Middlesex

A question: what is it then, exactly, that dictates who we are: is it the code of our DNA, swimming in our cells, or is it something larger: upbringing, perhaps? Family?

This is the question posed to us by Middlesex, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The novel unfolds as Cal Stephanides, the narrator and a hermaphrodite, leads the reader through the history of his family, from his grandparent's escape from Bithynos, Greece, to Detroit in 1922, to their marriage to each other. He tells the tale of his parents falling in love and marrying (not forgetting to add that they are second cousins), and he finally leads us through his growing up as a girl and the emotionally scarring process of turning into a man.

Eugenides' strengths include his indulgence and love of the English language. At no point in this sprawling expanse of a novel is there a difficult sentence, let alone a difficult passage. Although the plot has very few twists, the novel is engaging because of its rich and endearing characters. The urge to turn the page is born in genuine concern and curiosity at the decisions the characters will make, and the fate of each is sewn early on in the novel, in their own fears and shortcomings. Thematically, Eugenides tackles genetics and fate with a great deal of success, employing his curious and highly intelligent protagonist to help us draw connections to the themes as they come up in the story.

The novel is ambitious, and though it has no clear ending, perhaps it shouldn't. This is a story about Cal Stephanides, and when we leave him, a new chapter of his life is just beginning.