God's Fool

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Well-written fiction on lives of original Siamese twins - Rated
The origin of the term 'Siamese twins' has fascinated me since childhood, and I recall it being briefly explained to me - and being intrigued that the original Siamese twins fathered so many children! Many years later, I am amazed by the lack of awareness shown by my Thai friends towards their historical countrymen. Ironically, it has taken this well-written, detailed, compassionate and engaging novel by American writer Mark Slouka to shed light on the extraordinary lives of Chang and Eng, or the Bunker twins as they came to be known.

'God's Fool' recounts the lives of the conjoined twins primarily from the perspective of Chang, the more outgoing and energetic of the pair, although on some issues Slouka contrasts this with the views of his more religious, serious-natured and perhaps embittered sibling. Slouka's novel comprises four parts, each recounting a period in their lives, although the parts are not in chronological order.

Early scenes of 'God's Fool' flashback to the birth of the twins in a houseboat on the Meklong (or Mae Khlong) river which, for those that are interested, was on or near Samut Songkhram, some 70 kilometres from Bangkok. Chang notes that "the day we were born, the midwives ran from our monstrous birth, leaving our mother to cut her own cord, untwist and bathe us". However, Part One is primarily set in the twins' later life in North Carolina, where the slave-owning pair and their large families have settled down as farmers. Interestingly, despite the hardships that the twins have had to endure in life due to their physical appearance and the twins clear racial difference from other slave-owners, Chang has no qualms accepting that slavery is 'a fact of life' and 'a necessary evil' of the land they have settled in. Instead, it is the twins' good-natured neighbour and close friend Dr Gideon Weems, who, in addition to accepting his 'hyphenated friends' for whom they are, also realises that there is nothing natural about the condition of slavery. The most memorable and emotionally gut-wrenching scene in the whole novel closes Part One, centring on Lewis, Chang's most trusted slave, whose son Moses was the childhood playmate of Chang's favourite son Christopher.

Part Two primarily relates the twins' childhood, with the youngsters playing together much as any boys would do growing up on the banks of a river. Slouka provides some well-written descriptions of life in rural Thailand, scenes that continue to this day, including memories of 'Loy Krathong', the most magical of Thailand's festivals in which plantain-leafed boats of flowers and candles are launched into river currents. Chang and Eng's childhood is marked by plenty of incident, including an outbreak of cholera that killed five siblings and then their father; a typhoon that claimed their sister and their trading vessels and capital, and a sentence of death passed by absolute monarch Rama II. During this period, Eng's business sense comes to the fore, with the twins buying cheap goods upstream and reselling them in a floating marketplace, capitalising on the mixture of fear and curiosity that greeted their appearance by touting for business with a show, making customers "pay for their sympathy with baht, their revulsion with their baht". (Some might say that 'plus ca change' in modern-day Bangkok...) Slouka writes a historically convincing account of the twins' audience with Rama III, the upshot of which is that the King's subjects are granted permission to leave the Kingdom.

Part Three charts the fraternal pair's fortunes in Europe, and is reminiscent of the real-life and fictionalised story of John Merrick, the Elephant Man. Europe makes Chang and Eng into freaks, and they earn their keep as part of a traveling show where their headline act brings the duo fame and access to high society. Chang falls in love with society beauty and widow of means Sophia Marchant, but questions remain as to whether she is merely curious in his condition and seeking enhanced social cachet through her association with him. Finally, as the novelty of the Siamese Twins wears off for the fickle, paying public, Chang and Eng end up down and out in London.

In the final part, Chang and Eng are 'rescued' and delivered to the 'promised land' of the United States for more stage experiences, the chronicling of which is not overly interesting as it is essentially a re-run of their earlier 'freak show' exploits but on a different continent. Once again, Eng's business acumen proves pivotal, securing their release from the traveling show on favourable terms and allowing the brothers to set up life as farmers. The now so-called Bunker twins marry a pair of sisters, fathering over twenty children between them, although some die in infancy. After a life of public exhibition, the twins now more than ever engage in a private struggle fuelled by mutual resentments, to the point of fighting and physically wanting to separate their bond from each other. (Ironically, the twins were only joined by a band of cartilage at the sternum, and separation may even have been possible using the technology of the time although most doctors advised against it.) The twins become caught up in events of the Civil War. In Slouka's tale, the twins set out to find Chang's eldest son Christopher who has gone to join the fighting, but the motivations for this action are not overly convincing and the actual events somewhat confusing. (Interestingly, in Mark Twain's short story 'The Siamese Twins' the twins apparently fight on opposite sides of the war - and take each other prisoner!!) In very general terms, I was particularly impressed by the first half of this novel but my interest in the subject matter and story-telling waned somewhat in the final part, so that overall I have awarded 'God's Fool' a four-star ranking.

