Movieworld + Evie!

Szilveszter surprised me earlier this week with the generous gift of a yearly pass to Movieworld, Seaworld and Wet'n'Wild! I was thrilled, and we spent today at Movieword. I'd never been before, and I had a lovely time with him. Unlike Szilveszter, I'm not one for the rides with butterfly-inducing drops or dizzying heights, but I managed several of the tamer ones, and even enjoyed them. :p We saw what I had to admit was an impressive stunt car show, and visited the glorious Harry Potter store. Surprisingly, I didn't purchase anything there, but merely marvelled at its authenticity from the outside. I was tempted by a plush Ron doll, but what I really wanted to find there was a Pygmy Puff. I had an unshakeable feeling I'd find them, but I did not. I bought the next best thing, though: a round plush cushion of Sylvester the cat. Ha ha ha.

I got some really exciting, unexpected news today! My family is getting another dog, a champagne coloured female chihuahua puppy. She'll be named Evie. Rosie, our existing chihuahua, is possibly the most pampered dog you'll meet, although not in the typical, Hilton-esque manner you may expect; our dog is FAT, there is no denying it. :p Evie will be very young, and it's mostly going to be up to me to look after her during the week until she's old enough to brave "the tag team", as we affectionately term Murray and Rosie, destructive duo extraordinaire. The relationship that Murray and Rosie have developed indicates that Evie should be well-received. In fact, adding another female dog, according to our vet, may in fact improve the dynamic between the two. Although jealousy will no doubt be an issue! Once Evie's settled in, we just need to adjust Bella, Szilveszter's and my dog, to the chihuahuas and Murray; she currently hates Rosie because she's orange. A hypocritical sentiment because she is a shade of vermillion so bright its her trademark.

So as you can imagine, I think I'll be in for a big week this week, what with Evie, uni, work and the rest... But it's all moving forward, so it's all good. Once again, I have that feeling that everything I'm doing is going toward something bigger. There's nothing worse than being static, or falling backward in your tracks.

Thanks for reading!
claire.xox

Back to uni!

Back to uni this week! It's been a great week so far. I've enjoyed my lectures and tutes, and I'm ahead in my readings and assessment. I'm studying two education subjects, one of which requires me to do field experience in a school, which should be exciting. The other one is about constructing learning programs and the use of technology and media in education. Then I'm doing a history subject and a film and television one, which seems really interesting so far. Having things to focus on and plan has really helped to detract from the stress that has interfered with the last few weeks, and going back to uni is a huge reminder that there are bigger and better things to get on with. Although, this will all probably change come assessment time, when I'll be cursing my degree once again... On Monday, I went to the library to do some research for an upcoming assignment, but all the computers were down (sigh, thanks SS&H), so I went outside and sat under one of the trees in the Great Court. I had my much-loved copy of Twilight with me, and I read for about half an hour in the quiet, on what was possibly the best maintained grass in all of Brisbane. It really made me appreciate the uni as a place, and made me feel privileged to be there. At times, UQ feels cut off from the world, as I guess it's supposed to; it's just this little (well...) hive of academia and thought. The library buzzes with frenetic energy, people dotted around the edges of the sandstone walls of the Great Court buildings balance their laptops on their knees, the coffee shops have impossible line-ups, and inevitably, the printers in the libraries jam.

But still. I'm glad to be back.

This week, I'm revisiting Twilight. Aaah. Nothing works so well when you've had a terrible day. Have paid a visit or two to Hogwarts in the small hours, as well. I've been a bit insomniac this week! Can't wait for the Dorian Gray movie to come out; I'm getting through that book too. Oscar Wilde was a bit of a character...looking forward to seeing how it shows on film. Also have been checking out the viral campaign for District 9, a movie set to come out in about two weeks. Not sure if it'll be my cup of tea, but you gotta admire the work that has been put into this advertising. We got shown it during my film and TV lecture... find it at www.d-9.com, if you're interested. It's worth a look.

Thanks for reading,

claire.xox

6 things that make me happy.

I got tagged by Gracie in a linking chain blog thing to list six things that make me happy. :) Sadly I do not have enough followers to tag back, but I'm going to make the list anyway. So here we go:

1. Books. I love to read; there are probably about ten books that I could read time and time again which will make me happy, especially if I'm feeling down. Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games (although that's a push :p), a fluffy Marian Keyes novel, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, The Lovely Bones, Middlesex, Special Topics in Calamity Physics and The Luxe novels usually do the trick. I adore escaping into another world, and I always, always, always carry a novel with me. I love talking to people about books, and introducing my friends to books I know they'll enjoy.

