Customer Reviews

At Swim, Two Boys

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The first seventy pages of this huge, eloquent, and multi-layered novel require the reader's patience--it is not always clear, at first, who the characters are or exactly what they are doing. But patience is gloriously rewarded as the cadences of the characters' speech, with its street slang, odd syntax, natural poetry, and homespun aphorisms, combine with vibrant details of their everyday lives and eventually bring these "ordinary" folks to life in Dublin in 1915.

On the eve of the Easter Rebellion, we meet Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle, two teenage boys who are trying to sort out who they are, emotionally, politically, and sexually. They get no help from home, where their fathers relive their memories of fighting for the British during the Boer War and where sex and the facts of life are never even hinted at. They get no help from their priests, who severely punish confessions of "the solitary sin," while sometimes fondling their students. Secret revolutionary societies troll for members, and priests sometimes help them. Neither boy has close friends his own age. As naïve Jim gravitates toward the more street-wise Doyler, their friendship blossoms, they rejoice in each other's company, and they begin to try on roles for the future--Doyler finding an outlet with Irish rebels, and Jim considering a priestly vocation.

It quickly becomes clear to the reader that this will be a gay coming-of-age story within the broader context of the Irish rebellion, and these two stories mesh seamlessly, with many obvious parallels. Quietly, without beating any drums or making any polemical statements, O'Neill allows his characters to discover their feelings for each other and their inborn nature, even as the political rebellion takes shape. O'Neill's characters are who they are, and he respects them and the reader too much to use them simply to prove a point. The parallels he draws between them and some of the famous leaders of the Irish rebellion, such as Roger Casement, and between them and the Sacred Band of Thebes are incidental to the story, though they do give a broader context to the gay relationship.

The only problem I had with this engrossing novel was with the character of MacMurrough, an older "mentor" to both boys. MacMurrough is a sexual predator, at least at the beginning, a man guilty of violent rape in a graphic early scene which made me cringe. The fact that he is later depicted sympathetically, and to some extent heroically, remains a problem for me, an anomaly in what is otherwise a beautifully wrought novel. Mary Whipple

I was eleven the first time I read a truly sublime book: the kind that tells a truth so compelling that it blinds you to the parallel knowledge that it is something special and, in the most devastating sense, unique. Inevitably, when I turned the last page, I was someone different. I didn't know the word `epiphany' then. I only knew that that book had slapped me in the face, touched me to the quick, and for a while, thrown everything into a clearer light.

But from that day onward, I read in hopes of finding another such book. Twenty years on, despite my novel-a-week habit, I can still count those that qualify on one hand - and this is by far the best of them. Long live Jim & Doyler!

This book is about a lot of things: Ireland vs England. Ireland vs Itself. Heterosexuality vs Homosexuality. Young vs Old. Religion vs Secularism. Peace vs War. Revolution vs Acceptance. Sometimes the book concentrates on only one of these topics at a time, allowing first time novelist Jamie O'Neill to indulge in fleshing out the various sides of the debate. Other times the book tackles several of these subjects at once, at times all the subjects at once, and O'Neill captures the intricacies of each with an effortlessness that hints at literary genius. Purposeful without being preachy, inspirational without being contrite, and firmly rooted in actual events of history without being bogged down in details, "At Swim Two Boys" is a compelling and unforgettable novel about two boys growing up during one of Ireland's most tumultuous times.

The year is 1915 and Ireland is about to be rocked by what would turn out to be a failed revolt against England. World War One is underway. The two boys of the title are adolescents confronting the reality of being gay- a reality opposed by the Church, their peers, and the culture in which they live. As the boys grow closer and experiment with their necessarily hidden feelings, they also must confront their feelings about Ireland, its role in the Great War, and the upcoming revolt of which they both find themselves in the midst.

Jamie O'Neill, through his characterization of the two boys and his sly use of Catholicism's own language, defends the fact that homosexuality is NOT a choice with a subtle strength that is inspiring; yet this is not simply a book about two gay boys. It is a book about life- about living in a world where tough decisions (coming out, joining a revolution, fighting in a war) have to be made. The boys just happen to be gay, and Irish, and Catholic, and while these traits are essential to the success of this book, they no way limit the appeal of "At Swim Two Boys" to gay Irish Catholics. This book speaks to the masses and while O'Neill is not the easiest of authors (talented without a doubt, but in a wordy, sometimes obtuse way), the story he tells is universal.

A must must read.

I had mixed feelings about this book, because I'm just the sort of person who prefers to find books on my own whether it's gay fiction or not. To read and research them beforehand and decide if I wish to read them. This was a gift to me by a very old and dear Irish friend who absolutely loved it. For him, more than for the book itself, I read it. I am infinitely glad I did.

