“No friends. Nothing else to do. Nothing to fill the cold hour.”
February 21, 2017 9:35 PM   Subscribe

 
This reminds me in an odd way of the central conceit of Vonnegut's Slapstick, although the timing seems wrong for him to have heard of it.

A very sad story in any case.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:34 PM on February 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Whew. What a weird story. I've seen sibling rivalry; I've known twins with private behaviors; I've read about folies à deux, with which this seems to share some elements; but this has all those turned up to eleven. Thanks.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:41 PM on February 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


The book "The Thirteenth Tale" takes somewhat inspiration from them.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 11:50 PM on February 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


...as does the song 'Discomania'. "Which one of us am I?"
posted by robself at 12:38 AM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


I vaguely remember watching the unnerving BBC dramatisation of their story (The Silent Twins) shown back in 1986.
posted by misteraitch at 12:40 AM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


The story doesn't say they were averbal; it explicitly mentions many occasions when they spoke.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:35 AM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


Came here to say what i_am_joe's_spleen said ....
posted by oheso at 5:19 AM on February 22, 2017


The Manic Street Preachers wrote a curiously affecting song about these two girls, called Tsunami.
posted by Encipher at 5:24 AM on February 22, 2017


Such a sad story. There's also a book on the Gibbons twins: "The Silent Twins" by Marjorie Wallace. (Edit: this is mentioned in one of the articles.)
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 6:17 AM on February 22, 2017


Yes, I googled the story too and found lots of idealization about Jennifer's and June's inner monologue but no source material. Source material is a reasonable request in this day and age.

Well, there's a book, a documentary, and this well-reported New Yorker piece by Hilton Als. That link was in the the article. So . . .
posted by listen, lady at 7:02 AM on February 22, 2017 [7 favorites]




Their story haunts me and fascinates me. Thank you for the post.
posted by Athanassiel at 8:46 PM on February 22, 2017


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