Rating: 
Summary: Stranger than Fiction!
Review: Darin Strauss has elegantly polevaulted over the difficult hurdle of writing a novel based on historic fact while keeping his story refined and tight enough that the novel stands on its own merits, as though the "fiction" is beautifully embellished by "fact". Not only does he make the history of the famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng read like a flawlessly constructed novel, he has obviously carefully researched his subject so that all of the peripheral data (pre-Civil War America, early New York, the Civil War, the stature of Siam in the 19th century, supporting cast that includes PT Barnum et al) ring true.In writing about the twins whose life was supported by being a carnie show act Strauss is sensitive to the concepts of how people out of the groove we consider "normal" relate. These twins are wholly believable in their interaction with each other, with an estranged society, with their two wives. At first the curiosity factor may be the reason for buying and reading this book. And for those readers who enjoy a sojourn into the bizarre, the incredible, this book supplies all that. By alternating chapters of the twins' childhood to manhood histories with chapters devoted to their adult status as husbands and fathers this fascinating book charges our interest to read until the inevitable slides under our eyes. Very fine writing, this, and a terrific lesson in human kindness and tolerance.
Rating: 
Summary: Daring topic, fascinating characters, beautifully written
Review: Darin Strauss has written a daring novel, dealing with the lives of the famous "Siamese Twins" who performed in circus shows in the mid-nineteenth century. The very idea of conjoined twins still has the power to make most people uncomfortable. You can't help but picture yourself in their place -- never having any privacy, and surely never having a sense of yourself as a unique individual. The greatest strength of this novel is that Strauss quickly gets the reader past seeing Chang and Eng as oddities and into a view of them as individuals. Eng, the narrator, and more intellectual and emotionally reserved of the two, longs to be separated from his crude, sensual, hard-drinking, and spotlight-loving brother. At times he despises his brother and believes they share nothing but their physical link. He finally realizes however, that he owes all the excitement, and even love, in his life to his more adventurous brother. As much as he wants to be separate, he recognizes that his brother is as much an emotional as a physical part of him. Strauss brings Chang and Eng to life by making the reader realize that their struggle -- the need to be separate and the need to share lives with others -- is nothing more than an extreme manifestation of a dilemma all of us face. We are all both free individuals and members of communities, and there is often a conflict between those two aspects of our lives. The fact that the twins lived in North Carolina at the time of the Civil War adds a further dimension to this idea. Eng identifies very strongly with the Southern cause, the desire to be separate from the union. Clearly it becomes, for him, a metaphor for his own desires. My only quibble with the novel is that at times the metaphor of separation and union gets a little heavy-handed. Eng simply reminds us a few too many times about what the cause of secession means to him, and that draws some attention away from the characters and story. But overall, this is a really fine first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Come visit the "double-boy"
Review: Darin Strauss' first book is a beautifully written mix of biography and fiction based on the lives of the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng. Strauss shows us the world of the early and mid-1880s through the eyes of the cojoined twins, a unique perspective to say the least. (Fans of "The Alienist" will enjoy its gritty attention to period detail.) Yes, there is sex in this book -- after all, the twins fathered 17 kids -- and no, it is not gross or sensationalized. This book hooks you in its first pages and the rewards continue through the last paragraph. A humane and uplifting look at the lives of the "double-boy."
Rating: 
Summary: Who-centric?
Review: I approached this novel with high expectations, and (being a twin) definite curiousity about the life of conjoined twins. (I can't even begin to imagine.) I found the prose style rather forgettable and non-alarming at best; the structure of the novel to be decently executed: It begins at the end, and chapters alternate between past and present (sometimes several chapters in a block). The brothers only want to be "normal" - insofar as being able to live in separated bodies - but in the context of their (forced) immigration to the US, the novel reads as valorizing assimilation/rejection of home culture. Since Eng is the narrator, the reader is aligned with him, and he is touted as the more "sympathetic" character. He is articulate in his English, reads Shakespeare, and has "assimilated" more than his brother - who is, with his slightly off English and his drinking problem, demonized. The brothers also do not speak their native Thai between themselves (which puzzles me). In sum, an interesting historical perspective and insight into conjoined twins' lives, but who-centric is the novel, really?