Well-written fiction on lives of original Siamese twins - Rated
The origin of the term 'Siamese twins' has fascinated me since childhood, and I recall it being briefly explained to me - and being intrigued that the original Siamese twins fathered so many children! Many years later, I find myself living in Thailand and have been amazed by the lack of awareness (and perhaps embarrassment?) shown by my Thai students and friends towards their historical countrymen. Ironically, it has taken this well-written, detailed, compassionate and engaging novel by American writer Mark Slouka to shed light on the extraordinary lives of Chang and Eng, or the Bunker twins as they came to be known.

'God's Fool' recounts the lives of the conjoined twins primarily from the perspective of Chang, the more outgoing and energetic of the pair, although on some issues Slouka contrasts this with the views of his more religious, serious-natured and perhaps embittered sibling. Slouka's novel comprises four parts, each recounting a period in their lives, although the parts are not in chronological order.

Early scenes of 'God's Fool' flashback to the birth of the twins in a houseboat on the Meklong (or Mae Khlong) river which, for those that are interested, was on or near Samut Songkhram, some 70 kilometres from Bangkok. Chang notes that "the day we were born, the midwives ran from our monstrous birth, leaving our mother to cut her own cord, untwist and bathe us". However, Part One is primarily set in the twins' later life in North Carolina, where the slave-owning pair and their large families have settled down as farmers. Interestingly, despite the hardships that the twins have had to endure in life due to their physical appearance and the twins clear racial difference from other slave-owners, Chang has no qualms accepting that slavery is 'a fact of life' and 'a necessary evil' of the land they have settled in. Instead, it is the twins' good-natured neighbour and close friend Dr Gideon Weems, who, in addition to accepting his 'hyphenated friends' for whom they are, also realises that there is nothing natural about the condition of slavery. The most memorable and emotionally gut-wrenching scene in the whole novel closes Part One, centring on Lewis, Chang's most trusted slave, whose son Moses was the childhood playmate of Chang's favourite son Christopher.

Part Two primarily relates the twins' childhood, with the youngsters playing together much as any boys would do growing up on the banks of a river. Slouka provides some well-written descriptions of life in rural Thailand, scenes that continue to this day, including memories of 'Loy Krathong', the most magical of Thailand's festivals in which plantain-leafed boats of flowers and candles are launched into river currents. Chang and Eng's childhood is marked by plenty of incident, including an outbreak of cholera that killed five siblings and then their father; a typhoon that claimed their sister and their trading vessels and capital, and a sentence of death passed by absolute monarch Rama II. During this period, Eng's business sense comes to the fore, with the twins buying cheap goods upstream and reselling them in a floating marketplace, capitalising on the mixture of fear and curiosity that greeted their appearance by touting for business with a show, making customers "pay for their sympathy with baht, their revulsion with their baht". (Some might say that 'plus ca change' in modern-day Bangkok...) Slouka writes a historically convincing account of the twins' audience with Rama III, the upshot of which is that the King's subjects are able to leave the Kingdom, a decision they decide to take when their business is destroyed.

Part III follows the fraternal pair's fortunes in Europe, and in a sense, is reminiscent of the real-life and fictionalised story of John Merrick, the Elephant Man. Europe makes Chang and Eng into freaks, and they earn their keep as part of a traveling show. Chang and Eng's headline act brings the duo fame and access to high society. Chang genuinely falls in love with society beauty and widow of means Sophia Marchant, but questions remain as to whether she is merely curious in his condition and seeking enhanced social cachet through her association with him. Finally, as the novelty of the Siamese Twins wears off for the fickle, paying public, Chang and Eng end up down and out in London.

Chang and Eng are 'rescued' by Phineas T Barnum, delivering them into the 'promised land' of the United States setting up the final part of their incident-filled lives. Their stage experiences here are not overly interesting, as they are essentially a re-run of their earlier 'freak show' exploits but on a different continent. Once again, Eng's business acumen proves pivotal, securing their release from the traveling show on favourable terms and allowing the brothers to set up life as farmers. The now so-called Bunker twins marry a pair of sisters, fathering over twenty children between them, although some die in infancy. After a life of public exhibition, the twins now more than ever engage in a private struggle fuelled by mutual resentments, to the point of fighting and physically wanting to separate their bond from each other. (Ironically, the twins were only joined by a band of cartilage at the sternum, and separation may even have been possible using the technology of the time although most doctors advised against it.) The twins become caught up in events of the Civil War. In Slouka's tale, the twins set out to find Chang's eldest son Christopher who has gone to join the fighting, but the motivations for this action are not overly convincing and the actual events somewhat confusing. (Interestingly, in Mark Twain's short story 'The Siamese Twins' the twins apparently fight on opposite sides of the war - and take each other prisoner!!) In very general terms, I was particularly impressed by the first half of this novel but my interest in the subject matter and story-telling waned somewhat in the final part, so that overall I have awarded 'God's Fool' a four-star ranking.