All of Man's Unhappiness Stems From His Inability To Stay in a Room Alone
-Pascal
Good evening everyone. This is the first entry in what will become my ‘Chang and Eng Reading Diary.’ What that means is that my thoughts, reactions and notes about this fantastic novel will soon fill up this page. Chang and Eng, if you haven’t already guessed, is a historical fiction novel by Darin Strauss about the famous conjoined twins it is entitled after. The novel strikes a very, very careful balance between history and fiction. Strauss’s book is heavily researched, and all of the events that take place in the novel are real, though the exchanges and some of the names of minor characters are fabrications.
The book moves forward through time from two starting points, alternating between them each chapter. The first being when Chang and Eng Bunker arrive in Wilkesboro, North Carolina one winter in 1842; the second is their birth in Siam in 1811. The story is told in the perspective of Eng, the taller and quieter of the two brothers. Right from the beginning of the book, the differences between the brothers is severe and definite. Where his brother Chang is often more outgoing and louder, Eng is silent most of the time though when he does speak, he is far more eloquent.
The novel has some important places that it needs to go in order to keep in contact with the chronology of the Bunker’s lives. It needs to explore their experiences in the Americas and Europe, how they got there and how they courted and eventually married their wives (and of course, the big question, how did the make love to their wives?). Well, all shall be revealed later in the reading. All that I can say for sure is that it is quite an engrossing read.
Also, A reading schedule for each entry.
The book moves forward through time from two starting points, alternating between them each chapter. The first being when Chang and Eng Bunker arrive in Wilkesboro, North Carolina one winter in 1842; the second is their birth in Siam in 1811. The story is told in the perspective of Eng, the taller and quieter of the two brothers. Right from the beginning of the book, the differences between the brothers is severe and definite. Where his brother Chang is often more outgoing and louder, Eng is silent most of the time though when he does speak, he is far more eloquent.
The novel has some important places that it needs to go in order to keep in contact with the chronology of the Bunker’s lives. It needs to explore their experiences in the Americas and Europe, how they got there and how they courted and eventually married their wives (and of course, the big question, how did the make love to their wives?). Well, all shall be revealed later in the reading. All that I can say for sure is that it is quite an engrossing read.
Also, A reading schedule for each entry.
- 1-89 –Entry 1 (this one!)
- 90-154 –Entry 2
- 155-240 –Entry 3
- 241-321 –Entry 4
The final entry will be a look back on the book and a final review. Each section is approximately 80 pages.