2. Drawing and art. I barely have time for this anymore, but it is one of the things which truly relaxes me. I mostly draw people, from life and those I make up. I'm planning on uploading a few drawings sometime soon. I didn't draw this one below, but I love it. Klimt's The Kiss, from my last post, is fast becoming one of my favourite paintings.

3. Animals. I love animals, especially dogs. We had a cattle dog cross, Bonnie, for a while when I was really little, but when I was about five, we got Begby, an apricot coloured Chihuahua. He was grumpy, viscous and foul-tempered, but he loved a select handful of people. Begby died last year, at age thirteen, and I missed him terribly. But Szilveszter and I have Bella together; she's my orange puppy, and she's mental, and always always happy to see me. She brightens the worst of days with her floppy ears and giant feet. Rosie, my family's much loved new Chihuahua, is exploited for her good nature, and quite often gets dressed in a variety of outfits, the most popular of which is her England jersey. However, I believe that may be because she's too fat for all the others! And then there's Murray, our Russian Blue kitten. He's technically my sister Hannah's, but he loves everyone. And he loves soap suds. I really miss Begby sometimes, but all the animals make me really happy. Also, Begby only ever had one toy. Well he thought so. That pink thing in the picture, Puffa. Only he had two the same; he was so attached, that one had to be washed while he played with the other.

4. Planning (or talking about) going to Europe. I'm so excited, I can't wait, but at the same time, I'm really enjoying just researching and reading about all the places we could go to! London's one place in particular I'm really looking forward to...How can you look at this photo and not imagine being in a plane preparing to land in the city??

5. Music. Both playing it and listening to it. I play violin, and though I wasn't particularly good by the standards at my school, I enjoyed it and have been learning since I was 10. My favourite artists are Coldplay, Lily Allen, Placebo and Garbage, and I love some dance tracks too. I went to see Coldplay earlier this year, and it was fantastic to see them live. I've listened to their music every single day of my life since I was about 12. The best part of their concert was probably Fix You, although they had the entire crowd enchanted the whole evening. This picture was taken during Lovers In Japan. They are all multi-coloured butterflies; they came down in different waves of metallic and fluroescent over the crowd. Jess and I collected a few after the concert.

6. My boyfriend. He always knows exactly what to do to cheer me up when I'm down, or how to fix it when I'm stressed. I'm lucky to have him. :)

look closer (at Klimt, Munch).

This, in case you didn't know, is Edvard Munch's The Scream. Many critics, over the years, have pondered the aesthetics of this painting, as well as what it actually means. Someone asked me once (an art teacher at school?) if I thought the person depicted in the picture was screaming, or if he was blocking out the scream of someone else in the background. I think perhaps it's the latter; perhaps the sound is what has distorted the landscape so. All the colours are tinged with red, the colour of pain. So maybe he is hearing the pain of someone else. Something I've wondered is, who is the black figure behind the screamer, as he is sometimes known? Munch very deliberately painted this figure into the scene. He is no accident. Is he making his fellow painting-dweller scream? This changes things. Is he screaming from pain? Is he hurt? Is the red which dominates the painting the red of blood, of pain? Or is he screaming from pure frustration - is the red his anger? What did the dark figure do to make him so angry? This painting, whether you like it or not, forces you to consider the situation, and the role of the two figures within it. Imagine if Munch had chosen to paint it from the other perspective; if the dark figure were foregrounded, and our enigmatic screamer mysterious in the background? In that case, we'd be looking, I believe, at the perpetrator of whatever crime the dark man has committed against his screaming companion, rather than the response, reaction to, or result of it - the scream - which we are presented with. If you view it from this perspective, as I do, Munch confrontationally forces us to think of the consequences of our actions for others. Look closer.



This is Klimt's The Kiss. It features in the novel Evernight quite prominently. When I looked it up out of curiousity, I knew nothing about the painting - except that I love it. This painting is about romance, love. The generous use of gold paint shows us that this is the most precious, most treasured element of the image. The vines, and lush green of the flowers remind us that this is natural. The designs of the man and woman's respective garments are complex and different to one another, but put together, the combine beautifully. The gold sparks around the couple show that their luminousity has rubbed off on their surroundings. This is an oil painting - it would have taken time, love, to finish. This painting, to me, sends an umcomplicated message, unlike The Scream. Look closer.

