Two Boys: A Novel, At Swim

The tragedy of this book is that thoughtful people who might overwise read it may not because they perceive it as a "gay" novel, whatever that means. This is a gay novel in the way BELOVED is a black novel or PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT is a Jewish novel. A book that anyone who loves serious literature should read, it has all the things I look for in a good novel: an involved plot, wonderful character development and beautiful language. If you believe the old fashioned novel is dead, At SWIM TWO BOYS should convince you otherwise. It actually feels like a 19th century novel in its epic quality. Yes, the three main characters are gay; and this book is as good as any-- perhaps better than any with gay characters I can recall. Almost 600 pages long-- you will be amazed at how quickly the pages fly by-- the novel is set in Ireland in 1915 and 1916. The three main characters, two teenage boys, Jim and Doyler and an adult, MacMurrough, become as real to you as your friends and family. These characters possess a resilience and courage that will make you care for them desperately. Ultimately they will break your heart.
Mr. O'Neill's prose is fine indeed. One example: there is a wonderful scene when MacMurrough watches Jim leave him. "A terrible fear shook him, a fear for his boy and what the future might hold. Lest he should stumble and the crowd should find him. For we live as angels among the Sodomites. And every day the crowd finds some one of us out. . . There is no grand mistake. Aristotle wrote something that Augustine got wrong that Aquinas codified in law. . . What hates is madness. There's no reason, only madness. . . Who but a madman could revile this boy?" This is NOT the love that dare not speak its name.
Words used to describe this novel sound trite: "honor," "optimism," "friendship," "patriotism," "love." We can only hope Mr. O'Neill does not take 10 years to write another novel.

I found At Swim a little confusing at first -- Scrotes for instance. Once I understood, found the rhythm of the storytelling, I was captured.
I found the language (the Irish English) a little thick in places -- this was the criticism of a friend who abandoned the book early on. Ultimately, I found the language, all of it, lyrical and spellbinding.
I found the elder member of the trio's relationships with the two boys troubling, if believable and ultimately satisfactory within the context of the story. This is the aspect of the book that I expected to be offputting, misunderstood, even reviled by straight readers. That for the most part it has been understood is truly a testament to both the power of the book and the perspective of its audience.
The historical aspect is fascinating, brought to life on the pages.
Great characters abound.
But above all it's a beautiful love story, beautifully rendered.

In this book the author describes the budding (sexual) relationship between two 16-year old boys in Dublin at the beginning of the 20th century. Jim is the son of a shopkeeper with middle class aspirations, Doyler the son of a poor, TB-ridden alcoholic father. The two fathers were once friends when they served in the army. Jim attends school, whereas Doyler has to work hard for his money. Doyler promises Jim to teach him to swim and they agree to swim to a rocky island in a year's time to raise the Irish flag once they get there. But life drifts them apart: Doyler joins the Irish socialist freedom fighters, whereas Jim goes on with his quiet school life and becomes the friend of MacMurrough, a rich homosexual dandy.
After a year the two boys meet again and indeed swim to the rock, but on the way back Doyler nearly drowns. When he is recovering in MacMurrough's house, Jim decides to fill in his place when the revolution against the English starts. In the end one of the three main characters does not survive.
The book gives a loving description of a budding friendship, but it is not very to the point: all kinds of sidelines that do not add much to the main story interfere in my opinion with the flow the story and the make the book a bit long-winded. Also, for a non-native speaker, the Irish is in the beginning rather difficult to follow, but one gets used to that.

At Swim, Two Boys is a beautiful love story centered around the friendship of two sixteen year old boys. Author Jamie O'Neill spent 10 years working on this story, and his labour of love is defenitely worth a read. The story offers many tender moments that will stay with you for a long time. But the book is overpopulated by too many characters who just walk in and out of the boys's life without any real purpose, and in the end, the story meanders so much that it alienates some of the story's power.

Jim is an Irish boy who seems to live a pretty ordinary life. While his brother is fighting the war overseas, he lives with his father and aunt, helping out with the family's general stores. But when he rekindles his friendship with Doyler, a childhood friend, this becomes complicated. Their friendship builds as they meet every day to swim together.

Jim and Doyle are falling in love with one another. While Jim isn't sure how to deal with these strange new feelings, Doyler wants more out of their friendship. He seeks the help of a friend, MacMurrough, who was deported from Englend back to Ireland after having found guilty of loving another man. And although I didn't mind following these characters around, I didn't particularly enjoyed reading about Mr Mack, Jim's father, or about MacMurrough's twisted aunt or about a subplot concerning a pregnant woman Jim's brother left behind. All these side stories took away from the main story at the heart of this book.

I loved the book's first half. The characters slowly build toward their goals and you can almost feel the confusion and anxiety between the boys. But the moment the war explodes in Ireland, the moment Doyler decides to join the civilian army to fight the invading Brits, the books becomes too complicated for its own good. It's almost as if the story looses its heart and soul. The characters grow cold and confused and whatever feelings were present between them slowly evaporates.

That is somewhat lessened when the two boys leave at Easter for a swim to a small remote island (keeping a childhood promise they had made to one another). But that moment is too quickly torn away from the reader by a dark and unnecessary turn of events.

I enjoyed At Swim, Two Boys. The book is worth reading and is often very touching. But a part of me just wasn't fully satisfied with it all. As a whole, the book isn't as emotionnally striking as it should have been. But when taken it parts, its reading can be quite magical.

I discovered this novel in Listmania under gay fiction, and as I'm always on the hunt for well-written gay fiction rather than the soft-porn that parades itself as fiction, my interest was piqued. I feel so fortunate for this discovery.

I consider this achingly tender book one of the finest novels that I've ever read and would recommend it to anyone who searches for excellent writing. Though the story and characterizations are exquisitely drawn, I was most impressed with the prose. It seemed that every word was written with the utmost care to leave a rich impression. The style of writing is very unusual but the author trusts himself and never condescends to his readers with explanations or excuses. Reading this novel was like floating (or swimming!) to me. It was like floating in and out of the characters' thoughts and witnessing a little-known (at least to me) time in world history.

I encourage everyone searching for great writing to read this novel. I must caution you that the style of writing is different, so please be patient to find the lyrical qualities and rhythm of the writing. I re-read the first three pages numerous times with little comprehension. But the beauty of the words kept me reading. I realized it is the author's intent to create an atmosphere and language unique to the novel and understanding always arrives in a very short time. In other words, just push forward. The reward is tremendous. I expect the characters will haunt me for ages to come and the almost cinematic ending nearly shattered my heart. I was deeply, deeply touched.

This was by afar one of the best books I have EVER read. No book has moved me the way this one has.

