At Swim-two-birds (Penguin Modern Classics)

At Swim-two-birds (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Flann O ' Brien (Author)

Synopsis

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.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Edition: New Ed
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 24 Feb 2000

ISBN 10: 0141182687
ISBN 13: 9780141182681

Media Reviews
At Swim-Two-Birds is a marvel of imagination, language, and humor.
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
If I were a cultural dictator in England I would make At Swim-Two-Birds compulsory reading in all universities.--Philip Toynbee
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
'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-Birdsis both a comedy and a fantasy of such staggering originality that itbaffles description and very nearly beggars our sense of delight.
Author Bio
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.