This is the famous scene in American Beauty where Lester Burnham's wife, Carolyn, has discovered that he has purchased his dream car, a 1970 Pontiac Firebird. Lester responds with mock enthusiasm, real sarcasm, "I RULE." This film, in my eyes a piece of art in itself, continually urges us to look closer. At the apparent happiness of others, when under the surface lurks deep dissatisfaction with their lives, themselves. At the complacement of yourself, which, if you made some changes, you could dispel. At what is, instead of what appears to be. Consider Angela, blonde siren, whose apparent promiscuity hides a shattered sense of self-respect. Consider Janey, whose initial reaction to her "creepy" neighbour hid a developing sense of longing - shown when Ricky, looking closer than most, zoomed his camera in on her mirror to reveal her reflection smiling to herself. Lester, who looked the closest, and inverted himself, so that upon the film's dramatic closure, he was happy. Consider Colonel Fitts, at whom nobody looked closer, who suffered grievously because of it. If you look closer, what do you see in yourself, in those around you?

Do you see the gold happiness of The Kiss? Or do you see the frustration, the pain of The Scream? Because here's the thing. You don't really have to look closer - you can tell at first glance.

I'm trying to find a print of the Klimt painting for my room. Does anyone know where to find it?

I'm sure the majority of this post will turn out to be rambling and senseless analysis in the end. But thinking of things in this way helped me to clear up my thoughts.

If you haven't watched American Beauty, do. It's my all-time favourite movie, it's fantastic. You'll love it.

Thanks for bothering to read such a long-winded post.

claire.xox

Things to look forward to.

This weekend's been the worst one for a very long time. I've been pretty sick with stress for the past few days, but I don't know how I'd have coped without Szilveszter and Jess. Jess and I had a great night out at Southbank; we went on the ferris wheel. Brisbane's landmarks were lit up pink for breast cancer. The casino looked really good. And we also had awesome Indian, and managed to confuse a waiter pretty badly. We ordered lemon lime and bitters and a baileys, and apparently this was such an unusual request that they combined the two drinks in the one glass. Sigh. Szilveszter and most of my family are coming over tonight for my uncle's 40th. We're having Thai, my mum's made a feast fit for a global army. That should be good. The kids will come over again, I'm looking forward to that part. I'm looking forward to Jess's birthday on Saturday too. On the upside, we did find out this weekend that Rosie wants to join Szilveszter on the soccer field (she was wearing the wrong jersey though), and that she's scared of three year old blonde children who really, really love her. I'm really hoping this week is better than the last. I'm looking forward to going back to uni, can you believe it? At least it's a distraction.

claire.

Week so far, babysitting and Dora.

I've had a few days off this week, thankfully. I've been exhausted, after having gone straight from a stressful exam period into a lot of hours, and eventually two weeks of full time work, so I've really really appreciated having a few days to myself this week. I've spent some time with Jess and Szilveszter, and have done a fair bit of sitting around too, which is what we all need, really! I've had a bit of a head cold, also, which at one point, I was positive would manifest in a return of the dreaded tonsilitis, right before I go back to uni, which would be just my luck. But I'm feeling a lot better now, and I've got a few more days off this week coming, so I should recover nicely in time for the new semester. I've got a huge to-do list in my little Moleskin notebook, so hopefully I have the energy and motivation to work my way through it before uni goes back.

Last night, I babysat my cousins for the evening. Matthew is eleven, Kate is five and Ciara (pronounced Kiera, it's the Irish spelling) is two. I was privvy to a viewing of The Land Before Time - Invasion of the Tinysauruses, which was democratically elected as the evening's entertainment, before the routine participation in Dora the Explorer's quest to save the snow princess. Matthew is constantly engrossed in sports of any kind, so he gave me a run down of the NRL's current state. This was handy, because now rather than pretend I know what Szilveszter's talking about when he gets onto this topic, I will actually have some background in it! Kate opted to be dressed as a princess for the majority of the night; her outfit consisted of a tasteful Princess Aurora dress, golden plastic tiara, her good black dress shoes and a sceptre, which had been stuck back together with sticky tape after too violent a knighthood, or some such. Like me, Kate loves to draw, so she and I got some materials out and were depicting yet more princesses, when Kate nonchalantly announced, "I'm only giving Snow White two fingers, because she doesn't need any more, and I can't draw them anyway." I hid a smile at this, and rendered the full amount of digits on my own Princess Kate, who was defaced by Ciara later on anyway. Ciara is such an enthusiastic girl, who announces anything and everything that pops into her small blonde head with gusto. For instance, last night, with swelled chest and proud stance, she declared, "THIS IS A DRINK BOTTLE." Then nodded and looked around the room, presumably seeking applause or some sort of gratification. It really is hilarious. Once, on a car ride, she said, "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY - I HAVE FINGERS," and displayed them for all to see. I often wonder if she's an ameteur comedian, because generally she's as happy to receive laughter as she is to be rewarded with a round of applause.