Having said that, HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK:

First and foremost, the author demands that you are an educated person. It is a difficult read.
You MUST be able to comprehend Olde English-style writing (Think Shakespeare).
It's not just the style; the book IS a Shakespearean tragedy (Cross betwixt Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet).
You should have a decent understanding of LATIN and FRENCH as both occur frequently in the novel.
You should be able to draw your own conclusions and not have everything spelled out for you.
You should know some history (Irish uprisings, the Lusitania, WWI, et cetera).

Once you get used to the book, it is absolutely remarkable. I can't recommend it highly enough. Just be able to comprehend it and you will fall in love with it.

This novel, set in First World War Ireland, follows the friendship of two 16-year-old boys, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle. The poor, rebellious Doyler is the more obviously interesting of the two early on, but the inspiring transformation of the quiet, studious Jim into a positively heroic young man is what this story is about. The upper-class Anthony MacMurrough, recently back from England where he spent time in prison for crimes of the Oscar Wilde sort, provides an adult perspective on their relationship. His growth, too, from a cynical, shallow idler to a caring mentor who feels real (and painful) love, is a very moving aspect of the story.
I do have complaints about the book. Unfamiliar-and worse, unlookupable-Irish dialect and slang frustrated and distracted me until I gave up and lived with it. Also, I found it a bit slow at times. Lastly, I'm not 100% comfortable with the ending.
But these criticisms, as they say, are minor. The experience of reading the last couple of hundred pages of the book isn't one I will soon forget. The brilliance and beauty and power of it is indescribable, at least by someone with my feeble skills. A week later, recalling any of several scenes is still a dangerous thing to do in public. As it is, I hope you'll take my word for it that At Swim, Two Boys is well worth reading. If you're gay, I'd almost say it's required.

I had read a lot of praise for this book which got me excited when I started it. Unfortunately, I find that I can't heap the same amount of positivity myself.

My main problem with the novel is the language and the way O'Neill chose to tell the story. Often, the book went from narrative to dialogue to thought - sometimes in the the same paragraph - without proper transition. Add to that the heavy use of old Irish slang and some parts simply became a wash of words where I had to guess what was going on.

To be honest, there's a very good story present. The relationship between the boys is great to read and McMurrough, with his multiple voices, is one of the most memorable and unique characters I've come across in a long time. It's just that all of these positive qualities are buried by the author's storytelling.

If this book were present in a more traditional sense I'd undoubtedly have enjoyed it more. As it stands, however, I finished it more out of stubbornness and will power, rather than desire.

Before buying this book, read through the first couple of pages - if you can understand them then go ahead and purchase it. If not, you might want to pass because it won't change much.

The sheer volume of this "book" may seem a bit daunting, but this epic is absolute perfection. A love story set in a restless and struggling Ireland of 1915, the plot of At Swim, Two Boys is developed with skill and finesse. The story centers on the developing relationship of two teenage boys. One is dirt-poor, confident, and passionate; the other is better off, insecure, and dutiful-both are intelligent and loving. As their friendship intensifies, the adults in their world revolve around them with a purpose seemingly their own. The boys make a pact and out of that promise emerges a plot that unites the characters and their passions with Ireland at the end of the book.
Yet there is more than love story here. What I would call a "morally complex" but admirable character mentors the protagonists, and in doing so exposes the sheer putrescence of the Catholic Church. Sprinkled throughout are several other highly sympathetic secondary and tertiary characters that appealed to me the more their motives came to light.
This intense story is full of literary and historical allusions that serve as a lush backdrop to the story. (Parts of the narrative are a bit of a nod to Joyce.) It is impossible not to be absolutely smitten with every character in this book, but especially the boys. Each is so fragile yet strong. When reality and emotions collide, the boys seem vulnerable and in need of protection, but then they develop into noble and mature individuals compelled by love and duty.
The language of At Swim, Two Boys can only be described as evocative. Jamie O'Neill doesn't waste a single word and there is much to be said about the tender ending. This is the only book that has ever made me cry, and I was nearly inconsolable for two days when I finally put it down. I am now halfway through it again and highly recommend At Swim, Two Boys.

I believed the hype that this novel was generating and in brief I was not disappointed. At Swim, Two Boys is one of the most powerful and beautiful novels I have come across in a very VERY very long time--laughing, crying, edge of the seat, turning turning turning the pages forgetting about sleep because who cares when you're this entertained-stimualed-engaged. Highlighter in hand selecting the luminous prose, pen all over the margins making notes because I wanted the conversation, the commentary (if only with myself in the white of the sides). It's everything I could ask for in a reading. And more.
Yes, it was challenging at times, however the more I read the easier it became (after around page 50 or so I had the style down and could pretty much breeze through stopping briefly to look up some words). O'Neill seems to have the entire English lexicon (not to mention Irish slang) under his spell turning over a luminous concert for the page.
Will I read it again and again? Yes I said yes I will Yes.

Jamie O'Neill took ten years in the writing of At Swim Two Boys and, for this reader, it was time well spent. He has crafted a magnificently beautiful tale of two boys in love that expands into the larger world of politics and class and patriotism, just a few among the many ideas shaded throughout this wonderful book. The Irish voice is thick and may prove a challenge for a few pages but the beauty of its poetry will seep into the reader before long and carry one along on its delicious brogue. The reader's Patience is rewarded in this book most thoroughly and thoughtfully. It is nice to read a gay novel that is this rich with so many well-drawn characters, the boys' fathers and the other gay man's aunt, beyond those of the title characters. This novel is a richly written slice of Irish history and about fighting for freedom in all its contexts.

MacMourrough, Doyler, Jim, are now dear pals o' me heart. I'll cary these characters on my shoulders for some time. Beautiful story, connects deeply at points to my own life. Love the theme of trying to save youth and beauty, I wanted so badly for them to stay forever in the surreal world of their courtship and childhood. I had to realize Jim and Doyler were teenagers and would follow their delusional and rambling teenage dreams and become the products of those scatter shot trajectories. I had to let them go in little ways through out the book. I want you to read this book. If you are considering, just invest some time and see if it grows on you. The book had tremendous meaning to me. I just finished last night and it was one of the hardest times I've had leaving a book and its characters. I even had thoughts about trying to adapt it into a screenplay just so I could be stay with it longer. Man I had a time with this book. Check it out and I hope it moves you.

Ireland, 1915. A boy says to his friend, "Come swimming in the sea. It's different in the sea, don't ask me why, but you don't find the same anywheres else. There's a freedom I can't explain, like your troubles was left in your pile of clothes." The friend agrees, and one naked leap from the Forty Foot later a pact is made-- that in a year's time, on Easter 1916, the two boys will meet to swim the treacherous path from the Forty Foot to the beacon of light at Muglin's Rock. "Are we straight?" asks Doyler. "We're straight as a rush," says Jim.

