Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Middlesex - Book One

I will be dead honest. This has been super hard to get into. Not only have I been super busy with life and work, the book hasn't drawn me in. Sure, when I am reading I am all into it, but then I get sleepy and have to go to bed. So, not sure if I am going to finish this by the end of the month. How is it going for everyone else so far?

Book One

We are introduced Cal and the Stephanides family. I find the history of the family story quite interesting. What I find hard is the "fluff" or the extra stuff some of us agreed we don't like last week. ;)

Cal's grandma, Desdemona, and grandpa, Lefty, are revealed to be brother and sister. We learn of the Turks invading and them leaving behind their homeland to escape to America. In their travels, they meet a nice doctor, who helps Lefty when he is in need. He is Armenian and has a paper keeping his family save because of services he gave to the Turk leader. However, the soldiers who 'visit' is family are illiterate and they kill his entire family. Lefty pretends they are French to get them safe passage to Athens and to a new life. Desdemona uses a different name, and Lefty and her "meet" and marry on the ship to America.

I am pretty grossed out about the brother/sister relationship. Like ew. Anyone else having that problem?

How far along in the book are you?

7 comments:

Becky said...

Ohhhh I am struggling with this book! I've barely read any - but I'm determined to finish!

Lisa's Yarns said...

Ugh, totally struggling. I am into book three, though, so making progress. But the incestual stuff is grossing me out!! And I just feel like it's not a cohesive story.

But I am determined to finish it!! I am almost half through I think, so the end is sort of in sight...

J said...

I have not even been able to start this book for march : (

Stephaine Eads said...

I read this...it was so hard to read. But I finished it. Whew it was rough and not really uplifting....

Leigh Hutchens Burch said...

I read it earlier this year. Like you, I had a hard time getting through the early years -- and found the brother and sister stuff a little bit hard to swallow. I kept begging myself to believe, "It was a different time and place!"

However, I enjoyed the story more when I got through all that.

Happy reading!

Kelly said...

My confession- I never actually got to the library to get the book. oooops! I promise I'll be better next month!

Gracie said...

I totally need to read this - I'm Armenian and have heard the escape stories of my family members who lived through the Armenian genocide. But my library doesn't have it and I don't feel like paying money for it! Cheap cheap!