At Swim-two-birds

Description

Flann O'Brien's first novel is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense. Operating on many levels it incorporates plots within plots, giving full rein to O'Brien's dancing intellect and Celtic wit. The undergraduate narrator lives with his uncle in Dublin, drinks too much with his friends and invents stories peopled with hilarious and unlikely characters, one of whom, in a typical O'Brien conundrum, creates a means by which women can give birth to full-grown people. Flann O'Brien's blend of farce, satire and fantasy result in a remarkable, astonishingly innovative book.

Flann O'Brien was born on October 5, 1911, in Strabane, Ireland. He was a novelist and dramatist. He wrote a column for The Irish Times for 26 years under the name Myles na gCopaleen. His best known novel is At Swim-Two-Birds, which was written in 1939. It combines folklore, poetry and humor. He died in Dublin on April 1, 1966.

'Tis the odd joke of modern Irish literature of the three novelistsin its holy trinity, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien, theeasiest and most accessible of the lot is O'Brien. . . . Flann O'Brienwas too much his own man, Ireland's man, to speak in any but his owntongue. At Swim-Two-Birds has remained in my mind ever since it firstappeared as one of the best books of our century. A book in a thousand. . . in the line of Ulysses and Tristram Shandy.--Graham Greene At Swim-Two-Birds is a marvel of imagination, language, and humor. At Swim-Two-Birdsis both a comedy and a fantasy of such staggering originality that itbaffles description and very nearly beggars our sense of delight. Flann O'Brien is unquestionably a major author. His work, like that ofJoyce, is so layered as to be almost Dante-esque. . . . Joyce and FlannO'Brien assault your brain with words, style, magic, madness, andunlimited invention.--Anthony Burgess If I were a cultural dictator in England I would make At Swim-Two-Birds compulsory reading in all universities.--Philip Toynbee