Middlesex Discussion - Reposted

17 years ago

I thought I'd repost this since the original thread was not archived. For some reason I had wanted to save it, maybe because I planned to read the book. It's in text format, so I apologize of it is hard to read.

April Discussion - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Posted by SheriZ6 (My Page) on Fri, Apr 1, 05 at 20:40

I was quite taken with this book. I found EugenidesÂ sense of humor and writing style both impressive and entertaining, and despite the subject matter Â which is quite oddball, all things considered Â I thought he told a compelling and, in places, lyrical story. Assimilation is a strong theme: Lefty and Desdemona had to assimilate to America, Milton and Tessie strove to assimilate to the upper middle class, and Cal had to assimilate to her/his own genetic destiny, first as a female and then as a male. I took this book to be not so much about Cal's genetic situation, but as a book about all of us (hence the hermaphrodite), trying to fit in, trying to be normal, trying to be accepted, trying to hide/deny/accept/embrace what makes us uniquely us. Here are a few questions to get this discussion started: 1) What did you think of EugenidesÂ handling of Lefty and DesdemonaÂs relationship? 2) What did the silk-worms represent? 3) Was anyone else as stunned as I was by the Ford Sociological Department and their micro-management of their employees? Was this an accurate description of what went on at the time? What does this say about the "melting pot"? 4) How did the house, Middlesex, represent Cal? 5) What did you think of the use of "Chapter Eleven" and "Object of Desire" as names of major characters? 6) Did Calliope have to run away? Could she have worked this through in another way? 7) Why do you think Cal decide to live as a man rather than as a woman? 8) Was the ending hopeful? Would Julie enable Cal to have a love in his life? What did you think of the book?

Follow-Up Postings:

RE: April Discussion - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Â· Posted by: ccrdmrbks (My Page) on Sat, Apr 2, 05 at 11:14

SPOILERS AHEAD-DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE BOOK! ;-) 1) What did you think of EugenidesÂ handling of Lefty and DesdemonaÂs relationship? Thanks to the typical publisher's blurb on the back of the book, you sort of saw it coming before it was 'revealed' in the storyline. I was amazed at the way they seemed to forget they were brother and sister as the husband and wife relationship developed. 2) What did the silk-worms represent? Metamorphsis-how the characters all, at some point, remade themselves. 3) Was anyone else as stunned as I was by the Ford Sociological Department and their micro-management of their employees? Was this an accurate description of what went on at the time? What does this say about the "melting pot"? As regular corporations grew into national or international size, and the level of middle management expanded, corporations did often take a paternal, controlling view of their employees at...

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Comments (15)

sheriz6
17 years ago
Dorieann, thank you so much for posting this, I had forgotten I led the discussion! I also discovered I still have The Virgin Suicides sitting in the depths of the TBR pile.
thyrkas
17 years ago
Yes- thanks for saving and reposting this thread, Doriann. It is very helpful and enjoyable to read the comments.

I think Eugenides quirky sense of humor made what could have been an extremely sad and difficult tale into a very enjoyable one. And to think it was his humor that made it hard for me to read the book, at first. Guess I went through a little metamorphosis myself. What a marvelous book!

BTW, the text format was not a problem at all - thanks again!
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dorieann
Original Author
17 years ago
You're welcome. :-)
thyrkas
17 years ago
Just a note of correction: Angle of Repose (another truly remarkable book mentioned above) was written by Wallace Stegner, not William Styron.

PS - sheriz - are you ready to lead another discussion? Any books in mind?
sheriz6
17 years ago
Thyrkas, I'll lead one if you lead one *vbg*. Actually, we haven't had a whole-group book discussion in quite a while. Do you have any suggestions?

I think I have Angle of Repose in my TBR pile, too.
lemonhead101
17 years ago
I would be open to a discussion of Angle of Repose. It's on my TBR pile as well and I have been interested in reading it for years.

What do you think?
georgia_peach
17 years ago
I'd be in for Angle of Repose. I bought it not long ago, so it's in the TBR. I'm working on various things for September, but I could probably read it by October.
thyrkas
17 years ago
OK! Shall we aim for the end of October? Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1972. Here is a little blurb from one of the front pages of my Penguin Books publication of AOR:
"My thanks to J.M. and her sister for the loan of their ancestors. Though I have used many details of their lives and characters, I have not hesitated to warp both personalities and events to fictional needs. This is a novel which utilizes selected facts from their real lives. It is in no sense a family history."
sheriz6
17 years ago
I'm good for the end of October. This book has sat in my TBR pile far too long. Thyrkas, will you lead since you're familiar with the book?
thyrkas
17 years ago
I have never lead a discussion before, but I will give it a whirl : ) I may have to work the weekend of Oct 25/26, so could we open discussion on Monday, Oct 27th, if that works out for others?
sheriz6
17 years ago
Sounds great, I'll be ready!
lemonhead101
17 years ago
Me too. Looking forward to it.
carolyn_ky
17 years ago
I've requested it from the library. It's past time we had another discussion.
veer
17 years ago
No copies of this are available from the library and it is expensive from Amazon uk, so have ordered it from the 'Book Depository'. Frieda introduced me to the site, although it is only based in Gloucester less than 20 miles up the road (I don't think you can walk in off the street)
It doesn't always have the latest, up-to-the-minute books, but is a useful source for unusual works AND postage is free, even between the UK/US/Canada.

Here is a link that might be useful: Book Depository. Glos
thyrkas
17 years ago
Just for the fun of it, here is the definition of 'angle of repose' from Encarta, the World English Dictionary:

"The maximum slope or angle at which unconsolidated material such as sand can be made into a mound before it begins to slide."

I didn't think to look up the definition of the phrase until I was part way through the book when I read it a number of years ago. I think it might set the tone for the book, maybe? Am interested in hearing your comments about that and many other things at the end of October. : )

Middlesex Discussion - Reposted

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