2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Chapter 15-21

That covers:

The Mediterranean Diet
The Wolverette
Waxing Lyrical
The Obscure Object
Tiresias in Love
Flesh and Blood
The Gun on the Wall

I hope people are enjoying this book as much as I am!

One thing I don't remember thinking of when I originally read it is that Cal, the narrator and protagonist is hardly even a real character until halfway through the novel and what is essentially the premise of the book, is barely even touched upon until 3/4 of the way through.

I guess it's a testament to the writing and the other characters in the story that I thoroughly enjoyed the lead up and even though I was curious to find out more about how Calliope becomes Cal, I never felt that the book was dragging.

I'm still enjoying this book, but it started grating on me that the only way the narrator refers to a certain character is as "the object." I might have missed it if he explained why since I sometimes miss details when listening to audio books. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

It is a bit cringe worthy referring to a young woman as an object but he does explain when the character is introduced.

It is a reference to a film That Obscure Object of Desire. I don't remember exactly what he says but he did say it was for sentimental reasons and also to protect her identity. I thought of it being similar to how he refers to his brother as Chapter Eleven instead of a real name.

Lol, I missed the explanation for that too! I’ve been wondering about the reason the whole time!

It was just a couple of sentences, so easy to miss. I missed any mention of why Cal referred to his brother as Chapter Eleven if there was a mention and it was distracting because I wanted to know if & why they really named him that! Lol

Ok. Now I’m finally into it. It’s taken me all month to get to this point. I kept pushing through, hoping and that waiting to get to something good and at last I have found it.

Jennifer wrote: "Ok. Now I’m finally into it. It’s taken me all month to get to this point. I kept pushing through, hoping and that waiting to get to something good and at last I have found it."

Do you know what happened that changed your perspective on the book? Is it that it was finally about Cal?

I'm almost done with this section. I need another week or so to finish the book. Still enjoying it! The writing is terrific and the characters are so well-developed that I feel like I really know them. I understand per Wikipedia that the author used a lot of details from his own life to make the story feel so intimate.

While I was taking my time working through this book because, like Randy noted above, I think the writing is terrific, my library book expired. Apparently everyone is starting their summer/vacation reading because there is suddenly a waiting list for this one (and others). Rather than wait, I purchased the book so I could continue into the last half.

“Now all the mute objects of my life seem to tell my story, to stretch back in time…”

I found the part with Callie sitting in her bedroom window eating mulberries from the mulberry tree and ruminating over her ancestral past and the connection of the mulberry trees and the silkworms very powerful. As I approach the last quarter of the book, I’m starting to see the all the different threads in the story start to come together cohesively. What a masterful storyteller!

Kristy wrote: "While I was taking my time working through this book because, like Randy noted above, I think the writing is terrific, my library book expired. Apparently everyone is starting their summer/vacation..."

Annoying about the wait list but I'll bet you'll be happy you own this one anyway. I agree, the storytelling is brilliant!

Finally got through these chapters. I'm guessing Callie won't ever see the Object again. I find it interesting that Callie seems to know on some level that something is different with her. It must be hard to go through something like that. I'm interested to see what happens for the rest of the story and will probably plow through it quicker now.