Rating:
Summary: Amazing story about Chang and Eng!
Review: I just finished this book and was impressed!! It was an enjoyable bok to read. Lots of detail!! Its a great story and brings you right next to Chang and Eng.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
Rating:
Summary: Monster? Man? Men?
Review: I loved this book! I could not put it down from the first paragraph to the very last! It's a historical romance, biography, fiction all in one. It's hard to categorize it.
It's a beautiful novel and I enjoyed it very much.
I'd recommend it to anyone and especially people who are interested in the off the wall or strange.
There is a lot of history in this book it tells about Siam, London and North Carolina back in the 1800's and what people were like in both cultures at the time and how the twins were treated.
How they fell in love, had sexual relations and 21 children.
They had seperate personalities and minds but would jump into a handstand without a word passed between them. Amazing! Interesting!
You can't really tell what is fiction or true which left me wondering but the author did a good job at making it all seem very believable. You can almost believe that it is Eng who wrote the book.
The author had such a great understanding of what it must of been like to be connected to someone for over 60 years, maybe because he is a twin himself.
He did a good job making it enjoyable and interesting.
Read this book if your looking for something that you can't put down!!!
Rating:
Summary: An evocative story
Review: Mr Strauss' story about the two Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, linked at the chest, did actually live between 1811 and 1874. They were born in Siam, they met the King of Siam, they came to America and became celebrities, they married two sisters and were fathers of 21 children and lead a life as farmers in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Mr Strauss' novel is not ruled by historical facts and thus most of its characters and situations are the product of his imagination, making "Chang and Eng" a true work of fiction. The author thoughtfully explores the questions of union and separation, of individual identity and of the means one has to share and protect one's identity.
Rating:
Summary: An evocative story
Review: Mr Strauss's story about the two Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, linked at the chest, did actually live between 1811 and 1874. They were born in Siam, they met the King of Siam, they came to America and became celebrities, they married two sisters and were fathers of 21 children and lead a life as farmers in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Mr Strauss's novel is not ruled by historical facts and thus most of its characters and situations are the product of his imagination, making "Chang and Eng" a true work of fiction. The author thoughtfully explores the questions of union and separation, of individual identity and of the means one has to share and protect one's identity.
Rating: 
Summary: unconvincing
Review: The story of Chang and Eng Bunker's long, interesting existence is rife with literary possibilities. Strauss certainly does a good job of arranging these possibilities, particularly during the scenes set in Thailand. Among the questions he subtly lays out for the reader to ponder are:
What role does privacy have in shaping an individual's personality?
How would we develop if we had to continually share our existence with another individual?
Were Chang and Eng really two halves of one person?
Would we see Chang and Eng any differently than our ancestors saw them?
Given these interesting questions, one would think that Chang and Eng is an extraordinary book. Sadly, it never realized its potential. This failure stemmed from Strauss' decision to center the book on Eng. Having only one person narrate the story seemed to be an odd creative choice for a novel that is about the (arguably) world's most famous pair of Siamese twins. It's possible that Strauss made the decision to focus the story after having trouble finding a suitable voice for Chang. However, instead of focusing the story, I was left wanting more narrative devoted to Chang's character. Specifically, I wanted to know who Chang was and what he was feeling, instead of having Eng filter those depictions and feelings through his narration. By the time I finished the book, I felt I had read a story that should have been titled "Eng."
Usually, I enjoy it when a book leaves me wanting more. That's especially true when a book contains vivid depictions of locations and interesting philosophical questions. But, in the case of Chang and Eng, these strengths were overshadowed by incomplete characterization in both the main characters and the supporting characters. I can only hope that Strauss' next work is a book that gives appropriate depth to all its characters.
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, funny, a great read.
Review: There were a few hard to believe scences (the lynching) but overall, this was a suprising, interesting and wonderfully warm historical novel.
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