At Swim, Two Boys: A Novel Summary and Reviews

At Swim, Two Boys: A Novel
by Jamie O'Neill

At Swim, Two Boys: A Novel
List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $3.32
You Save: $12.68 (79%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.22 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Jamie O'Neill
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-02-25
ISBN: 0743222954
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Scribner

Book Reviews of At Swim, Two Boys: A Novel

Book Review: "The Evil Thing is the English in Ireland"
Summary: 5 Stars

At Swim, Two Boys: A Novel

"The Evil Thing is The English in Ireland"

"A moment - then all of a glow the sun is on Jim's face. He looks up where the clouds have parted. The sun shines and bathes the world, and the land trembles at the touch. How green are the fields, how lush the grass. Each blade of grass glistens, and the leaves of the trees and hedges glisten with a silvery light all their own. The crows above cease their mockery. The fat contented cows look up in wonder. How rich is this land. It is a rich and rare land. Why wouldn't it be rare, fed on the martyred dead?"

Jamie O'Neill's "At Swim, Two Boys" can be read on several levels. On one level, it is a love story between two adolescent boys: one educated, privileged and destined for success; the other destitute, partially crippled,
seduced and corrupted by the gentry, and likely condemned to a Dickensian life among the poor.

On another level, it is a rich social and political history of the buildup to the Easter Rising of 1916 which, coming during the First World War, provides a natural dramatic backdrop. Irish Nationalism, Wolf Tone, the Green Flag and the Red Hand, Parnell , Roger Casement and the whole raft of heroes, traitors and martyrs figures in.

At yet another point, it is an evocation of the rich literary heritage of Ireland: Joyce's Ulysses and Dubliners; Yeat's poems and plays, and Wilde's iconoclasm and social commentary. There is enough material in O'Neill's book to keep your interest for at least a couple of weeks. (After all, it took O'Neill ten years of working as a night porter at a London psychiatric institution to write it)
O'Neill's style is intimidating at first ---local geographic references, Irish idioms and gaelic phrases. Several reviewers have faulted him for his hermetic difficulty-- but once you get the hang of it, it's understandable. (Joyce was no quick and easy read, either)
The characters are well-developed and complex. Jim Mack, the senstitive, intelligent boy, is dogged by a brother fighting in Gallipoli and a bourgeoise father. Doyler is the patriotic - even radical - Irish "everyman."
With his winning grin and boyish charm he's extremely likeable.
MacMurrough is the most complicated character, modeled on Wilde and also imprisoned by the British for sodomy, he is apparently schizophrenic, possessed by the voices of conscience and of experience. Beginning as the seducer and corrupter, he becomes the protector and mentor.
It has been many years since I've read a novel with as much substance, charm and emotion as O'Neill's "At Swim, Two Boys." Hopefully, there will be more to follow.





Literary Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics) ImageIsland (Perennial Classics)
by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
Angels ImageAngels
by Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops: $24.95
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ImageA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.81
Price in other shops: $23.99
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation ImageThe Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation
by Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Boonville: A Novel ImageBoonville: A Novel
by Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $12.99
Caramelo ImageCaramelo
by Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $4.60
Price in other shops: $39.95
Headhunter ImageHeadhunter
by Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The White ImageThe Crimson Petal And The White
by Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectations ImageGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $12.10
This Side of Paradise ImageThis Side of Paradise
by Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $6.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Mrs. Dalloway (Annotated) ImageMrs. Dalloway (Annotated)
by Virginia Woolf
Mariner Books; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: $15.00
As Meat Loves Salt (Harvest Original) ImageAs Meat Loves Salt (Harvest Original)
by Maria McCann
Published: 2003-01-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $15.00
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ImageOranges Are Not the Only Fruit
by Jeanette Winterson
Grove Press; Published: 1997-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops: $14.95
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name - A Biomythography (Crossing Press Feminist Series) ImageZami: A New Spelling of My Name - A Biomythography (Crossing Press Feminist Series)
by Audre Lorde
The Crossing Press; Published: 1982-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.23
Price in other shops: $16.99
Dream Boy: A Novel ImageDream Boy: A Novel
by Jim Grimsley
Touchstone; Published: 1997-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $46.41
Night Listener, The tie-in: A Novel (P.S.) ImageNight Listener, The tie-in: A Novel (P.S.)
by Armistead Maupin
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.12
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Fancy Dancer: A Novel ImageThe Fancy Dancer: A Novel
by Patricia Nell Warren
Wildcat Press; Published: 1996-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Hours: A Novel ImageThe Hours: A Novel
by Michael Cunningham
Picador; Published: 2000-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops: $14.00
Mr. Dalloway: A Novella ImageMr. Dalloway: A Novella
by Robin Lippincott
Sarabande Books; Published: 1999-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: $15.95
Call Me by Your Name: A Novel ImageCall Me by Your Name: A Novel
by André Aciman
Picador; Published: 2008-01-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.62
Price in other shops: $14.00