God's Fool

by Mark Slouka

Book Overview

Born attached at the chest, Chang and Eng were considered a marvel, an act of God. By any standard, theirs is a history of epic variety and drama. Mark Slouka recounts their tumultuous story, from the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375402160
• ISBN13: 9780375402166
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Slouka: the more literary Chang and Eng

This man's sentences never cease to amaze and inspire me. It is a complete shame that the other Chang and Eng book stole his thunder. The book's greatest accomplishment is in its language, which is rich and yet precise, and illuminates the world of these two men so beautifully. The book has a genius way of dealing with their condition; it is the cause of everything and yet ignored at the same time. It is really their experiences as humans, and the unique way their bodies force them to look at the world, which is the most interesting. My only critique is in the shape of the book. It almost seems as though the true shape of this book would be about two-hundred pages longer, pages I would have gladly read. I only hope that in the long-run, this more interesting, difficult, and ultimately more rewarding version of the two brothers' story will get its due.

Read this book!

Beautiful, brilliant novel, original and indescribably amazing. Poignant and dryly, bitterly funny, one of my favorite books...everything you want a novel to be

A good read

In some ways, I really preferred this book to David Strauss' Chang and Eng. This one, told from Chang's perspective, was much more lyrical and better written. The descriptions of the Mekong Valley, the surreal world of Siam, and the familial love between Chang and Eng and their parents, wives and children were superbly drawn. Don't believe the reviews that say this is some sort of copy of Chang and Eng. It simply isn't true. The subject of 2 conjoined brothers who leave Siam and end up slaveowners, husbands and fathers certainly provides enough material for two novels, and many more than that as well. This book does a good job exploring the ontological aspects of the twins' conjoined state. They had one body, but did they have 2 souls? An interesting novel, well written and full of lucid observations about human nature.

A journey of a connected life

Slouka takes the story of siamese twins and paints a beautiful image of their homeland, their life, and the politics of their time. The story starting in Siam and ending up in the American Civil War is engaging and heartfelt throughout. If you try to imagine what life would be like from the character's perspectives it lends a new level of appreciation for Slouka's intimate details of their epic struggles and their hinderances in everyday life. It is impossible not to feel for the characters as they are thrown into a world that views them as a circus act, which seems to corrupt everything from brotherhood to pure love. Of particular interest are the portions of the story where Slouka also relates to the reader how the two help each other out along their journeys, bound by fate for their eternity. It was a rare find on a random purchase that I came about this book, but I highly recommend reading it and passing it onto your friends, if nothing else the sociology of their lives and of the many places they visit is worth the buy.

connected by the heart and mind

The comparisons between this novel and the other one about Chang and Eng are absurd. This is an entirely original book. Beautiful and intelligent. I was was taken in from the beginning and enthralled throughout. This is the sort of novel that touches the heart and stimulates the mind. What could be better?