Since I spent the better part of last week reading (and consequently, being BLOWN AWAY by) Jeffrey Eugenides' novel Middlesex, I thought I'd publish another edition of the Midwest Bookworm for all of you bookish types out there.
I stayed up til 1 am every night last week reading this book. I couldn't put it down; it was the most well-written novel I've read in years (as it should be -- it won the Pulitzer). The novel spans three generations of Greek immigrants and their children; it is chock full of history, but not at all boring. I couldn't believe how easily the story spun out, and how quickly I was hooked and felt so involved with the characters in the novel. The narrator of the story is a hermaphrodite, but I found that it wasn't her/his condition that peaked my interest. Mr Eugenides has a way of making characters seem so real and intimate that you care deeply about what happens to them, and you can't stop reading until you find out. Although it is a story about a hermaphrodite, it feels like it could be a story about anyone who has struggled with their identity and figuring out who they are. RUN don't walk to get this book and I'll give you $5 if you hate it. Ok, I probably won't, but I guarantee you won't hate it.
Another great book I read recently, of the non-fiction variety, is The Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell. It's a really interesting look into trends and cultural phenomenons, and Gladwell attempts to prove that these things don't just "happen", but rather are brought about by small yet well-planned actions. For example, he describes the ways in which the city of New York fought crime in the late eighties/early nineties by taking simple measures such as cleaning the grafitti off the subway. Another of Gladwell's points, although somewhat less developed, is that people are very much a product of their environment. By making the subways cleaner and less grafitti-ed, would-be criminals were persuaded not to commit crimes. I found this book very inspiring -- it made me believe (if only for a moment) that little changes can make a big difference, in your life, in the world, anywhere.
Anybody have any suggestions for what I should read next?
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5 comments:
I just read this sort of funny book called "The High-Impact Infidelity Diet." It's about these women who try to get their fat husbands to lose weight by promising them they can sleep with an old college friend of theirs who became a hooker if they get down to 210 lbs! It's a silly little beach read but it got me through lots of boring subbing gigs. It's cute. I got it at the book and author luncheon with Gram. If you're bored, it's fun!
Try "Water for Elephants" for fiction, and "Unhooked" by Laura Sessions Step for non-fiction.
Thanks!
i read middlesex last summer and it honestly changed the way i think about my life. how many books can you say that about?
you should definitely read his first book, "The Virgin Suicides" which is just as good as Middlesex
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