The Twin

The next of my novels I'd like to discuss is titled The Twin.  I was "inspired" to research and write this one after watching a BBC documentary on Jesus of Nazareth and his possible connection to India.  As the research went on, it was somewhat amazing how the pieces fell into place.  From a craft perspective, this novel was a bit more complex.

The Twin is the fictional retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth from the point of view of Thomas Didymos, known to most as Doubting Thomas. The narrative draws upon the belief of some that Jesus traveled to Kashmir during his missing years, studied Buddhism, and then returned to Galilee to begin his ministry.  After surviving the crucifixion, he returned to Kashmir to live out his life, dying of old age.  The locals in the region actually do believe that Jesus is buried there, in Srinagar, remembered as St. Issa or Yuz Asaf.

The novel is crafted as the translation of an ancient document written in the first person. The first layer is Thomas's own account, and the narrator is potentially unreliable, perhaps even schizophrenic.  The second layer is the translator, a fictional professor of Classics from the University of Cincinnati, who is obviously inept and an egotist, and who includes translator's notes and footnotes throughout.  While Thomas’s narrative is spare just as the New Testament gospels are, and is hopefully thought provoking, it also acts as a “straight-man” for the notes of the professor, which are designed as satire.

For example, the translator is so insecure and arrogant that he repeatedly adds bits to Thomas's account such as, "I was afraid" with a footnote indicating, "While the original document did not actually include this, Thomas must have been afraid at this point." The translator reports that he makes these additions to help the narrative because ancient authors, even writing in 1st person, rarely included how they felt. They only reported the facts, as they knew them. This leads us to wonder, however, how much of the story the professor is changing as he goes, whether due to incompetence or arrogance or both.

The story is provocative and entertaining, humanizing all involved with insecurities, joy, romantic jealousy, and eventually peace, but the narrators are potentially unreliable enough that the work is clearly not a structured attack on Christianity. 

As you can imagine, the reactions to this manuscript vary wildly.  When I talk about the project, there are people who shut down at the mention of the name, "Jesus" because without listening they assume it's a religious book.  The faces of some others darken when they learn the book suggests a story not taught in Sunday school.  However, many of those who have actually read the book have told me they enjoyed it.  My goals were only to be entertaining and thought-provoking.  

I'll only say this about faith in general.  It requires no faith at all to believe in what is obviously true.  It does not require faith to believe the sun will rise in the morning.  Where faith actually exists is when there is the possibility that ANOTHER truth exists BUT, with no additional proof, a person CHOOSES to believe in something despite the other options.  Faith is a choice.