If I Stay...Through the End of this Book

Okay, fine. It's a young adult book. But as The Fault in Our Stars and The Hunger Games and so many others have proven, you can write legitimate fiction even if it is geared at young adults. This book, wasn't that.

(#1) Read 26 Books
1. Firestarter by Stephen King
2. World War Z by Max Brooks
3. Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
4. Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
5. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7. Open House by Elizabeth Berg
8. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
9. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
10. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
11. White Noise by Don DeLillo
12. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
13. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
14. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
15. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

16. Joyland by Stephen King
17. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
18. If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

If I Stay is the story of 17-year-old Mia who in the first few pages of the book gets in a car accident with her parents and younger brother. The majority of the novel takes places from Mia's point of view as she lays in a coma in the hospital, watching from outside of her sleeping body. Mia overhears one of the nurses say that doctors have done what they can for her and whether she will live or die at this point is essentially.

She makes her decision based on what her family and friends and oh-so-dreamy boyfriend say to her, as well as through remembering the past and imaging what her future would be like, if she stays.

Obviously this premise requires a certain amount of buy-in from the reader. And I'm all in the supernatural, the paranormal, the question of what happens after we die, whatever you want to call it. But when I'm stretching myself so thin, there is only so much more implausibility I can take. And this book pushes me past my limit.

Most 17-year-old girls are not Julliard-level cello players, for example. There are very few in existence, compared to the general population. Similarly, most 17-year-old girls do not get along so swimmingly with their parents. From page one I was nearly gagging on the sweetness of the love between Mia and her rock-and-roll family.

Most 17-year-old girls also do not have boyfriends who play in bands that are actually reasonably successful. And zero teenage boys would ever consent to naming said band "Shooting Star." That sounds like the name of a band I would make up when I was five. The drummer would be Mr. Bear and the lead singer would be my Fischer Price tape recorder playing "The Wheels on the Bus."

I could perhaps take any one of these points separately. But together it just adds up to bad writing. The characters aren't believable and if I don't believe that they could be real why should I care what happens to them? By the end of this cringe-worthy (harsh but true) novel I could only wish for Mia to make her decision so I could get on with my own life.

I've seen reviews comparing this book to The Lovely Bones. Both (meant to be) unimaginably tragic and heart-wrenching, both narrated by young girls who have become ghosts. The main difference being that The Lovely Bones is actually good. Read that one instead.  

Oh, and I can't wait for the movie.

Middlesex

I feel so many feelings about this book. As Calliope, Callie, Cal goes on an emotional -- and at times physical -- journey, so does the reader. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time, the stunning and Pulitzer prize winning second novel of the writer of another of my favorites, The Virgin Suicides. 

(#1) Read 26 Books
1. Firestarter by Stephen King
2. World War Z by Max Brooks
3. Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
4. Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
5. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7. Open House by Elizabeth Berg
8. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
9. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
10. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
11. White Noise by Don DeLillo
12. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
13. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
14. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
15. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

16. Joyland by Stephen King
17. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Our narrator, from the time he is telling the story, is Cal Stephanides. The story is told in retrospect, starting not just from the beginning of Cal's life but from the middle of his grandparents' life. The history aspect can at times be difficult to get through, but by the end you will realize the reason for the epic tale.

Raised as a girl through a somewhat-difficult-to-believe oversight on the part of Callie's doctor, Callie actually has the genitals of both a male and a female. As she grows into a teen, she finds herself to be attracted to other girls- heartbreakingly, to her aloof and fragile best friend "the Obscure Object"- and assumes herself to be a lesbian. After a tractor accident sends her to the ER, Callie's unique characteristics are discovered. Though a specialist identifies her as a female based on certain characteristics, Cal realizes he is a man and runs away to start his new life.

Calliope's journey to Cal is unlike anything I have ever read.  I was amazed at how deftly Eugenides was able to make the character come to life, make him so sympathetic and alive that I was totally able throughout the book to understand the two competing persons within Cal. She was a woman, but he was also a man.

Though at times quite graphic in terms of the physical aspects of Cal's situation, I still felt it was handled with sensitivity and nothing that was included was unnecessary (except, perhaps a few pages of Greek history).

The number of themes examined at length in the book are too many to count (as evidenced, among other places, in the length of its Wikipedia article). Gender identity, of course. Nature versus nurture. The relationship between gender and sexuality. Homosexuality versus heterosexuality. Even emigration and cultural identity. All woven together in a delightfully rich tapestry of a novel full of enough surprises to keep you turning the page.

Admittedly, reading this novel is a "ponderous" undertaking. But I know that my perspective on some of the ponderous issues it addresses has forever been shifted. And to me, that's the mark of a great novel.