Middlesex-21

I'm afraid I'm falling behind on this, it's getting harder and harder to bring myself to read these books at the same speed I used to read at when I was reading for my own enjoyment, I hope this isn't a case of some sort of reader's burnout.

Fears aside this book was better than some of the other ones I have read during my 52 book reading spree. It tells of the history of a man who is actually not a man. Due to a genetic disorder Cal, the man in question, was born and raised as Calliope, a girl.

The book tells the story of Cal/Calliope's grandparents and parents and how he/she came to be. In doing so it became apparent that society and biology run counter to each other. In nature there are no such things as brothers or sisters, just different members of the species. Which is why when Cal's grandmother and grandfather fell in love there was no barriers except those of society forbidding marriage of siblings.

If I remember correctly Cal's parents were also related, I believe they were cousins. This is also considered incest, and contributed to the genetic disorder found in Cal.

Before reading this I was aware that genetic disorders could often stem from these types of relationships, but this is certainly the first time I have heard of this particular disorder. I have heard of people surgically changing genders, but never of people changing sexes. That made the book quite interesting as I read on in search of when and how the change occurred.

The change was rather anti-climatic after my excitement, but still it made the book an interesting read. It also made me wonder if this is a real condition or not, it doesn't sound fake, and as strange as it may be I wouldn't be surprised if it were in fact real.

All in all, it was an interesting story and it was a much more enjoyable read than many of the other books thus far. So hopefully it'll be the change of pace that gets me going at normal speed again.