Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Dirk Kurbjuweit, Text Publishing, $19.99.
Translated from the German by Imogen Taylor, Twins is a bizarre tale of two friends and rowers who seek to become the same in every way – by becoming twins.
“We didn’t want to be like twins – we wanted to be twins. We wanted to be absolutely identical. But because we hadn’t been born twins, we had to make ourselves the same – and part of that, of course, was having to go through all our most important experiences together.”
Rowing partners Johann and Ludwig are best friends, but that’s not enough. To defeat the region’s current champions – identical twins from a nearby town – they must become twins too. Ludwig has a plan: they will eat, sleep, breathe and even think in perfect harmony. Only then will they have a chance of winning.
It doesn’t take long to realise that the plan by the boys is weak and they lack balance. Their individual desires results in secrets between them. Johann is not as interesting as Ludwig, but is the submissive one. There are some telling moments relating to the delicateness of life and the peril of going to extremes that permeate the story from start to finish.
It’s a robust and murky story of adolescence, friendship, rivalry and growing up.
Two bodies with one mind: an interesting premise, but one that is bland. Kurbjuweit successfully creates a disconcerting story that’s fascinating in its vision.