So begins author Jamie O'Neill's unashamedly honest journey into the heart of a country and its people, and the painful, awkward search for both an identity and an acceptance of what identity they find. Ireland, under British rule, is at war with itself over whether it wants to be free; or as O'Neill writes, "The truth had not made up its mind: the signs were contrary everywhere." The human faces that make a war are beautifully portrayed all the way from the rebel commanders, to the philosopher contemplating the "object lesson in the madness of war," down to the kid-soldier who stops someone on the street to ask if they are winning: "Only," said he, "I never been in a revolution before."

But it is in the shadow of Dublin and the coming revolution that the soul of O'Neill's work lives. The two boys, and those with whom their lives are intricately and fatefully intertwined, lead the reader thoughtfully and irresistibly right up to the face of humanity in all its ugliness and glorious beauty. Without ever seeming heavy handed, O'Neill's memorable characters demand that the reader reflect on the diapason of what it means to be human: religion, sex, love, friendship, poverty, social class, politics, mercy and forgiveness are perfectly woven together to create a story that compels rather than preaches. In a moment of exquisite writing, the Wildean friendship and love of the two swimmers, Doyler and Jim, seamlessly embrace the love of country and freedom that haunts the novel:

"But what is Ireland that you should want to fight for it?"

"It's Doyler," he said.

"Doyler is your country?"

"It's silly, I know. But that's how I feel. I know Doyler will be out, and where would I be but out beside him? I don't hate the English and I don't know do I love the Irish. But I love him. I'm sure of that now. And he's my country."

Ultimately, the patient reader who perseveres through the initially daunting Irish prose will be well rewarded. O'Neill has created a deeply moving story with layer upon layer of meaning and detail that would benefit from more than one reading. The force behind the deep commitment of his ten years of labor on this novel echoes throughout the work in the ideals and words of its characters-- when Jim is asked why he and his friend must achieve their goal of swimming to Muglin's Rock, he replies, "You see, we're extraordinary people. We must do extraordinary things."

A warm rush of the benevolent nature of fate washes over me. A desire to join the ranks of some noble army, or ignoble, whichever so long as my lover is at my side. Two days have passed since I finished reading At Swim Two Boys two days ago, and I have yet to stop thinking and rethinking the events and characters of the novel. O'Neil's poetic prose is at first quite difficult, but it eventually allows the reader to feel secretly aware of the inner workings of the characters. His style, with its inner weavings, makes the reader yearn to discover things just as the characters would. O'Neil has an innate ability to redefine the perspective of his characters without making it seem a deliberate action.

One of his stylistic choices that I found most captivating is the naming and renaming of characters and places. Madame MacMurrough becomes Evaline MacMurrough then Aunt Eva as the reader learns more and more about her. Mr. MacMurrough becomes simply MacMurrough as he takes his place as the heir to the legacy, but once he has spent time with Jim he becomes MacEm, a pet name that takes his austerity and replaces it with fondness. This renaming allows the reader an insight not only into the characters themselves, but also lets one see through the thoughts of the character who is doing the naming. Mr. Mack changes our view of every character by the way they see him. MacMurrough's complacency falters when he gets to know Jim, whom he first refers to as the "comfort for the troops." Each character moves from a place of relative unknown to a place in the reader's heart by the end of the novel. I would advise any reader to pay attention to this facet of the novel. Even Jim's sexual self-discovery is a process of renaming. This attention to the detail of names is both fascinating and endearing, allowing an insight into the way the human mind categorizes its surroundings.

By far, my favorite character is Anthony MacMurrough. He develops from a place of mental abandon, from his categorizing his emotions into characters, to a person willing to look at the world with fresh eyes, even taking on the burden of hope.

It is this love for his characters that makes O'Neil's work so incredible. Each has their faults, their flaws, and their misgivings, but they arise to a point of imperfect perfection. The novel is epic in proportion while being beguilingly commonplace in its details. The romance is innocent and beautiful, though I would advise any reader having misgivings about a sex scene to think twice. The homosexual content of the novel is at first veiled and innocent, as we see it through Jim's developing eyes. By the end of the novel, it becomes quite graphic. To put it succinctly, I wouldn't recommend this book to my mother. This is my only misgiving in recommending the novel. As a young gay man myself, even I found these scenes a bit too detailed, the sex more than the love seeming at times contrived. It was the Spartan nature of the love that made it so appealing and captivating. I would have rather heard directly what was happening near the end of the novel than have it persist in being veiled, or perhaps it could have been mentioned without being dwelt upon.

However, the novel is by no means over-sexed. To turn the coin and look at the treatment of homosexuality theoretically, O'Neil's constant questioning of its nature and origin through MacMurrough's character is nothing less than completely brilliant and honest. To be gay is to constantly question oneself, especially and most importantly if the mind is either analytically or spiritually focused. When Jim reaches his point of sexual self-realization, his reaction is poignant and turgid, much like my own was. His self-loathing is just as understandable as MacMurrough's dissection of his mind and his trials before Scrotes and his philosophers. To read this novel is to understand the gay mind as a nobler entity than it is stereotyped to be. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand homosexuality on a deeper level, or simply to anyone who wishes to understand how the human mind deals with any sort of inner turmoil. At Swim Two Boys is a brilliant work of fiction. It is honest and accessible, and in spite of myself I was laughing and crying through from start to finish.

...At Swim, Two Boys is a fine novel, demanding at times because of the attention that must be paid to the dialect.
As the two boys who are the main characters grow, and the Irish Nationalist movement comes to the fore, the book simply gets better and better, successfully meshing history with two personal stories and a picture of what it was probably like to be homosexual in an enviroment and time that were totally forbidding.
In a way, this novel reminds me of Annie Proulxs' superb short story, "Brokeback Mountain," about a pair of men, cowboys, who embark on a deep and passionate love affair, with homosexuality never being an issue, or the word "gay" ever being relevant.
There are some small quibbles. The novel is overlong and could have stood some editing. There's way too much of the character of "MacEmm," who, though he achieves importance as the novel progresses, has long solitary exchanges with a man from his past. And again, some of the Irish dialect and slang is quite daunting and untranslatable.
Still, it's one of the finest, most challenging novels I've read this year so far, and the best Irish novel I've read since Christopher Nolan's "The Banyan Tree."

Jamie O'Neill's At Swim, Two Boys is nothing short of stunning. Set in 1916 Ireland, at the height of the country's civil unrest, the novel follows a colorful array of characters that deal with issues as numerous and eclectic as the Irish social problems created by the backlash against English rule. Although the book is a practice in history, it is far from dry or rambling. O'Neill pays homage to immortal Irish writers like Joyce by creating exhaustingly complex characters that exist in a vivid world readers can almost touch through the pages.

