Thought Train to Pusan

This book had all the ingredients to be very interesting, and it almost got there: almost. Unfortunately, after sludging through a pretty slow first-half which didn’t engage me very much, it drew me back in with some interesting twists, only to then fizzle out again. The whole thing just left me feeling cold, a large part of which I think had to do with how impenetrable I found the protagonist, Nella: I felt like she was being kept at an arms length and just couldn’t crack her. The Miniaturist follows a young woman in 17 th century Amsterdam named Petronella (or Nella): she has moved from the countryside to live with her new husband Johannes, his sister Marin, and their two house workers. Nella’s marriage was essentially arranged by her mother and Johannes’ family, and as Nella comes to live with them she finds herself living quite a lonely existence as Marin and Johannes’ main priority is the family’s mercantile business. This is, however, until Nella employs...

I’m not sure where to begin with Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex , simply because there is so much to it: spanning across the story of three generations in a family, the story takes place over many years, as the protagonist, Cal, recounts how he came to be, and how his life shaped who he is now through a long history of family and discovery. We begin in 1922 in Greece, where Cal’s grandparents first begin their relationship under intense shame due to the fact that they are siblings. When their town is attacked by Turkey, they choose to flee to America and begin a new life there, chasing the American dream but also to leave the secrets of their relationship behind them. From here we follow Cal’s grandparents as they begin their American lives and have children, who then go on to have Cal and his brother. However, throughout Cal’s tale we are well aware from the beginning that Cal is intersex, yet this was unknown to his family and birth, therefore causing him to be rais...