It was good to hang out with the kids for the evening last night. It's nice not to have to worry about anything except whether Dora's going to find the blue cow sneezing in the red barn in time to save him from his geranium allergies.

Despite me constantly being stressed, however, everything's going well for once. I've saved an amount of money I'm really happy with, and am able to keep adding to it. Work is great, I love the girls; on our Thursday shift change crossover, we all seem to have a switch flicked and end up in hysterical laughter. Our house is finally a happy place to be, even if Murray and Rosie are generally engaged in combat. They honestly roll around in a ball like on a cartoon. I've been able to spend more time than usual with Szilveszter lately, and that's been wonderful. We've been talking and planning and thinking about Europe, and that's a huge motivator on straining days. And, importantly, I have plenty to read, and the time to do it over the holidays. Jess and I are going to see Harry Potter tonight, so I can't wait for that!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their holidays too.

Thanks for reading!

claire.x.

The Luxe Series

Anna Godberson's recent series The Luxe (including The Luxe, Rumours, Envy, and the upcoming Splendour) is full of goregous and unbelievable fashion, meticulous research and addictive gossip. Godberson utilises a similar format to the Gossip Girl books, which have an omniscient narrator and multiple perspectives, as well as quite a wide and loosely linked character base. Set in turn-of-the-century New York, The Luxe centres mainly on the doings of those connected to the Holland family; Elizabeth, engaged unwillingly to Henry Schoonmaker in order to save her family from financial ruin, has her sights set elsewhere. Elizabeth's younger sister, however, has romantic intentions for a suitor which society would no doubt approve of...if only he wasn't engaged to her sister. Penelope Hayes, Elizabeth's faux friend, is just generally nasty, frequently throwing disguised tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. She gives Blair Waldorf a run for her money; she has NO soft side that we've seen yet. Lina, Elizabeth's former maid, attempts to throw off the shackles of her working class life in order to join the ranks of the Hollands and the Hayes in society...at a shocking cost to her former employers.

Godberson has very accurately researched the customs and culture of this time period; some of the traditions and societal upholdings you'll encounter in these books will surprise you with the normality with which they were carried out. For example, it is made known that it was customary for a young lady to change her gloves ten to eleven times a day (while Penelope, thinking herself superior, changes them three times that amount, and discards each pair after a single wear!). Perhaps the most frustrating part of these books is the diligence with which the younger generation uphold their parents wishes, becoming engaged to those they don't like, let alone love, and behaving just so purely for the sake of society.

However, the author hasnot only acknowledged these truths of New York society, but has used them to her advantaged, playing off against them scandalous secrets and manipulative schemes which will keep the reader well and truly hooked. Think of this series as a more sophisticated, more intelligent (dare I say that?) Gossip Girl, with more blackmail, cheating and fashion than you can shake a stick at. This series is going off in America, and with good reason!

In my opinion, one of the best holiday reads I've had so far, and an engrossing topic of conversation with my fellow workmate and bookworm, Ella. ;)

On a slightly different note, does anyone have any reccommendations?

Thanks for reading!

claire.x.

Evernight

Evernight
Claudia Gray

Evernight is a book about a vampire romance. So let me say from the outset that if you're such a die-hard Twilight fan that you'll be comparing everything in it to Stephenie Meyer's take on "the cold ones", then don't bother with this one. I say this because if you look, you most certainly will find a lot of similarities between the two, but if you forget about what you know about Twilight, and accept a new take on vampires, then you'll thoroughly enjoy this one. As I'm sure we all know, the story about a vampire/mortal romance is an old one which has been and will continue to be reworked by many authors. I personally believe that Stephenie Meyer's success has to do with the playing out of the fantasy of obsessive crushes, and that's why Twilight and its successors have struck such a chord with the teenage hordes.

(I'm sorry, but do I sound like I take vampires a little too seriously? I was reminded by an old friend of mine today I hadn't seen for a good while that vampires have always been a literary fixation of mine. Won't go into detail here for the sake of retaining my dignity.)

