Customer Reviews

Twins

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a well-told novel of obsession between two twins caught in an innocent, incestous, homosexual relationship that becomes ruinious. The interesting thing about this novel is that it sticks with you after reading it. In case you don't know, it was turned into the film, Dead Ringers, which featured Jeremy Irons. Dead Ringers has an entirely different focus than the novel, for obvious reasons, but the film is as equally successful. Both the novel and the film should be checked-out by horror fans; both are unjustifiably forgotten and overlooked. I'm not sure if three or four stars is the right rating, but it's a good book, regardless; try to find it at your library or used book store, and read it. It's one of the better horror novels I've ever read, although a different type of horror is explored.

Although it inspired the film by David Cronenberg, "Twins" is a much more graphic and intense work than its cinematic counterpart. The twins' relationship is explored in-depth and the descriptions of the "utensils" of one doctor's craft are enough to make even the hardiest of men cringe.

Inasmuch as summer is just around the corner, this is one book that should be packed in the lunch basket along with the other "goodies" for that afternoon trip to the beach.

It is a spooky "treat" that one can't pass up.

This book was compelling because it gave a "fictionalized analysis" of the twin gynecologists (their name currently escapes me) that entered medicine and excelled (there are still many children named after them) and later self-destructed. The book seeks to develop emotional truth rather than focus on factual evidence, therefore making it fictional. I would love to know how many people were interviewed who later rescinded consent... As a book which takes place in New York City of the sixties and seventies, it also makes the story of the twins an interesting counterpoint to the "life" of New York City of that era- a once promising spot gone to seed and desperation, reflected in many passages describing the danger of New York in that time. I actually had a better time reading the book than seeing the film "Dead Ringers"- not to knock that film, as a longtime Cronenberg fan, I appreciate it being Cronenbergized and wouldn't want it any other way. But the book makes me feel like a learned a little more about both the true story of what transpired and also a bit more about the psychology of the incident. And this book also gives good insight into what cancer wards used to be like before the "comfort" model of terminal illness was fully integrated. I was aghast until I read Wood's background and realized it had truth in it! So, check out the book and then look it up on Wiki, there's a decent article there about the real and very tragic case.

This work by Bari Wood is not a mere novelization of the 1988 David Cronenberg movie, since Wood's book was written some time before the movie came out. Thus, while the plot of the book resembles the movie, there are a number of differences. With this book, you do get a much more detailed view of the twins and their world. "Twins" is definitely not for everyone though(some parts of the book are quite explicit and/or graphic), but if you liked the Dead Ringers movie, I'd recommend checking this book out.