Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Now hooked on Middlesex
I've gotten hooked on Middlesex, despite my misgivings. Two thirds of the way through. Now that I've gotten into the narrator's more recent history -- describing events and people the narrator actually knew -- it's becomes a readable, interesting family history. And Greeks almost have to be described this way -- through their family lives.
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Other people, too, are revealed through disclosure of their family lives. Not just Greeks, I think.
But what is it about Greeks that makes family interaction so pivotal?
Modern Western cultures promote independence from family, a loosening of the bonds. But in Greek culture, many people are still close to their rural, village origins -- the family and extended family is a life-long intimate unit. People tend to see and talk with their immediate and extended family on an almost daily basis -- it's a lifelong relationship. That's still true even for many fully Americanized Greek families. (Not that people don't chafe, of course.) So it's hard to conceive of Greek characters in a novel or play who aren't pinned into their family albums.
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