At Swim tells the story of Jim, a confused youth torn between his faith and his feelings, and Doyler, a troublemaking boy whose friendship with Jim eventually escalates into something more. As their relationship unfolds, it is compromised by the intense political tides of early 20th Century Ireland. O'Neill does a breathtaking job of illustrating the clash between those accustomed to living under English rule, and those who strive to incite nationalistic pride in the hearts of the Irish. Jim and Doyler's seemingly unbreakable bond serves as a metaphor for this clash; while Jim is being coaxed into taking up vocation by the brothers at his school, Doyler the socialist considers himself a champion of the workingman. A myriad of other characters, most of them members of each boy's family/inner circle, serve multiple purposes within O'Neill's spirited and authentic prose.

Religion plays a major role in the novel as well. The political clash existing in Ireland at this time is worked into the theme of faith. Throughout the book, Jim's "old hat" teacher Brother Polycarp clashes with progressive upstart Father O'Toiler. Polycarp strives to turn Jim on to joining the clergy while battling his personal demons; O'Toiler insists on speaking in Gaelic whenever possible and despises English control. The characters create metaphors for the larger problems that impact them all. Although Jim cannot help but follow his heart, he is bothered by the omnipresent societal assertion that homosexuality is nothing more than a dreadfully sinful indulgence. O'Neill's choice to explore homosexual relationships within a hyper-religious country is a testament to the extreme care he took in writing At Swim. He strives to inform readers just how often people are persecuted for their beliefs, in terms of sexuality or otherwise.

One of the author's most original stylistic choices is his tendency to make his characters allude to events or people that have not yet been introduced in the narrative. Although this sometimes makes the book difficult to read, it is ultimately fulfilling in that readers can understand the intricate web of relationships and how they impact the plot. Readers might find themselves going back to parts they already read to reference an exchange or scene that, at the point, seemed inconsequential. Characters introduced early on are later revealed to be much more significant than they initially appeared. It's true that O'Neill's seemingly backwards storytelling style is quite confusing at first. However, once one grows accustomed to the style of the novel, the motivations behind the author's choice become much clearer.

It's certainly not the easiest book I've ever read. In a way, the difficulty and length of At Swim made its completion that much more gratifying. O'Neill creates a truly unique literary point of view, dissecting Irish tradition and history while simultaneously juxtaposing these ideas with the more contemporary issues of homosexuality and interpretive faith. The book is unique in that its challenging style and heavy subject matter are so expertly crafted that I couldn't help but dedicate myself to understanding it to the best of my abilities.

Jamie O'Neill sets out on perilous journey in At Swim, Two Boys. The story begins on Dublin Bay, paralleling James Joyce's Martello tower (Ulysses)-a ledge few writers would like to walk on. Joyce's footwork treads on more jagged rocks in composing a story around the beautiful friendship of two lads whose friendship is brought to fruition in powerful boundless sea of love. Stepping on a plank with Joyce behind him, O'Neill creates a story that can cross the chasm of literary achievement into a realm of originality with this gripping story filled that is exploding with energetic dialogue of adolescence and realism, realistic and comical characters that furrow into the reader's heart and mind. The true love of these two boys is encircled by the backdrop of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland. As Ireland searches for its freedom and identity, Jim Mack and Doyler search for their own freedom and homosexual identity.

At Swim, Two Boys begins prior to the 1916 Easter Uprising. The reader watch the touching friendship of Mack and Doyler grow like a nurtured seed. Jim Mack is a honest lad who recently lost his mother to illness and his only brother to the British Army. He lives with his father and elderly aunt above their grocery shop. The sun casts down one bright spot in Mack's life: his friendship with Doyler. Doyler is a rugged, working-class boy whose father is an alcoholic who has drank his family into the poorhouse. While Jim aims to stay out of trouble to appease his fastidious father by keeping his mind boggled up in books, Doyler dreams of an independent Ireland-his only source of hope.

However, both boys shared in their love for the ocean, although Jim has only watched its magic from ashore. Doyler offers Jim swimming lessons, which is the start of welder's flame in forging a powerful friendship. The boys construct a majestic plan to embark on an epic swim to island off the coast. This swim is in essence a rite of passage from adolescence to manhood, from the shackles of their insecurities and identities to a reborn, authentic self. In the midst of this dream, are the swells of history rising upon them as Ireland begins to rouse her own independence from Britain. O

Neill encapsulates a beautifully constructed extended metaphor through the boy's swim and love.

O'Neill further develops the act of swimming as a symbolic gesture that is representative of the young men swimming into and through the process of self-discovery: learning to inhabit their bodies, minds and soul. It is that "magical moment when the mind lets go and the body is released." This self-discovery induces a revelation in Jim, in particular. Jim realizes his attraction for Doyler is brewing on more than mere friendship. He is torn between the injunctions of Catholicism and the struggle of his heart and body swimming towards Doyler.

Jim and Doyler paint a beautiful portrait of realism and love on the Irish landscape. However, the book is full of a cast of colorful character that erupt the reader into laughter, contempt and love. The characters realism leaves an indelible mark in the reader's mind. They are bound together by history, friendship or fate.

The 500-plus pages are boiling over with life-the novel becomes its own entity and the characters enter a world in the reader's mind. While I am not from Ireland, nor do I grasp the dialect on a scholarly level, O'Neill still manages to elucidate the dialect in mind and gradually warms it to my heart. At Swim, Two Boys dialect and style simply breathes Ireland, which is an integral part that produces utter realism. Furthermore, O'Neill's use of poetic stream of consciousness electrifies the story and characters to life.

At Swim, Two Boys is in part of the determination of O'Neill that role of homosexuals be reflected in the stories of Irish History. O'Neill says: "There's so much that could be learned from the gay experience but they won't...Among gays there's no division between Catholic and Protestants. They all get along and go to the same pubs and clubs...We've got to learn from this." There is much the reader can learn from his touching story, which surpasses mere toleration into a state of acceptance and harmonious coexistence.

At Swim, Two Boys reflects powerful on the historical context it revolves around, yet surpasses the particularities of its time and plaace into a realm of universality: a moving story of friendship and love that any sexual orientation or nationality can appreciate and love. O'Neill lives up to his Irish lineage and predecessors with his remarkable tale of story of courage in love and in war. It is breathtaking, heartbreaking ride on the road of life that brings reader's emotions into a frenzy of laughter, tears and smiles. I recommend to anyone of any race, creed, or orientation.