Bianca's parents have decided to enrol her in Evernight Academy, so that she may learn to live a life the way Evernight teachers. Bianca hates Evernight, and, in a release of teenage angst, decides to stage a run-away. On her way away from Evernight, she runs into the intruiging Lucas, whose rebellion against Evernight is a mystery. The closer Bianca becomes to the clique-y group that make up the majority of the Evernight body, the more distance there seems to be between Lucas and herself.

So this part you can probably predict your way through, if, like me, you read one too many teenage-level supernatural romances. What comes next is the twist that makes Evernight something special.

I don't want to give the twist away, but ...yes, there is an age-old rivalry between the vampires and their enemies. And yeah, I think you could probably guess who is and who is not a vampire. But what you couldn't see is how this comes about. Claudia Gray has employed a literary turnaround that you could liken to many of those great texts where the shock has been in front of you the whole time. Remember Fight Club (the book or the movie), where Jack, our faithful (and technically unnamed) narrator undergoes a series of flashbacks wherein we realise that he, in fact, is Tyler? Or when the viewer of The Usual Suspects is shown that Verbal is, unbelievably, not quite as innocent as he seems (oh, how evil you are, Kevin Spacey)? Something along those lines. Narration is used cleverly to expose a different perspective of a plot that, up until halfway through the book, seemed pretty-stock standard.

All in all, Evernight's an addictive holiday read for those among us for whom vampires are a long-standing literary pleasure. Thanks again to Gracie for the gift of Evernight and its sequel, Stargazer, which I am saving at the moment, but can't wait to read! :D

Thanks for reading!
claire.x.

Well, it's been a very busy week at work. I've done full time hours this week, which has been tiring, but excellent for my savings. Working with such good people helps; it makes the days go by quicker. I just find that at the end of each day, I'm too tired to do much after work, which means the socialising part of my uni holidays is suffering. However, my savings account is swelling, which all adds up toward Europe at the end of next year, so I can't complain.
I have managed to squeeze in some catch-ups with a few good friends this week, which has been fantastic. After a stressful and busy semester, it's been wonderful to see people I haven't for a long time.

Another downer this week was when I dropped my iPhone. I definitely knew I'd manage to damaged the iPhone at some point during my ownership of it... at the moment, I'm waiting to find out if it'll get repaired or replaced, so currently using a little Nokia. I must say, it's a relief to use the Nokia at times; my perpetual clumsiness means I'm always dropping phones, and it's just good to know that the Nokia's pretty well indestructible, even the if the battery and the casing spill out everywhere. Yeah, I'm used to dropping stuff. As the Facebook group so correctly states, I was pale and clumsy before Bella Swan made it cool. Although whether she's actually made clumsiness and paleness cool is still contentious in my books...

Speaking of books, I must post the Evernight review. See next post for details. :)

Thanks for reading.
claire.x.

Ecstatic!

I am so happy, I just got my uni results, and after staying awake with stress over it all night, I ended up doing really quite well! I don't want to post the actual figures online, but considering that my second exam didn't go very well, I was worried I'd have to take a supplementary exam or even repeat the course. While that was my worst subject, I still did better than just pass it, so I'm relieved and happy that all my hard work and study before the exams actually paid off.
Thank you to those who put up with my stress during the exam period, especially my boyfriend Szilveszter who had unending patience and Jess, who I've gone through exam freakouts with since the early days of high school. Especially toward the end of my exams, I wasn't coping very well, so I really appreciate the support Szilveszter continually gives me, and the afternoon of procrastination on the swings with Jess, which, rather than procrastination, was a much-needed break from both Weimar culture and the Mithraic cult.
I've been working all week, and last week, which is fantastic for my savings (and shoe collection, ahem), but not so great for relaxation. I could really do with a break, and I'm sure I'll have one when my manager returns, it's just sort of hard to envision having two consecutive days off without a million things to do and complete.
Trying to fit in as much holiday reading as I can - during the semester, whenever I read a novel, I feel I should be reading a passage in a text book or something, but I've managed to get a few in so far! Evernight has been my favourite so far, a birthday gift from a friend equally as bookish as I am (in a Willow Rosenburg, cool way, rather than the Hermione Granger, social recluse way. Well, that what I aim for anway, haha). Evernight had a clever twist in its tail, and while you definitely could make a lot of comparisons between it and the fated Twilight, you must keep in mind that the Twilight story is an old one, and has been reworked in many ways before Stephenie Meyer over-emotionalised it. So Evernight's worth a read. Will probably post a proper review of it soon, but just have barely had the time to sit down and think about it!
Currently reading Rumours, the sequel to The Luxe, which is a cleverly researched novel which could be described as turn of the century Gossip Girl, New York setting and all. And if you've never picked up a Gossip Girl book, certainly do. They're supposed to be sarcastic and ironic, and over the top, and expect something a little grungier than the pristine television show (there's a whole underground-type scene in the books not depicted on the show, which I love anyway), but they're also a perfect holiday read.
Trying to get through a beautiful Penguin edition of Madam Bovary, but I find the classics slow moving, most of the time. The goregous purple and pink cover is a motivator, though!
Am thinking of re-reading all the Twilight series too, but I just can't bear the hype over Edward. I walked past Fellas in Garden City yesterday, and saw a life-size cardboard cut out of Edward - $89. How sad!
Today and tomorrow I'm going birthday shopping for some friends, and I'm really looking forward to finding the perfect presents! One of them I have to put a little bit of work into, so I just hope I can find the time this weekend! I have Friday and Saturday off, yay!
Hope you're having a good week.
claire.x.

