The Two

I first read this book approximately twenty-five years ago, when it was first published. I remember that I had very much enjoyed the glimpse that it offered into the fascinating lives of nineteenth century conjoined twins, Chang and Eng, the original "Siamese Twins". Having recently read the novel, "Chang and Eng", by Darin Strauss, my interest in these twins was piqued, and I decided to re-read this book. Time has not diminished the capacity of this biography to captivate and hold the interest of the reader. Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction. The authors provide the reader with a well-researched look at the interesting and unusual lives led by conjoined twins, Chang and Eng. Born in Siam, which is now known as Thailand, on a houseboat on the Mekong River in 1811, Chang and Eng were conjoined at the chest by a band of fleshy cartilage. It was this small band of flesh that would bind them in life, making the two as one. Being forced to be together by their conjoinment, even in those most intimate of moments, did not prevent Chang and Eng from living full lives. Leaving Siam as eighteen year old adolescents, Chang and Eng were to travel to America under the care and guidance of a Captain Coffin, who saw the commercial possibilities inherent in Chang and Eng's conjoinment and fully intended to exploit them. In America, people clamored to view Chang and Eng, as they were considered curiosities. They would also travel abroad to Europe, where they were to cause a sensation. Chang and Eng were the international celebrities of their day. When they reached majority, Chang and Eng disassociated themselves from Captain Coffin and his business partners and became their own men. They took charge of their own destinies and later became American citizens, adopted the surname of Bunker, married two sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates, collectively had twenty-one children, and settled down in North Carolina, where they became slave-owning, gentleman farmers. Still, they did not wholly give up touring and exhibiting themselves for profit. In later, leaner years, they would do so with some of their children in tow as part of the exhibit. As they grew older, their togetherness seemed to cast a pall over their lives, as Chang was a more phlegmatic sort of personality, while Eng was much more contemplative in nature. Moreover, Chang took to heavy drinking, and though Eng abhorred it, there was little he could do about it. He was forced, therefore, to suffer the consequential effects and indignities of Chang's drinking. These personal differences would cause them both to mull over the possibility of separation. There was, however, little medical support for such, except in the event of life or death, as surgical procedures were still quite primitive in those days. Chang and Eng would die in their early sixties. Chang died first, while Eng, who was otherwise healthy, would die within hours, possibly from fright and shock at being tethered to the li

As a descendent of Chang Bunker, I found "the Two" a fascinating trip into my families past. The book chronicles their lives and the lives of their wives and children in a very thoughtful and honest way. A good read!

As a great great grandson of Eng I have heard all the stories that were passed down thru the years. This book captures the essence of the twins and the time in which they lived accurately and without exageration.