When his twin brother is killed in a car accident, Helmer is obliged to give up university to take over his brother’s role on the small family farm, resigning himself to spending the rest of his days "with his head under a cow." The novel begins thirty years later with Helmer moving his invalid father upstairs out of the way, so that he can redecorate the downstairs, finally making it his own. Then Riet, the woman who had once been engaged to marry Helmer’s twin, appears and asks if her troubled eighteen-year-old son could come live on the farm for a while. Ostensibly a novel about the countryside, The Twin ultimately poses difficult questions about solitude and the possibility of taking life into one’s own hands. It chronicles a way of life that has resisted modernity, a world culturally apart yet laden with familiar longing.
The Twin
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School—Henk was more popular and athletic than Helmer, his identical twin, while growing up on a small rural Netherlands farm. Henk was their father's favorite son. Naturally lovely Riet chooses to marry him instead of Helmer. After Henk dies in an auto accident a couple of months before the wedding, Helmer is forced to leave college and return to the family farm. With deep bitterness, he spends days mucking the stalls and milking cows. Now, 37 years later, Helmer moves his invalid father upstairs to get him out of the way and slowly transforms the living space to be more suitable for a bachelor. After a few correspondences from recently widowed Riet, Helmer agrees to take in her teenage son. She feels that hard farm work will give him some direction. Colmer's superb translation allows the novel's authentic voice to be heard by American readers. Bakker captures Helmer's true feelings with excellent inner dialogue. His ongoing feud with his father instills an unusual bond between the two. Teens will appreciate the setting of farmland, canals, windmills, and green pastures, and some will see how family dynamics are ongoing and changing.—Gregory Lum, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
A novel of restrained tenderness and laconic humor. —J.M. Coetzee
Stealthy, seductive story-telling that draws you into a world of silent rage and quite unexpected relationships. Compelling and convincing from beginning to end. —Tim Parks
This is a novel of great brilliance and subtlety. It contains scenes of enveloping psychological force . . . its extraordinary last section suggesting that fulfillment of long-standing aspirations can arrive, unanticipated, in late middle-age. —Paul Binding
I have rarely been so captivated by a voice. The plot of this unusual novel is simple, but its power is mysterious. Gerbrand Bakker’s tone and language make the despondent yet valiant narrator utterly authentic and the plain rural setting mesmerizing. The family drama has the quality of myth, yet remains rooted in daily reality, so much so that I responded with the innocent surrender of a child reader: I had lived on that Dutch farm and shared the characters’ tragedies and small triumphs. This is a book that restores one’s faith in meticulous realism. —Lynne Sharon
Schwartz I found The Twin, by Gerbrand Bakker, sitting on a coffee table at a writers' colony in 2009. I finished it, weeping, a day later, and have been puzzling over its powerful hold on me ever since. I've recommended it again and again. —Amy Waldman, All Things Considered, NPR
This is a quiet book, humble in tone, with a fine, self-deprecating humour […] It leaves the reader touched and with the impression of having seen and smelled the ever-damp Dutch platteland. —Times Literary Supplement
Stealthy, seductive story-telling that draws you into a world of silent rage and quite unexpected relationships. Compelling and convincing from beginning to end. —Tim Parks
This is a novel of great brilliance and subtlety. It contains scenes of enveloping psychological force . . . its extraordinary last section suggesting that fulfillment of long-standing aspirations can arrive, unanticipated, in late middle-age. —Paul Binding
I have rarely been so captivated by a voice. The plot of this unusual novel is simple, but its power is mysterious. Gerbrand Bakker’s tone and language make the despondent yet valiant narrator utterly authentic and the plain rural setting mesmerizing. The family drama has the quality of myth, yet remains rooted in daily reality, so much so that I responded with the innocent surrender of a child reader: I had lived on that Dutch farm and shared the characters’ tragedies and small triumphs. This is a book that restores one’s faith in meticulous realism. —Lynne Sharon
Schwartz I found The Twin, by Gerbrand Bakker, sitting on a coffee table at a writers' colony in 2009. I finished it, weeping, a day later, and have been puzzling over its powerful hold on me ever since. I've recommended it again and again. —Amy Waldman, All Things Considered, NPR
This is a quiet book, humble in tone, with a fine, self-deprecating humour […] It leaves the reader touched and with the impression of having seen and smelled the ever-damp Dutch platteland. —Times Literary Supplement
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Everything is different when you have a coffin in your living room"
These are the kinds of sentences that fill The Twin: subtle, understated and crackling. This beautifully written novel shines with its character depiction of Helmer, a man who has made no choices in his life other than selecting the chickens for the farm. His home, the larger farm animals, his furniture and even his work clothes were passed on: choices that belonged to others.
However, the impending death of his father leads him to finally and uncomfortably assert his own will by moving the furniture, painting, and throwing out years worth of family relics. With this new and clean space, he finds that the things he can't get rid of become more prominent. The house's newly vacated space feels hollow, a reflection of the state of his heart and mind. He's aware of his emptiness, and it's illustrated when he buys a map to hang as "art" for his walls. The lack of anything attractive on the walls of his house makes the single picture lost and the emptiness all the more obvious. All he can do is look at the map and memorize the places he'd like to someday visit, an urge that seems impossible with all the burdens laid upon him since his teens.
