Reddit reviews Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
We found 17 Reddit comments about Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Middlesex
Reddit reviews Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)We found 17 Reddit comments about Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
My all-time favorite novel is Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex. It covers three generations of a Greek family from escaping a Turkish invasion to settling in prohibition-era Detroit to learning to grow up as a hermaphrodite.
I loved these books for their beautiful writing and narrative structure:
Other suggestions, also well written but not quite in the same class as the ones above:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
I first heard about this "trend" when reading the novel Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides many years ago (something to the effect that Asian women are the "last stop" girlfriend before a gay man comes out of the closet).
The article in the Village Voice is very sparse, offering no explanation why this even exists. Can anyone contribute and explain if this is really is a "thing"?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's a fantastic book that traces the lives of three generations, from rural Greece to 1950s Detroit to today. I have no way of describing how beautifully written it is. A genomics researcher suggested it as an interesting point in the ongoing discussion of the determinism of genes (though you can decide what this book's message is!).
I just finished Middlesex by Jeffery Euginedes. It was a terrific book, and beautifully written.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is another great one. Keep us updated on what you are reading. I'd love to find some good new books to read!
As far as fiction goes, the best I have read is "Nevada" by Imogen Binnie. This is one of those books that I immediately started reading again as soon as I finished it the first time.
https://www.amazon.com/Nevada-Imogen-Binnie/dp/0983242232/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321271&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Nevada+imogene+binnie
Another work of fiction that is not about the transgender experience but does touch on some themes that you may be able to relate to is "Middlesex" by Jeffery Eugenides. It is really well done and has several interesting story arcs that intersect in really interesting ways with the protagonist.
https://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321681&sr=8-1&keywords=Middlesex
As far as bios go I really liked Janet Mock's "Redefining Realness" and "She Not There" by Jennifer Finney Boylan.
https://www.amazon.com/Redefining-Realness-Path-Womanhood-Identity/dp/1476709130/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321501&sr=8-1&keywords=redefining+realness
https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321522&sr=8-1&keywords=She%27s+not+there
Edit: My auto correct want Boylan to be be Moylan.
Here's Lorrie Moore's Wikipedia page. I love everything she writes, but a good place to start might be the collection of stories Birds of America. She has sharp psychological insights and persistently witty ironic tone.
Here's Jeffrey Eugenides' Wikipedia page. Many people start with The Virgin Suicides. But my favorite is Middlesex, a huge sprawling novel that covers three generations in the life of a Greek-American family set against the rise and decline of Detroit. His ability to capture psychological nuances in a wide variety of characters as well as to write grand bravura passages that distill the essence of historical periods and locations is tremendous.
This gem by Scooter Libby, and briefly described here seems to be just fine according to their criteria and is the first result of "apprentice libby".
I generally think that people who read novels are mature enough to be able to handle anything, and firmly oppose any sort of censorship when it comes to literature, so I'm not at all saying that this book shouldn't be listed. However, if you specifically look up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for literature, there are no current results sourced from Amazon in the first few pages of results. Clearly, this result which does still have a ranking in the top 2000, should have appeared on the first page, if something ranked lower than 550,000 about bears raping little girls could.
Almost anything by Oliver Sacks is fantastic. On The Move was great. I listened to it as an audiobook in lab. Very motivating!
Not a new release, and I know there is some controversy, but I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Middlesex. Fiction, not a new release, but a great story with some science mixed in (I may be biased because I happened to be reading this while taking developmental biology and learning about sex determination).
I'm sure your friend has access to all the recovery literature he can handle, and more. I wouldn't even go there, if you are considering it.
I might go for some light entertainment.
Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods is about hiking the Appalachian Trail, it's an easy read and it's hilariously funny.
Cheryl Strayed's Wild is about hiking the PCT and is also a fun read.
For novels, I have to recommend A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and Middlesex by Jeffery Eugendes. They are both big huge sprawling books that are also super enjoyable and easy to read. (So they are not a new Moby Dick.) I've never read them, but I hear the Lord of the Rings books are completely absorbing too. They would take up a huge chunk of his time.
You might also send some comfort clothes. Some warm socks or slippers or sweatpants or a hoodie, something like that. (I'm a huge fan of LL Bean's sweats, they are super comfy and well made.) Also maybe an iTunes gift card if he's got an iphone or ipod.
Out of curiosity, what's the scifi book you're sending? I'm a big scifi fan too.
Einstein's books about relativity written by Einstein for the non-expert
-Helps you understand not only his theories well, but piques your interest in science a lot, and improves your way to approach all problems. His essays (in particular The World As I See It, be careful of edited versions on the internet which cut out parts they don't like about God, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y0_aNvH0Wo) are amazing as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Relativity-The-Special-General-Theory/dp/1619491508/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347758889&sr=8-3&keywords=einstein+relativity
Middlesex By Jeffrey Eugenides
-A novel, Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction (called the great american epic), will increase your understanding of those with LGBTQ considerations, but mostly an amazing book
http://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347759265&sr=1-1&keywords=middlesex
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers By Robert Sapolsky
-Entertaining book, will increase your knowledge of a whole lot of things, and increase your interest in psychology and statistics. Also Freakanomics by Levitt/Dubner and Outliers/Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. All good to get your foot in the door to approach the complicated world we live in logically.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Third/dp/0805073698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347759102&sr=1-1&keywords=why+zebras+dont+get+ulcers
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman
--Autobiography of a nobel prize winning physicist, very funny. Will (again) demonstrate how a brilliant person approach the world. Very funny and easy read.
http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347759305&sr=1-1&keywords=Richard+P.+Feynman
In the womb, the penis and the clitoris are the same organ. The clitoral hood is the foreskin, and the vaginal lips are the scrotum. I'd like to think that guys with big balls would have had big pussy lips if they had been born female. The embryo and then fetus usually develop their undifferentiated genitalia into either a penis or a vagina, but sometimes people are born with ambiguous genitalia (microphallus, large clitoris, etc).
The best fiction book written on this topic is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
https://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491703485&sr=1-1&keywords=middlesex
I’m just going to throw this out there: Mr. Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex (2005). Middlesex is one of my all-time favorite novels, has excellent character development, beautiful, haunting descriptions (without going overboard on poetic language), and has many fascinating subplots. If you want a good read that’ll offer a panoply of essay options, it might just be your book.
Have you read this book?