Brothers Forever – God’s Fool

I believe not many people have read this novel. I picked it up only coz it was on sale. And am I glad I did that! The book relates the saga of the world’s first Siamese twins. Now, the fact that you are conjoined would, I think, automatically transform your lives into a super interesting saga of events. And so the story of the pragmatic Eng and the emotional Chang is interesting. However, what you will not be prepared for is the superbly fluid and elegant language that flows forth from Mark Slouka.

The story is a first person narration by Chang, one of the twins, though considering the fact that he is joined to his brother from his chest, you would wonder how he manages. Born in Siam to a poor family, Eng and Chang are saved from getting killed after their birth by their brave mother. Starting from the Siamese King Rama Third to the flop houses, streets and drawing rooms of London, their audience keeps adding new twists to their bizarre journey. They bask in wealth, they beg on the streets, penniless, hungry, and sick, till their lives culminate in the plantations of South Carolina, where they share events that touched other normal bodied people – the American Civil War.

People take advantage of them, mock them, express disgust at them. But they too use their double strength; earn money just by showing themselves off. And through all their highs and lows, the brothers stick together – literally!

Slouka’s language creates brilliant drama out of the daily lives of the twins. As a matter of fact, the novel pushes a sort of button inside your brain, which starts asking you questions such as to how it must be to never be rid of a person. To have him so close, that he is there when you are in the bathroom (I believe one of the most private of our moments). Without whom you can’t even make love to your wife. Yes, they have wives, they have children, and they fall in love just like normal people. But do they always agree with each other? What happens when they want to go their own separate ways? After all, neither do they share the same brain, nor the same heart.

-Jo