He spends his days managing the meager farm, tending carelessly to his father and reeling from the thirty year loss of his twin brother Henk. For a time he allows a wayward teen to help as a farmhand, bringing new dynamics to his empty space. The complexity of the novel isn't simply the missing twin, that sort of story has been written countless times before. Rather, the theme is based on identity of self, not in relation to anyone else (his father or brother) but in the form of his own destiny.... Read more ›
These are the kinds of sentences that fill The Twin: subtle, understated and crackling. This beautifully written novel shines with its character depiction of Helmer, a man who has made no choices in his life other than selecting the chickens for the farm. His home, the larger farm animals, his furniture and even his work clothes were passed on: choices that belonged to others.
However, the impending death of his father leads him to finally and uncomfortably assert his own will by moving the furniture, painting, and throwing out years worth of family relics. With this new and clean space, he finds that the things he can't get rid of become more prominent. The house's newly vacated space feels hollow, a reflection of the state of his heart and mind. He's aware of his emptiness, and it's illustrated when he buys a map to hang as "art" for his walls. The lack of anything attractive on the walls of his house makes the single picture lost and the emptiness all the more obvious. All he can do is look at the map and memorize the places he'd like to someday visit, an urge that seems impossible with all the burdens laid upon him since his teens.
He spends his days managing the meager farm, tending carelessly to his father and reeling from the thirty year loss of his twin brother Henk. For a time he allows a wayward teen to help as a farmhand, bringing new dynamics to his empty space. The complexity of the novel isn't simply the missing twin, that sort of story has been written countless times before. Rather, the theme is based on identity of self, not in relation to anyone else (his father or brother) but in the form of his own destiny.... Read more ›
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of my review is really a comment on the atmosphere of The Twin. There are many layers to the book but the mood is what really caught me. It's slow paced, ponderous and there are slow build ups to moments. The moments themselves are subtle. This is the type of writing that one more commonly finds in modern European literature and film. The book that this most reminds me of in tone is Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.
The story centers around Helmer whose twin brother Henk died when they were young men in the late 60s. They lived on a Dutch Dairy farm. Henk was the favorite and they had just started to grow apart though had shared that special twin bond for most of their lives. Because of Henk's death, Helmer was forced to stop his studies in Amsterdam and return to the farm with his parents.
In the present of this story, Helmer lives on the farm with his father who is very old and is waiting for death. Helmer largely resents his father and has begun to emerge slightly from a life that hasn't changed in many years.
This is a beautifully written, atmospheric, subtle piece of literature that moves at a slow pace. I certainly enjoyed it and recommend it. I would caution people that this book is not be for everyone. Not a lot happens but there is so much under the mundane lives written about.
I recoomend it but with a caveat that it will probably only appeal to readers who can relax and enjoy the the slow pace.
The story centers around Helmer whose twin brother Henk died when they were young men in the late 60s. They lived on a Dutch Dairy farm. Henk was the favorite and they had just started to grow apart though had shared that special twin bond for most of their lives. Because of Henk's death, Helmer was forced to stop his studies in Amsterdam and return to the farm with his parents.
In the present of this story, Helmer lives on the farm with his father who is very old and is waiting for death. Helmer largely resents his father and has begun to emerge slightly from a life that hasn't changed in many years.
This is a beautifully written, atmospheric, subtle piece of literature that moves at a slow pace. I certainly enjoyed it and recommend it. I would caution people that this book is not be for everyone. Not a lot happens but there is so much under the mundane lives written about.
I recoomend it but with a caveat that it will probably only appeal to readers who can relax and enjoy the the slow pace.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Like many other literary prize winners, The Twin focus on internal changes and awakenings rather than plot. This elegant novel translated from original Dutch was the winner of the Dublin Literary Award, among other prizes. It traces the self realization of Helmer who 37 years after the death of Henk, the more popular twin, the "live" half of the personality the two shared, is mucking the barn, milking the cows, tending the sheep and caring for his dying father, the life that Henk was supposed to inherit. Helmer was the student, a future that was cut off by Henk's death. Once set in motion, changes occur realatively quickly for Helmer, resulting in surprising realizations and a very atypical resolution. It is filled with beautiful images of life in a Dutch countryside, and quite heavily saturated with symbolism.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Julie Miller
Format:Hardcover
I just finished reading this, and wow, what a treasure! The author and translator have done a lovely job of bringing this story alive and accessible to those of us that didn't read the original Dutch publication. If you're looking around for a beautiful, timeless story of love, loss, and rebirth, I highly recommend this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Vicki B
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think this lost something in translation. I was waiting for something to happen, and it never did. Disappointing, since I was reading it for book club and I'm usually pleasantly surprised. Dull.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By KatPanama
Format:Paperback
A friend gave me this novel and I put off reading it even though this friend is supremely trusted in bookish matters. Of course I should have known better. It's a rare novel of a certain, well, ostensible flatness but it's deceiving because the story and subtext are distinctive. I just wolfed it down. Finest kind.
By Sue Chakos
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This novel kept me going until the end because I needed to know what happened... could of really done without it though, left me feeling like that was a waste of the last 5 nights reading time.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
great writer
I would inform my reader friends to read this book.The author is a master when describing human relationships.Compelling narrative!Shall read all of his books.
Published 3 months ago by didi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful story
Capturing the isolation and rhythm of Dutch farm life, the narrator's voice creates a transcendent reading experience. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robert Hulsey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual
Very strong sense of place, I felt I could have landed in that rural smallholding and known my way around. Plotting tight and well-expressed
Translation very good.'
Translation very good.'
Published 3 months ago by MaryJ
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dreary and overrated
A dreary book whose subject matter does not justify the subtlety. Maybe the issue at the heart of the book - revealed slowly and carefully - would be "shocking" at one time and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by va
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