The Other
by Thomas Tryon
TW: Child death, murder, death of a parent, mental illness, animal death and cruelty, alcoholism, racism, slurs, outdated/slurs gendered language
First published in 1971, The Other examines Niles and Holland Perry, identical thirteen-year-old twins. One is kind and eager and the other is wicked, a bad influence. They live in New England in their family home, though accidents keep happening. Their mom has yet to recover from the tragic passing of their father’s demise. Holland pranks everyone in sight and Niles fears his excuses won’t work anymore.
This was such a fun, spooky read! There were many questions threaded through the story that kept me engaged and not wanting to put the book down.
The book is a story within a story. Told from the point of view of an unknown narrator, we hear the facts of the story before diving into the middle of it and into others' minds, including Niles'.
Niles is unreliable in his narration, and really, all the characters are. His world is fractured after the accidents befalling his family. Because of this, it feels like pieces are missing. Events and dialogue happen off-page, and we are forced to read between the lines.
At times this was confusing as the reader and I found some parts hard to see what happened. This could also be because of the tricks and games Niles and Holland play.
There’s a refusal to see the truth and that informs the world. Instead, characters want the world to bend to them and this causes chaos. Ada, the boys’ grandma, has them play a game. She says, “Look… Do as I have taught you. Concentrate. Tell me what it is like” (pg. 46). Here she instructs Niles to look at something, to concentrate, and, the important part, to tell what it is like. Basically to become it, if for a moment. This game mirrors our own experiences of putting ourselves into the place of the characters.
Overall, I liked the attention to morality and empathy. Grief and how people deal with it are a tagline through this. At times, it was funny and others scary, but this book was quick to read and packed a punch. I thought at its strongest there was a great atmosphere and ambience to it. The tension was so thick and made me not want to put the book down.
The book contains racial slurs and outdated gender terms. If there are any questions I would be happy to answer, please be kind to yourself!
The questions threaded throughout and they sting as they’re slowly unraveled. And more questions arise with them. (I think going in with knowing less it better!
If you like books with:
-Twins (spooky children)
-Good versus evil
-Not everything is as it seems
-Plot twists
-Pranks
-The Uncanny
Further reading:
I immediately thought of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I just read this but the narration felt similar throughout and I think they would be interesting to compare. Dan Chaon, the writer of the afterword, also suggested The Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith and Endless Night by Agatha Christie.
To watch:
I kept thinking of The Prestige when reading this! There’s also The Other movie which I have not seen but would be interested in watching.
Quotes:
“Things cannot ever be the same. Not for any of us. Not any more. We sometimes reach a point in our lives where we can’t ever go back again, we have to go on from there. All that was before is past now. It went too far. Everything has gone too far. It must stop, do you see? Now - it - must - stop.”
“I wish I could help,” he murmured, with a turn to the Victrola handle. “We help one another by understanding one another: that is the only help there is.”
“It is like a deep pool, this imagination, and during the day it gets used up, like water, and when we sleep at night the water we have used during the day gets replaced. And if it is not replaced, if there is none to drink of, we are thirsty. It is from sleep that God gives us our strength and our power and our peace, do you see.”
“I think imagination's a healthy thing. Makes so much more possible to one, doesn’t it?”