At Swim, Two Boys can be described as nothing less than a beautifully touching story of love and war. This novel is for anyone who has ever loved and lost. It is for anyone who has found him or herself in love when the world seems to be falling apart around them. Maybe most importantly, it is for those people who went on loving anyway.

The story takes place in spring of 1915, one year before the Easter uprising in Dublin. It centers around two teenage boys: Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle. The two were acquainted when they were younger, but have only recently come back together. The reader sees them become best friends again, and follows them as they make a pact that neither of them is capable of going back on: to swim to Muglins rock and claim it for themselves. The two boys swim together every day, training for this voyage Easter Sunday a year later, and they begin to grow together in ways they never expected. However, just at the height of their emotions, they are yet again torn apart.

Jamie O'Neill has created a heart wrenching novel that shows not only the hardships of war, but also the rewards and difficulties of friendship. Jim and Doyler go through so much over the course of the novel, that the reader cannot help but feel almost as if he or she knows them personally. As their friendship grows, so does our admiration of them. One of Jamie O'Neill's greatest accomplishments with this novel, is his ability to make the reader unable to be apathetic to the story. One of the main reasons for this is because of the characters. Whether we approve of what they are doing or not, O'Neill makes us care about these characters and worry about their well-being. There is something to learn from every character in this book. There is Doyler, who teaches us to deal with what life has given us with no complaints. Then there is Jim, the shy young boy that teaches us determination. Even MacMurrough teaches us a little something in self-discipline and restraint. The list goes on and on, and each character brings a little something else to the mix.

The novel does have its difficulties, however. I'll admit that towards the beginning it was somewhat hard to follow. It takes a little bit to get used to the language at first. About fifty pages or so into it, it does start getting much easier though. And by the middle of the novel, you do not even notice it anymore. The length of the novel might also seem daunting, but honestly, once you start reading it, the story really is captivating and well worth every page. My advice is to be patient; it will all be worth it in the end.

At Swim, Two Boys is an enchanting roller coaster ride through the depths of friendship at a very difficult time. It is a tragic but fascinating love story that should not be skipped over. I think MacMurrough sums it up in the end of the novel; "See, I come to war because I love that boy. See how beautiful he is, see how fine. Here is his friend: he too is fine and beautiful. They go to war because they love, each his country. And I too love my country. Do you feel the wind that is rising, the magnificent wind? These things will come, my dear. Let you dream of this" (550). This book has not only inspired me, but it has changed my attitude on love in my own life. I would recommend this book to anyone with a beating heart. It has far exceeded any of my expectations, and the impact it has had on me will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Bottom line: Truly great literature. This book will take your breath away.

The internal monologue and old-fashioned Irish vernacular takes commitment and stamina on the reader's part, but go for it. It's totally worth it.

Hard to believe this is a first novel. It's the work of a first class writer at the top of his game, completely in control of every word, every phrase, every nuance. A staggering literary achievement by Jamie O'Neill.

Five stars!

At Swim, Two Boys is a powerful novel you will not forget. Set in Dublin, Ireland around the time of the 1916 Easter uprising, this novel exposes the touching, poignant, and everlasting relationship of two young men: Jim and Doyle. Brought together by the past war-time comradeship of both their fathers, they not only begin to develop a physically influential relationship, but also make a pact, the year before the uprising, to swim along side one another to Muglin island in Dublin Bay the following Easter. However, tragedy eventually ends their newly developed love. Nevertheless, until then, both young men will be forced to encounter their political, religious, and poverty-stricken beliefs and lifestyles of the early Irish 1900's. Despite the occasional unpleasant and objectionable sexual scenes, I never thought a love story between two young men could be written as skillfully and elegantly as Jamie O'Neil wrote At Swim, Two Boys.

All the characters in this novel play significant and prominent roles. Although, I believe there is just one other character worth mentioning in this review of At Swim, Two Boys. Anthony MacMurrough is the nephew of one of the most prominent women of Dublin and he enters the lives of Jim and Doyle because of his undying desire for young men. MacMurrough is such a dominant force in the novel because his plagues of inner voices help Jim, Doyle, and himself contemplate how to live in Ireland during an unstable era full of political unrest.

The author, Jamie O'Neil, worked on At Swim, Two Boys for a long and grueling ten years. Jamie O'Neil's style of writing and the invariable use of nonstandard, but authentic, Irish language, throughout the novel, can be very intimidating for the first couple of chapters. However, after settling into the Irish dialect, a reader will soon realize how poetic and important the writing style of this novel really is. Many others have compared this writer's prose, in At Swim, Two Boys, to that of James Joyce in the Odyssey.

The plot of this book develops in a most unsuspecting manner and before you realize it, you cannot put the 560-page novel down. At Swim, Two Boys is a love story, a comedy, and a tragedy all bound into one novel.

After I finished the book the first time---and that took a while since I didn't want to know how it would end; obviously one of the trio will (has to?) die---I was in tears. And that hasn't happened to me with such force for such a time that I don't remember when it occurred last. I realized eventually that I was mourning a past, which by my accounting, I had lived poorly. To be young and gay again, and feel only the slightest anxiety (admittedly this detracts from the book), to be out and proud---what can I say. I read it a second time and found myself picking up on details I had missed.
I venture that the attraction of the book, for gay men at least, is the ease with which one can identify with any one or more of the three men: they represent, perhaps, universal cultural types for western gays. Equally as important are the subtlety and nuance with which the sexual/erotic passages are painted. A small number of well-picked details goes a long way.
And finally, the language alone is worth the read; it's made me want to go to Ireland and hear some of it. To my American ear, the English is quaint, innocent, personal, and age-appropriate. I picked up an Irish--English dictionary---yes, there is such a book---and while not all the localisms are in it, those that are made me feel closer to the author, if such a thing is possible.
I can't imagine what else O'Neill would write to follow up on this volume. If, indeed, it took him so long to get it out, I wonder if he has another one in him.

It is a rare novel that allows one to run the entire gamut of human emotions. It is rarer still the novel that elicits such an emotional attachment to the characters that the reader not only feels for them but feels with them.

The love that is shared by Jim and Doyler is the kind of love that all people strive for, pure, passionate, undying and true. You feel their love grow and blossom through the beautiful images that O'Neill paints with his confident wielding of words and phrases.

True, this novel does not belong to one genre but the main themes of love, passion and reconciliation of self is what touched me the most. The love of Jim for Doyler, Doyler for Jim and MacMurrough's love for both boys. The passion that they share for the things that are most important in their lives and the slow but profound finding of the place where the were truly meant to be, and their life-changing coming of age, rang as truly with me as any of my own life experiences.

The ending is poignant, achingly horrifying and more than enough to make the stoutest of hearts break with overwhelming grief... more than once. (Believe me, I cried three times and for about twenty minutes all told)

This book is a must read for one and all.

