On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin
Pop'nfresh Gender Roles: On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin
But Benjamin did not cry. He simply pursed his mouth and turned his sad grey eyes on his brother. For it was Lewis, not he, who was whimpering with pain, and stroking his own left hand as if it were a wounded bird. He went on snivelling till bedtime. Only when they were locked in each other's arms did the twins doze off--and from then on, they associated eggs with wasps and mistrusted anything yellow. This was the first time Lewis demonstrated his power to draw the pain from his brother, and take it on himself. He was the stronger twin, and the firstborn.
A very strange tale, almost but not quite magic realism, about 80 years in the life of a pair of identical twins born near the Welsh border in 1900.
Things change slowly, but they do change, from a long, rural idyll of a pair of childhoods, through two world wars, a depression, faint stirrings of technology, and ultimately a flood of new things. The boys share a bond so strong that when one of them is drafted and the other stays behind, the one at home feels the pain of the other's boot camp tortures.
And the gender roles are quirky. The farm where the boys live is called "The Vision", and, while being described as intensely masculine, is misty and poetic. Nearby is the feminine "The Rock", where the energy is wild and feral and described as "feminine" (untamed?). This seemed to me distracting from an otherwise touching, Dylan Thomas-esque story where characters are drawn full-fleshed with but a few words. High recommendations.
But Benjamin did not cry. He simply pursed his mouth and turned his sad grey eyes on his brother. For it was Lewis, not he, who was whimpering with pain, and stroking his own left hand as if it were a wounded bird. He went on snivelling till bedtime. Only when they were locked in each other's arms did the twins doze off--and from then on, they associated eggs with wasps and mistrusted anything yellow. This was the first time Lewis demonstrated his power to draw the pain from his brother, and take it on himself. He was the stronger twin, and the firstborn.
A very strange tale, almost but not quite magic realism, about 80 years in the life of a pair of identical twins born near the Welsh border in 1900.
Things change slowly, but they do change, from a long, rural idyll of a pair of childhoods, through two world wars, a depression, faint stirrings of technology, and ultimately a flood of new things. The boys share a bond so strong that when one of them is drafted and the other stays behind, the one at home feels the pain of the other's boot camp tortures.
And the gender roles are quirky. The farm where the boys live is called "The Vision", and, while being described as intensely masculine, is misty and poetic. Nearby is the feminine "The Rock", where the energy is wild and feral and described as "feminine" (untamed?). This seemed to me distracting from an otherwise touching, Dylan Thomas-esque story where characters are drawn full-fleshed with but a few words. High recommendations.