"At Swim, Two Boys" was brilliant in providing a setting and mood of this period in Irish history, and the bittersweet aspect of love, obligation, and the helplessness one feels towards perceived inevitability. Though some readers laboured with portions of the dialect, since I'm quite used to hearing it from the above friend, it wasn't a problem for me.

My conclusion towards it reflects some of my own feelings about my writing, which can contain difficult subjects. Just like in life, even when the most horrible and unthinkable happens, is one suppose to lament eternally in a way others think proper, or will you write it as you've experienced and/or observed? Whether a reader identifies with your way of writing your story, shouldn't keep you from writing the way you see fit. I think Jamie O'Neill did that exceptionally well. An outstanding example of thought-provoking fiction, not just gay fiction.

Note: I was fortunate to have a first edition local printing, as some have remarked the changes made to later editions.

From the review/interview site, Flying With Red Haircrow [...]

Wonderful storey. Seems as there has been sufficient written about that so I will add something new. I found the dialect a little hard to deal with at first and actually set the book aside for a while. But then I read _Buddha_Da_ by Anne Donovan and that seemed even harder so back to _At_Swim..._ where I eventually, with the help of another reader, made a vocabulary list of hard to define words:

[...]

AT SWIM, TWO BOYS is one of the most innovative books to come along in years. In this massive tome, writer O'Neill shows deep respect for the intellect of his readers: getting into this book requires a lot of work to become comfortable with all the Irish terms, the style of writing, the complex history of Ireland, and just the need for a handy thesaurus. But what a poet he is! O'Neill paints 1915-1916 Ireland the way few others outside of James Joyce have been able. Within paragraphs he plays with rhyming, juxtapositions, partial phrases, repeated thoughts, all in a way that is unobtrusively additive to the experience of reading this story. Given all the facility and beauty and complexity of the writing, it would be for naught if the story weren't there. But it is here, in the groin of the book, that O'Neill is able to deliver the goods. He has chosen to reveal a universal process - the sexual awakening of two lads - in the context of all the joys of childhood (pranks, daring swimming in the cold ocean, finding home in the face of poverty) and all the fears of adulthood (the threat of war, the menace of the inner twistings of the Irish Catholic Church, the drive for nationalism, etc). His characters are without exception realistically fleshed out, so much so that character development of even the smallest role is thoroughly and surprising unfolded as the story gains momentum. Nothing is as it first seems; everything is evolving as the working facades of people alter with probing and in conjunction with the plot development. The Gentry, the poor, the priests, the Volunteer Army, the land and sea all undulate and intertwine in O'Neill's wizardlike hands. We end up caring for people we thought were one dimensional: we grow to love the people who live within the covers of this book as much as the two young lads grow to love each other.

I am sad to observe that this brilliant book is not on the Best Sellers Lists in this country. Yes, the book deals with same sex love, with a man who gently introduces the Greek Ideal of love so often quoted by Oscar Wilde to his protégés. But it is time to bury homophobia and I cannot imagine a more sophisticated book to achieve understanding than this. Brilliant! Grady Harp

The year is 1916, the place Dublin, and two young boys, one the son of a shopkeeper, the other a rough street boy. Watching over the two boys is a young self-centred man of the privileged class.

The two boys, Jim and Doyler were school friends before Doyler left school and moved away, and Doyler has a very soft spot for Jim. When Doyler returns and meets up again with Jim, still at school, he offers to teach him to swim out at the Forty Foot, a large rock where gentlemen bathe without the benefit of any costume. They make a pact that within the year they will swim to the distant Muglins Rock. At the same time Ireland is tied up in its troubles, with war raging in Europe and the rumblings of the battle for the countries independence, the two boys cannot remain unaffected.

But very much involved in the destiny of the two boys is Anthony MacMurrough, the nephew of a well to do Irish family, fresh out of a stint spent at his majesties pleasure in England for his illicit activities with another young man. Seemingly self centred and led by his inclinations, he strikes up a 'relationship' with Doyler, paying him for his services, and even trying to improve the young man, but Doyler is not to be one over, and even warns MacMurrough not to lay a finger on Jim. Yet in Doyler's absence MacMurrough watches over Jim, even makes sacrifices for him, and teaches his to swim.

Providing light relief to the proceedings is Jim's bumbling father, Mr Mack, the aspiring shopkeeper who somehow unfailing manages never to get it quite right.

At Swim Two Boys is a hauntingly beautiful story. It is told in turn from the perspective of the various main protagonists, and the style of writing changes accordingly. The relationship between the two boys is most touching; street wise Doyler longing for intimacy with the naive and innocent Jim, but unsure of Jim's inclinations. By contrast Doyler gives MacMurrough whatever he wants, and receives recompense in return. Yet through it all it is perhaps MacMurrough who grows the most, and his loyal attachment to Jim may be the making of him. A deep and most pleasurable read, highly recommended.