I bought this book close to it's US release primarily because I loved the cover art. The photo that makes up the front of the book brings back every happy memory and flashes of sunshine and splashing and friendship, and what do you know, the book does the same thing.

I don't know if I can find the words for it, really. My copy is flagged and notated and battered and I bring it out every time I need it. It's the sort of story you want to crawl inside and look around in, live in for a while, get to know the characters all over again. O'Neill writes so masterfully that you find yourself expecting to run into Doyler or Jim at the local lake or to walk into the little shop in town and find Mr. Mack behind the counter.

It might take you a bit to get into this one. Stick it out. It'll be worth it.

I once took this book to bed with me. I wasn't ready to let it go. I'm not sure I'll ever really let it go, because when I find myself needing to be somewhere I feel immersed in love and friendship, even in the face of adversity, I pick it up again.

I tend not to like historical novels. I find that the characters are too forced to fit the situations they need to be in. However, this book overcame that difficulty with a plot line that was not forced, interesting characters, and great writing. What also made me think this book was great, was that I now have a desire to read more about the historical period in which the book took place. Overall, I say read it, now.

As a man of Irish ancestry and as a firm believer in equaility amongst all persuasions, I found this novel to be among the best I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Mr. O'Neills sensitve descripition of the innocent blossoming of youthful love and it's ultimate conclusion had this reader in a firm grip - Pal of my heart as an expression of love will stay with me all my days.
Mr. O'Neills use of the Erse language expressions and his beautiful sentence structures left me in awe of his grasp of the idiom; as a man in his late sixties, I recall some of my older Irish relatives using some of these same expressions/words that I have never seen as written words until this book - my old aunt used to say what I thought was "skinny merink" to describe a thin person and I find Mr.O'Neills "skinamalink" is an actual expression/word. Other examples were Galoot and galimafree -again words from my callow youth.
But I digress; this is about a great feat of writing on Mr. O'Neills part, not my youthful recollections even though they do dovetail. What more can one say-- my unhappiest moment this year was when I turned over the last page of this tour de force of the written word.
It is a story of young love and war -- and it is beautiful. Good for you, Mr. O'Neill.I await your next book.

An absolutely beautiful piece of writing set in 1915/1916 Ireland that closely follows the lives of four men as the country sits on the brink of war. Jamie O'Neill has done a spectacular job of crafting this story around the theme of of freedom. Heartbreaking and tragic, it has some of the most lovely detail I've come across since reading Oscar Wilde.
I cannot say enough about the beauty of this book.

I read this book years ago and picked it up again to read for a second time while on vacation. The story of the boys' relationship is lovely, particularly as it is set against the general poverty of their lives, but this time, it was the characterization of MacMurrough that got me. The older, wiser, but also melancholy and chastened man who serves as something of a mentor to them -- it is his story that anchors the book and gives it depth. Beautifully written.

Although I don't appreciate war epics much, the fringe of the Easter uprising in Ireland is a stunning backdrop to what is essentially a coming of age story.

A beautifully written heart breaking and tragic story of love between boys (and men) before the labels "homosexual" or "gay" pigeon-holed men's feelings for men, set against a palate of poverty and class restrictions.

A must read for serious readers.

keeping it short and sweet: this is a fantastic book that carries you along with it, much like the irish sea which figures so prominently in the storyline. i lumbered through the first chapter, thinking i'd made an awful mistake in buying it. by the end, it had me throughly involved with the characters and their outcomes, and the last four pages broke my heart --twice. the intamacy and sex, when described, are beautiful and ring true. the characters are whole and the story engaging. don't judge a book by its cover --or its first few pages-- i disliked this book at the beginning but now i know it will never leave my shelf. i think it rivals "the great gatsby" for the best finishing lines in english liturature, but see for yourself.

_At Swim, Two Boys_ represents a stunning breakthrough in queer historical realist fiction. As numerous reviewers attest, Jamie O'Neill has attained a striking degree of verisimilitude in his creation of two Dublin boys whose friendship blossoms into love on the eve of the Easter 1916 Uprising. To paraphrase the plot in this way, however, while accurate, is also misleading, as the novel gains its power from all the ways that it resists the conventions of the coming of age romance that it simultaneously invokes.
Particularly striking, among the novel's many subversions, is its representation of its protagonists' sexuality as anything but individualist. Rather than awakening spontaneously to homoerotic desire at some ideologically irreproachable age, and in the comfortingly innocent context of a friendship between adolescent boys, the sexuality of both protagonists is shaped in various ways by covert relationships with closeted older men who choose to seduce adolescent boys in a sexually repressive and specifically homophobic milieu where to approach adult men would be to risk imprisonment or violent death. Whereas most gay/lesbian fiction, even the most adventurous and sex positive of it, has been to some extent constrained by the need to debunk or at least not provide ammunition to negative stereotypes, O'Neill's novel embraces difficult truth after difficult truth concerning gay sexuality as it must have been within a savagely repressed and repressive Catholic culture, particularly during a period when Catholicism was becoming increasingly identified with nationalist resistance. To say that this novel deals sympathetically with man/boy love, male prostitution, and sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy is again misleading, because in fact the novel achieves the far more powerful effect of simply representing these issues as they must, indeed, have been: simple facts of life for vast numbers of men and boys in early twentieth-century Ireland. Moreover, in finding genuinely redemptive possibilities in power-inflected cross-class and intergenerational relationships that O'Neill takes no trouble to sanitize, the novel finds its power and its astonishing ring of authenticity in the shrugging off that it accomplishes of the realist romance's conventional individualism, and his persuasive substitution of a queer collectivity that is simultaneously erotic, emotional and political, and which the union of the two protagonists both relies upon and realizes.

This book provided so much more than I thought it would. I found each character mesmerizing, set within a landscape that absorbed them into it's harmless beauty, but during a time when turmoil slowly enveloped their lives. The tenderness of the love between the two boys and the different strengths of each are uncovered as the story progresses. The boys are absorbed into a war which provides them with self expectations of manhood while the love between them holds tightly to the innocence of their youth. The love between these two individuals is sincerely poetic.
This is a tragic love story... but the real tragedy would be not reading it.

Most people would agree that the purpose of a novel is to transport someone to a different time, a different place, or a different person - if it's a biography. For those people, Jamie O'Neill's novel At Swim Two Boys is an extraordinary novel.

Extraordinary should be only word to describe this novel. At Swim Two Boys redefines historical fiction. It is centered around the Irish uprising of 1916 that took place on Easter of that year. The story follows two boys, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle and their tribulations throughout the years of 1915 and 1916. The reason it redefines historical fiction is because it is more dedicated than other novels of the historical fiction genre. It is more about the characters that the time period, and that makes it more alluring. If you are looking for a book about the Irish rebellion then At Swim Two Boys is not the novel you want to read.

