false <![CDATA[At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg 97333 20 In a 1938 letter to a literary agent, Flann O'Brien described his first novel as "a very queer affair, unbearably queer perhaps." The book in question was <I>At Swim-Two-Birds</I>--and if we take <I>queer</I> to mean diabolically eccentric, then truer words were never spoken. The author, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, had successfully stirred Gaelic legend, pulp fiction, and grimy Dublin realism into a hilarious cocktail. His mastery of modernist collage would have been an ample accomplishment itself. But O'Brien was also blessed with the writer's equivalent of perfect pitch, and in <I>At Swim-Two-Birds</I> he squeezes the maximum beauty and banality out of the English language. All he lacks is a tragic register, but he makes up for this deficit with a sense of comedy so acute that even James Joyce couldn't resist blurbing his fellow Dubliner's creation: "A really funny book."<p> O'Brien labored mightily to make <I>At Swim-Two-Birds</I> summary-proof. But here, anyway, are the bare bones: the narrator, a university student, is writing a novel, which keeps morphing from mock-heroics to middlebrow naturalism. Meanwhile, one of his characters, Dermot Trellis, is himself writing a Western--an <I>Irish</I> Western--whose cowpunching protagonists will eventually throw off their fictional shackles and attempt to murder their creator. (Talk about the death of the author!) There's enough structural shenanigans here to keep an entire industry of critics afloat. Still, what matters most is the pungency of O'Brien's prose. His dialogue is agreeably grungy, his parodies delicious, and the narrator speaks in the sort of Jesuitical dialect that we associate with Samuel Beckett: <blockquote> That same afternoon I was sitting on a stool in an intoxicated condition in Grogan's licensed premises. Adjacent stools bore the forms of Brinsley and Kelly, my two true friends. The three of us were occupied in putting glasses of stout into the interior of our bodies and expressing by fine disputation the resulting sense of physical and mental well-being. In my thigh pocket I had eleven and eightpence in a weighty pendulum of mixed coins. </blockquote> Snippets, alas, do little justice to <I>At Swim-Two-Birds</I>, which relies heavily on cumulative chaos for its effect. Graham Greene, an early fan, compared its comic charge to "the kind of glee one experiences when people smash china on the stage." A half century after its initial appearance, O'Brien's masterpiece remains a gleeful read--a marvelous, inventive, and (last but not least) really funny book. <I>--James Marcus</I> 983387 1939 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) total:919|5:380|4:298|3:173|2:45|1:23| 919 3724 1793 144 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 0 4 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 23:30:04 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 12:06:10 -0700 2007 There were parts at the beginning of this book which I quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, after slogging through the last 80 or so pages of random witterings, I can't remember what they were or why I enjoyed them. A few casual impressions that...more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 3 false Wed Jul 30 14:52:57 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 15:08:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 2 2 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 12:24:31 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 12 12:04:49 -0800 2007 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 08:52:40 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 08:52:47 -0800 2009

Six hands, said the Good Fairy placidly, everybody is playing.


You in the pocket, barked Shorty, if you think you are going to play cards you are making a bloody big mistake.


Mad Sweeny was sprawled on a chair in an attitude of inadvertence, idly plucking the blood-stiffened lichen from th...

more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 0 false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 23:15:15 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 00:46:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Thu May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 03:44:57 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 03:49:16 -0700 2009
The first Fifty pages or so didn't grab me, but once Furriskey was born proper the book kin...more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 1 false Fri May 08 05:15:52 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 05:15:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 1 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 06:57:02 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 14 06:25:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 1 1 false Mon Jul 23 15:46:42 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 17:38:00 -0700 2007 The Third Policeman. Frankly, I hardly remember this book at all but I know I read it at one time because that is the only way to explain why I'm not looking forward to reading it in the future.]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 0 false Wed May 27 09:47:20 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 13:23:35 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 09:47:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 989180 0452259134 9780452259133 25 5 At Swim-Two-Birds 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180031427m/989180.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/989180.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 1 false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon May 26 19:13:04 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 08 21:47:59 -0800 2009 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 1 false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 18:57:06 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 10:06:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Fri Nov 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Oct 29 12:45:02 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 06 08:22:34 -0800 2009 A Harvester Guide to Europe
Growing Tasteless Lima Beans in Six Various Stages

Several years ago, an assistant colleague of mine once asked me about preprocessed food preparation in Europe. Setting my large ax aside, I began to notice my assistant colleague's cufflinks; they were of ...more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 0 false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 09:11:37 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 09:13:23 -0700 2008 2 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 08:50:59 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 04:17:24 -0700 2008 Whenever I could summon the mental acuity to focus on it, I enjoyed it immensely. It's written from the first-person perspective of a lazy Trinity arts-student who is writing a novel about a man named Trellis, ...more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Thu Jul 10 14:21:18 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 18:35:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 0 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 26 22:40:37 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 09:56:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 5 1 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 19:13:49 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 06 14:01:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 97333 156478181X 9781564781819 777 127 At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series) 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171375312m/97333.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97333.At_Swim_Two_Birds 3 0 false Mon Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 14:15:35 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 10:28:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 989180 0452259134 9780452259133 25 5 At Swim-Two-Birds 4.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180031427m/989180.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/989180.At_Swim_Two_Birds 4 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 01:20:26 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 04:28:30 -0800 2008
Very, very, hard to follow at first, but for some reason, half way through it all seemed to click for me and I...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=97333