Middlesex and Lonely Werewolf Girl

Okay, I admit, I've recycled these reviews from some I wrote on the LivingSocial book thing on Facebook. But these two are fantastic books, though very different to each other; Lonely Werewolf Girl is a good rainy day book; it's funny, interesting, based in a world you'll definitely recognise and, underneath a sarcastic exterior, has quite a sweet story (although expect some disappointment for selected characters ;) ). Middlesex, on the other hand, is an epic, and quite a serious book. It's certainly not a lazy read, and it maybe doesn't have what you'd term a positive outcome, but it won the Pulitzer Prize, and once you read it, you'll see, without a doubt, why it's so deserving of such an accolade.

Lonely Werewolf Girl
Martin Millar
This is the funniest, most complex and most satisfying book I have read all year (including those in my literature courses...). I was initially drawn to the idea of a haute couture lycanthrope designer whose most lucrative client is a fire elemental who is frequently upstaged at interdimensional soirees, but was soon charmed by Daniel and Moonglow's sweet yet very realistic friendship and university attendance habits. I admit that the unprofessional cover of this book almost put me off buying it, but if you make the same mistake, you'll be losing out on a wonderfully funny and idiosyncratically British novel with a vast array of characters who are comparable only to those of J.K.Rowling. Butix and Delix (Beauty and Delicious), twin werewolves of Yum Yum Sugary Snacks fame, Malveria, fire elementa queen who is perpetually bored as a result of having vanquished all of her enemies and Markus, astonishingly attractive werewolf who has an oddly fitting penchant for women's blouses are all worth particular mention, as it is the seamless interweaving of characters which make "Lonely Werewolf Girl" a great book. Apparently it's quite hard to find; Borders only had one copy which I happened to stumble across, but if you can get to it through Amazon then it's definitely worth the purchase. It has elements of romance, comedy, tragedy, fantasy and murder, but don't expect the werewolf version of Twilight; if anything, it's like a reeled-in version of Terry Pratchett. In fact, I think you may even see Death wandering around in there somewhere. There is a lot of sarcasm in Millar's humour, and when you mix that with werewolves, how can you go wrong? ;)



Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
This is an astounding novel. A family epic with an unusual alteration, Middlesex records the life and times of the Stephanides family from 1922, in Greece under attack by Turkey, to late 1970s, where the family's bloodline potentially ends. Narrated by Calliope, later Cal, Eugenides' Pulitzer Prize winning novel centres on the cultivation of the recessive gene which ultimately results in Calliope, a girl, becoming a male, as a result of genetic haemaphroditism. Middlesex takes leaps and bounds to across countries and eras, but maintains the essential focus on the characteristics and relationships of the family it centres on. With an emphasis on the tragic side of the incestuous relationships which produced the recessive gene, the novel presents a story unlikely to be reproduced in writing style, tone and narrative plot. In reading this book, you will find sympathy where you did not expect to, understanding where you thought you had none, and a respect for the difficulty some overcome in life. Middlesex is a lengthy novel, but it could not retain its valour if it was any shorter. It is an exceptional exploration of family, identity and gender whose ultimate outcomes are inverted with subtlety and expertise. Middlesex's unforgettable narrator, Cal, is a character who is likely to join the ranks of those who subtly change our lives, and whose story remains a superbly crafted piece.

Eugenides also wrote The Virgin Suicides, which I am yet to read. But I will be very soon. :)

Back with more later.
Thanks for reading!
claire.x.