At Swim Two Boys is not an easy read. If you are looking for a book to curl up and read before you go to sleep, or a book to read as your sunbathing sitting on the beach then At Swim Two Boys is not the book you want to buy. However, if you are looking to buy a book that will send a message of hope and a message of love, and emit a feeling that some people consistently attempt to grasp, then buy and read At Swim Two Boys.

Like I said, At Swim Two Boys is not a typical novel, and Jaime O'Neill is not a typical author. He writes in Irish dialect, and most people in America are not familiar with the sound and flow of the Irish dialect. For this reason, it takes about fifty pages of the book before you get used to how his characters speak; then you want to go back and reread the first fifty pages to see if you missed anything important. The language of this book might be compared in some circles to Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, except in this book they are speaking a real language, not something made up by troubled youths.

Jaime O'Neill's writing style in At Swim Two Boys is complimentary to the entire novel. They are two separate entities that come together as one. After you become accustomed to it, his writing is so soothing that you do not feel as if you are reading a novel, but it flows as if someone is narrating a story to you. It is as if the words take you in as one of their own and don't let you go until the book is finished telling its engaging tale. It is not a surprise that Jaime O'Neill is so knowledgeable about the Irish dialect and the Irish landscape. He was raised and currently lives in Ireland; it is all he has known, and it shows throughout At Swim Two Boys. His descriptions of the land make this novel much more visual.

At Swim Two Boys is not a short book by any means. It is 526 pages but it does not seem like that at all because Jaime O'Neill does a fantastic job of getting the reader emotionally involved in his plot, but more importantly in his characters. At the end of the novel you want there to be more; you want to know more about the characters, and how their lives will turn out. You want to know if the promises that are made will come true, or if it just pipe dreams that will help them get through their lives - quite similar to Lenny and George in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. You are so involved with them that two years just is not enough.

At Swim Two Boys is sure to resonate with most of those who read it. Anyone who has experienced loss, sadness, love, and happiness will be able to experience this book on the level it should be. At Swim Two Boys is a testament to life, only it is shown in two years of the lives of two boys. It will have you cheering for them, crying for them, laughing through them. At Swim Two Boys touches on all of the basic human emotions, and it is done so well that it mimics life; the emotions come and go so quickly but you know they happened and you can look back and conjure the same feelings.

So go out and buy At Swim Two Boys, and read it. If you don't like it and it doesn't touch you then post here and let me know, but I honestly believe that wouldn't, but more importantly couldn't happen.

There are a few ways you can show appreciation for a novel. You can write a review, or even write the author, but I think that two of the more powerful ways are (1) handing over a physical copy of it to a friend to read (not just recommending it) and (2) buying another copy (if your friend keeps it or something otherwise happens to your copy). By doing the first, I've had to do the second a couple of times. It's really that good. Like many others have been saying, it's not a gay novel. Mainly because it's a complex story with a dynamic plot, but also because there wasn't a gay identity back then like we think of it now. That said, there is a touching romance and a sentimental fatalism that any reader should enjoy.

"At Swim, Two Boys," is fundamentally a novel about commitment: how we pledge our hearts to those we love, and our lives to homelands that may yet betray us. It is beautifully, intoxicatingly written, with great surging narrative power, finely drawn characters, moral complexity, and a real knock-out of an ending. It is a masterpiece.

At first, this incredible novel challenged me with its language, structure and milieu. Then I got drawn into this (to me) foreign world of Ireland in 1915 and 1916, of which I previously knew nothing. I think I fell in love with the characters and I couldn't put it down. The tensions (political, emotional and sexual) are intense. The profoundly sad ending nearly destroyed me and, like another reviewer, I felt a personal loss. Tears were shed. So, of course, I started reading it again from the beginning and I am not ready to read another book yet. This novel has taken over my imagination and I'm sure it will become one of my all-time favorites that I reread again and again.

I have never really been moved emotionally by a book before, or at least it seems so now in comparison to this. I can't really convey just how much I liked the book, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since last night when I finished it (at 4.00 in the morning, I'll probably have to read it again to absorb some of the finer details :) ). I have never felt so moved by any book.
the comic bit's were pretty cool too.

I would say that I'm waiting with anticipation for the next book, but I can wait as long as it takes to write it : )

I think that i've said all that i ment to say (though i've probably forgotten something)
amazing

It may not quite be Joyce (a comparison the book begs for), but it is one of the best novels I have ever read, gay-themed or otherwise. I could go on, but it seems others have covered most of my immediate thoughts already. Suffice to say, if you are gay, straight, a Joycean, a non-Joycean who simply like a good story, a populist trash loving reader, an erudite academic reader, an Irish history buff, one who couldn't care less about 1916 Dublin, just read it. You will be rewarded.

In fifteen years of reading gay-themed books I've never had the strength of feeling I got from this novel. Not only was it an extremely good love story, it also dealt with class and politics with a deft hand. And it is the first book ever to have me sobbing at it's end.

I gave it three stars but I really had trouble with reading this book. I was able to read through the first (IDN) 8 chapters or more then I started to become really bored and only finished it because I began skimming through the chapters.

In my opinion, a lot of dialogue that just didn't have to be there. It also didn't help with the writer's style, it just wasn't my taste. I didn't understand the lingo. And the narration/plot wasn't really what I expected it to be about. I was expected more of their blossoming friendship/relationship and I really didn't understand where they started having feelings for one another. And was one cheating on the other with a school master (?), I didn't get the teacher (plot).

Perhaps I was too impatient in reading this book. Perhaps it required more of me than I was able to give it. Another reviewer remarks that it may take a while to find the author's rhythm. I didn't find it. I found it confused, verbose, obtuse and in the end rather disappointing. It contains a beautiful story but it moved ever so slowly toward an ending I knew I didn't want to read. I might add, however, that its ending was indeed a rather good one and a sweet one.

What more praise can be heaped upon this work? There really are no words to describe the beauty of it. One hates to criticize, in fact, because the book is so heartbreakingly dazzling. The language and characterizations are immaculate as are the structure and execution. Deserving of every word of praise it receives. With luck it will be given the serious and scholarly consideration that it, likewise, deserves. Bravo, Mr. O'Neill....you've done your country (both Ireland and the gay community) very proud!

The language can be a little tricky starting out, but this was an absolutely wonderful book. I was expecting a run of the mill coming-of-age-in-Ireland with some smatterings of adolescent fooling around. What I got was an absolutely amazing novel that goes far beyond the narrow genre of coming out stories.

