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I just had to write a little note here about something that profoundly... effected me.
Nota Bene: I'll mostly likely be expanding this for one of my first blog-style rants on "The Flamethrower". But you get it first, 'cuz I like y'all SO MUCH! Isn't that nifty spiffy-keen?
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So as many of you know, one of my favorite authors of all time is David Eddings. He has been as influential on my style and interpretation of modern fiction as Adams or Tolkien (only because he has written so damn much more than Tolkien).
His latest novel with his wife Leigh is entitled Regina's Song, and in it he explores the secret world of identical twins. As many of you are probably aware, there has been substantial research in recent years (and in much of the 20th century, in fact) into the "unusual" phenomena displayed by twins.
Virtually all identical multiple birth persons - be they twins, triplets, quints, etc. - develop a "secret language", or cryptolalia. The interesting part of this is that they develop this language long before they learn to speak whatever language their parents speak. The secret language of twins, if observed over a long enough period of time, can usually be deciphered. The secret language of quintuplets can probably never be deciphered, and if it could the grammar rules alone would fill 3 medium-sized textbooks.
Additionally, many twins and triplets have displayed what many would term "extrasensory perception". They can often tell what has happened to the other twin even when separated by distance, pick up the phone before it rings when calling one another, etc.
In most sets of identical twins, the secret language and "weird stuff" all fades away by the time they hit high school, due to puberty and adolescence and their attempt to find individuality. However, there are extraordinary sets of twins or triplets who are SO identical, and SO bonded, that their antics continue well past that period.
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Enter Mr. Eddings - who has long displayed a fascination with the topic, as sets of psychic twins pop up in much of his fiction as ancillary characters.
Regina's Song is about identical twins Regina and Renata - so identical that nobody including their parents can tell them apart... so identical that they can't even tell each OTHER apart, it turns out.
One of them is brutally raped and murdered, and the other witnesses at least part of it, and when everyone finds her she's babbling in twin-speak and incoherent. The first words she utters in the asylum when she "recovers" are "where am I, and who am I?" which everyone assumes means that she has amnesia...
Well, she gets steadily better after seeing an old family friend, and they let her loose after a couple years, but she has bad days and nightmares... and they seem to always happen the day after a brutal murder...
You can probably see where this is going, and I don't want to give anything away. All this information is readily available on the dust jacket or the liner notes.
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I just wanted to say that, like everything else Eddings has written, every character in this book keeps up extremely realistic banter/dialogue with the other characters. This is one of the trademarks of Eddings' writing - the characters all speak and interact in an extremely realistic manner. You immediately identify with the main character (the family friend, Mark) and everyone else. You recognise people you've met, or people you THINK you've met. That's one thing Eddings is extremely good at.
However, UNLIKE much of his other writing, this book is dark. You almost forget that it's very dark, because the day-to-day interaction of the characters is not particularly dark or "foreboding". But that's realistic. Unlike a horror movie, people really wouldn't have any idea what was going on. There is no evil supernatural force that has taken over the world, or even Seattle.
At any rate, a few parts REALLY creeped me out, and one or two passages made me jump out of my skin.
It's NOT a fantasy story, although there are one or two quiet leaps of faith involved.
I know this isn't the same as saying "go watch Equilibrium", which only sucks up 2 hours of your time. I know full well that I read faster than most, and it took ME a couple days of spare time to plow through this novel. But it's worth it, and I highly recommend it. I wish I could go on more, but I'd be giving something away. Let's just say that you'll end up thinking an awful lot, and having your head flipped out more than a little.
Ok, I'm done. Rant mode off.
- Gurm
Nota Bene: I'll mostly likely be expanding this for one of my first blog-style rants on "The Flamethrower". But you get it first, 'cuz I like y'all SO MUCH! Isn't that nifty spiffy-keen?
-----------------------
So as many of you know, one of my favorite authors of all time is David Eddings. He has been as influential on my style and interpretation of modern fiction as Adams or Tolkien (only because he has written so damn much more than Tolkien).
His latest novel with his wife Leigh is entitled Regina's Song, and in it he explores the secret world of identical twins. As many of you are probably aware, there has been substantial research in recent years (and in much of the 20th century, in fact) into the "unusual" phenomena displayed by twins.
Virtually all identical multiple birth persons - be they twins, triplets, quints, etc. - develop a "secret language", or cryptolalia. The interesting part of this is that they develop this language long before they learn to speak whatever language their parents speak. The secret language of twins, if observed over a long enough period of time, can usually be deciphered. The secret language of quintuplets can probably never be deciphered, and if it could the grammar rules alone would fill 3 medium-sized textbooks.
Additionally, many twins and triplets have displayed what many would term "extrasensory perception". They can often tell what has happened to the other twin even when separated by distance, pick up the phone before it rings when calling one another, etc.
In most sets of identical twins, the secret language and "weird stuff" all fades away by the time they hit high school, due to puberty and adolescence and their attempt to find individuality. However, there are extraordinary sets of twins or triplets who are SO identical, and SO bonded, that their antics continue well past that period.
------------------------
Enter Mr. Eddings - who has long displayed a fascination with the topic, as sets of psychic twins pop up in much of his fiction as ancillary characters.
Regina's Song is about identical twins Regina and Renata - so identical that nobody including their parents can tell them apart... so identical that they can't even tell each OTHER apart, it turns out.
One of them is brutally raped and murdered, and the other witnesses at least part of it, and when everyone finds her she's babbling in twin-speak and incoherent. The first words she utters in the asylum when she "recovers" are "where am I, and who am I?" which everyone assumes means that she has amnesia...
Well, she gets steadily better after seeing an old family friend, and they let her loose after a couple years, but she has bad days and nightmares... and they seem to always happen the day after a brutal murder...
You can probably see where this is going, and I don't want to give anything away. All this information is readily available on the dust jacket or the liner notes.
---------------
I just wanted to say that, like everything else Eddings has written, every character in this book keeps up extremely realistic banter/dialogue with the other characters. This is one of the trademarks of Eddings' writing - the characters all speak and interact in an extremely realistic manner. You immediately identify with the main character (the family friend, Mark) and everyone else. You recognise people you've met, or people you THINK you've met. That's one thing Eddings is extremely good at.
However, UNLIKE much of his other writing, this book is dark. You almost forget that it's very dark, because the day-to-day interaction of the characters is not particularly dark or "foreboding". But that's realistic. Unlike a horror movie, people really wouldn't have any idea what was going on. There is no evil supernatural force that has taken over the world, or even Seattle.
At any rate, a few parts REALLY creeped me out, and one or two passages made me jump out of my skin.
It's NOT a fantasy story, although there are one or two quiet leaps of faith involved.
I know this isn't the same as saying "go watch Equilibrium", which only sucks up 2 hours of your time. I know full well that I read faster than most, and it took ME a couple days of spare time to plow through this novel. But it's worth it, and I highly recommend it. I wish I could go on more, but I'd be giving something away. Let's just say that you'll end up thinking an awful lot, and having your head flipped out more than a little.
Ok, I'm done. Rant mode off.
- Gurm
this might just shoot to the top of my list though...is this a new book, like in book stores only or is it old enough to be in libraries do you think??
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