Cal puts the pieces together by explaining his heritage, his ancestral history which makes him who he is. As a result, this novel starts of with the story of his Greek family, residing in Mount Olympus and then immigrating to the United States during the war and settling in Detroit and coping in the US. The book gives us an insight into the Greco-Turkish War, the industrial revolution in the United States, and the depression years.

Middlesex is a collection of Cals personal memoirs. His turmoil, sadness and struggles. The journey begins with the life of a young girl who is like every other regular teenage girl, trying to fit in, questioning her feelings, and trying to understand her physiological and physiological changes. Callie search to be "normal." seems to be getting harder since shes does not fit in, being tall and lanky and not attaining puberty she is distraught, shes attracted to women more than men. She knows for a 16 year old girl, shes odd. She goes through a series of emotions at this point; this part of the book is very disturbing as the reader is put into a state of empathy with the character herself .Her confrontations, her fight to be normal, her inferiority and her ugliness. Every little feeling she goes through is amplified.

Eventually Callie's parents figure something is wrong and take her to meet Dr. Luce, a genetics specialist. He concludes that Callie is of neither sex but he would make Cal remain Callie by a few hormone injections and cosmetics surgery which will give her a female gender identity. She is told she will never have a baby. Cal was okay with that, but Cal was never okay about being Callie because she always felt she was to be a man. Cal wants to avoid the embarrassment and cut his hair, changes from his frock into a suit and hitchhikes across the country only to come home when his father dies. This transformation is beautifully explained, we have heard of a boy turning into a man, but a girl turning into a man is difficult to comprehend .But the book accomplishes this well.

What puts the readers in tears is the fact that Callie or now Cal is being punished for no fault of his, the book explains the reason for which Cal turned out the way he is .This is no suspense as its mentioned in the very beginning of the book .His grandparents incestuous relationship.

To me this book made me look at eunuchs in a different perspective , gave me a new found compassion as I realized its not their fault for the way they are .I respect them more than I ever did . This book also being a Pulitzer Prize winner is a masterpiece in itself and is definitely worth the read. Every minute of it.