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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conjoined twins; diverse desires, 19 Feb 2008
Owen and Porter are twins. Conjoined twins. That is, the process of division while in the womb did not complete, leaving them with separate heads and necks, but a single body between them. In stark, physical terms: Owen and Porter are a two-headed person, with Owen controlling the left side of the body, Porter the right side. The physical issue is one that it takes the reader a short while to grapple with; the initial questions will inevitably focus on the practicalities of two people inhabiting a single body...coordination, eating, sleeping, sex, and so on.
What soon becomes clear, however, is that the mental issues are infinitely more perplexing: what happens when one twin is straight and the other gay? How would they accommodate each others' ambitions for life? Can one twin feasibly marry and have children? How does each twin maintain a sense of personal and emotional space from the life of the other? Is it possible for a person sharing his body with another to be lonely?
The author, Andrew Beierle, addresses these questions, and much more, in this novel of enforced cooperation, reluctant tolerance, fierce independence and painful love. The brothers are very different in personality and sensibility. Porter is athletic, impulsive, sociable - and straight; Owen is quiet, introspective, passive - and gay. After a brief introduction to their early life, the bulk of the novel is set in their late-teens and early 20s. Porter is eager to get married and have children; his homophobia means that he (and their parents) consider his desires to be more 'valid' than Owen's...and the pressure is on Owen to comply without rocking the boat. Inevitably, Owen seeks his own life, and his own loves. While he is expected to endure sex with Porter's partners; will Porter grant Owen the same tolerance? What do twins do when physical and mental separation are impossible but their desires are incompatible?
The exquisite characterisation - and unique circumstances - ensure that the reader is unrelentingly caught up in the intensity of this work (which is narrated from Owen's perspective). The vast range of emotions - resentment, rejection, jealousy, and loneliness - cannot fail to draw you in, demanding that you share those emotions and become an active participant in the struggle for identity. The harsh challenges are rounded with moments of superb humour, and a plethora of supporting characters who are well-developed in their own right. A remarkable, unique work, 'First Person Plural' is simply an unforgettable novel. Highly recommended.
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