At swim 2 boys is the best gay themed fiction I ever had. At the same time, it is much more than that. Jamie O'neill is a great storyteller.
It isn't a easy book to read, but it will reward you immensely.

It's always wonderful when an artist truly takes the time to let a work develop. This massive yet warmly flowing work of historic fiction is worth grazing through lovingly.

I needn't go into repeating the plot, which has been aptly written up in other reviews. Simply, if you want to enjoy a large and fully developed novel on a grand yet intimate scale.

The gay voice has been added to the great treasures of Irish literature at last. This book should become required reading for all of those who seek to understand the Irish for it opens a whole new view of life on Eire.
To say that it is beautifully written would be an understatement. To say that it must be read is a given.

Deeply enjoyable story although as most other reviewers have stated, it takes awhile to get into. Difficulty getting the hang of the language but definitely worth working through. A strong story with well thought out and developed characters. If you enjoy books with gay characters where being gay isn't the only story, you will love this book. I look forward to Mr. O'Neill's next piece of work.

The tragic ending of this novel is so breathtakingly moving, so deeply affecting, that the only problem with all this heartfelt anguish and woe are the 500 pages that precede it. AT SWIM, TWO BOYS is not the worst book I ever read, but given the universal (almost hysterical) praise this work has received of late, it is definitely the most disappointing. The manipulative ending speaks volumes. Indeed, here we have a highly unsuccessful novel whose greatest gift is to disguise itself as a masterpiece. It is not. Although I have seen its author, Jamie O'Neill, compared to every important Irish writer who ever downed a whiskey straight, from Beckett to Joyce, it becomes immediately apparent that O'Neill lacks neither the psychological probity of Joyce, nor the macabre pathos of Beckett. He doesn't even have the lyricism of, say, Seamus Heaney.
What this book does take from the old masters is a whole lot of STYLE. The book is drowning in it. Irish colloquialisms and idiom rule the day. Passages like: "...On the ran-tan, on the razzle, on a batter, on a skite. The General's in liquor, he's langers, twisted, stocious, blue moldy and cursing for soda. Chase me ladies, I'm a fusilier..." seem a forelorn cry from the author to tell us he is VERY intelligent, VERY well-researched, and a very VERY serious writer.
Set against the Easter Uprising, in 1915 or so, when Ireland fought streadfastly against British rule, two very different young men fall in love. Jim, the scholar choirboy, and Doyler, brass-knuckled urchin of the streets. In the middle of this is the most successful "idea" of a character, MacMurrough, part solider, part dandy, who becomes involved, however unclearly, with the two protagonists, and is prone to hearing the scolding voice of his dead lover in his head.
... but O'Neill is a weak storyteller. The characters are not fully developed, they are caracitures roaming through a lot of language. The plot does not progress with any momentum, and does not allow its characters to evolve with it. I know extraordinarily educated people, and not one of them is so deeply familiar with the Easter Uprising that they would've been fine getting through this story with zero historical background, context, explanation, or dramaturgy, which is what this novel provides: zilch. The book seems destined, perhaps, to appeal to a fantastical, albeit minute, subculture of sorts: The Gay Irish Historical Scholar.
O'Neill's main flaw, perhaps, is that he has no idea who his audience will be, or which aspect of this roving, muddled book will captivate their attention the most. For me, it was the love story. But this relationship is depicted in fractured start-stop smithereens, frustrating the reader because it never builds to anything conclusive. It does not deserve the ending it gets. Instead of the love story, O'Neill wants to show us the historical technicalities of Ireland's uprising, of Ireland itself really, which are presented in a dull, textured format that just isn't very interesting. I am normally a very focussed reader, but I could only get through six or seven pages at a time before having to distract myself with some menial task, such as checking my e-mail, having a snack, or learning how to make biblical stained glass windows out of pure beach sand.
There are flashes of something more in O'Neill's writing, such as Jim's idea of what grieving dreams are really like, which is profoundly haunting, and confessing the un-confessable to a priest blinded by his own religion, but they don't come often enough, and none of the central ideas are particularly original. ... And no glossary here? I can see the editor's meeting now: Oh, we don't need a glossary! The reader will be too involved with the story to care about that antiquated Irish syntax!" Sorry, NO.

Rarely has a book grabbed hold of both my imagination and my soul. This writer creates a story that is immediately personal, yet universal in it's themes and purpose. You will learn more new words and get lost in Dublin quicker than you ever imagined you could.
READ THIS BOOK and then encourage your friends to read it as well.
This will be an instant classic.

Such a chore to make out the irish language references in this novel, yet i never failed to follow the writer and his excellently laid out plot. Only reflects on the greatness of this novel. A definite MUST READ! i cried my eyes red when i finished reading the last TRAGIC chapter. Left me depressed for days after. A great emotional journey one must undertake at least once in his lifetime!

I read this book waiting for more to happen romantically between the main characters, but it never developed. Also, before reading the book, one should read up on Irish history. I had no idea what the 1916 uprising was and from the book, it is expected that all readers would know what it was about. I read it & still don't know what that uprising was! It is a slow read with a disappointing ending.

One of the best novels I have come across in quite awhile. The book reads almost like historical fiction, but without being stilted or stuffy. The relationship between the main characters is one of the most convincing and moving of any in "gay" fiction.

I found myself sobbing as the novel ended, not so much at the turn of events described, but at the realization that there were no more pages to turn. The writing is dense, but very beautiful, and I'm looking forward to the next work by Jamie O'Neill.

I'll keep this simple. At Swim is one of the best books I've read in years. It's ambitious in story and language and it succeeds in both. This is not a gay book or gay fiction. This is one great novel.

Jamie O'Neill has been compared to James Joyce for obvious reasons. They are both from Ireland and they both write in the style of stream-of-consciousness. Having read some of Joyce, I got the impression that O'Neill was trying to write a sequel to Ulysses. This is where I think this book loses its value. O'Neill is trying to copy the style of Joyce, but that it isn't possible. Read this to see what I mean:

"Never fear, he wouldn't darken the likes of here. Hardened tea-drinker is his nibs. Now now, where's his corpulence at? Back to the paper stand. Will old bags risk a morning paper?"

I don't see why I should be reading a weak impersonation of such a great author. I have read some other fiction of O'Neill when he doesn't attempt to become the next Joyce and it is much more readable.

The subject matter in this novel is also questionable. One of the main characters, MacMurrough, is a paedophile, and the book describes him raping a young boy. Not the most attractive subject matter.

In the end, the book lacks originally and content. He is too focused on becoming the next Joyce and it detracts severely from the final product. I would wait for his next novel to see if he can come up with something original.

Written in Irish dialect with randomly placed punctuation marks throughout has created a literary works that is IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW.

It's like reading a story that was written In French by a Mexican and you only read English.