Rating: 
Summary: Great Book.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: In Love and In War
Review:
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.
Rating:
Summary: Please Ignore the Homophobic Comments from the person below
Review: ...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."
Rating:
Summary: Homosexuality and Fiction Redefined
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An Irish epic
Review: As a gay American of Irish descent, I'm happy to praise this work as the best fictional story of early 20th century Ireland that I have ever read. This is more than a coming-of-age tale of "gay" youth. This is an epic of Ireland at the time of the Easter Rebellion, as reflected in the lives of a half-dozen central characters of different ages and backgrounds. It helps to know Irish history to understand the time in which the story unfolds (for example, one reviewer didn't understand references to further conflict at the book's end because she thought that Ireland gained "independence" in the early 1920s, apparently not realizing that the Irish fought a civil war over Free State status, which did not constitute recognition as a sovereign nation and did not include the six counties of the north). As other reviewers have noted, you may need to read passages several times until you grow accustomed to the delightful Irish treatment of the English language. I did find that the last section of the book comes perilously close to reading like a romance novel, but overall "At Swim, Two Boys" is a powerfully written novel. I agree that the relationship of the two boys is frustratingly slow to be consummated, but I think the author sets it down exactly as it would have happened with a pair of teenage boys living in 1916 Ireland, in which the influence of the Catholic Church was even more powerful and perverse than it is today. And to those who bemoan another story of gay people that ends in tragedy, I would remind you that this is not a "gay story"; it is a story of Ireland and I contend that the ending suits the story, especially considering one character's commitment to "the Cause," which would have continued beyond the Easter Rebellion. Above all, this is a classic story of ill-fated love--not only of one boy's love for another, but of a people's love of their nation. I hated to see the book end and I cried when it did. Jamie O'Neill has made me grateful for all the real-life Doyler Doyles, in countries around the world and throughout history, who stood up for those who wouldn't, and I am grateful for the Jim Macks who loved them.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Love sees no boundaries
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful If Often Without Aim
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: At Swim, Two Boys: Love, Comedy, and Tragedy
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Adrift in Dalkey Bay
Review: For anyone who loves the Irish, this book will grab your heart and spin you around Dublin until you feel right at home in 1916. The boys are bittersweet - a gay love story with more rejection and regret than passion - coming of age where the choices are the priesthood and the IRA rather than choosing each other. All the characters create their own depth. Even the least interesting ones somehow come alive. They are not characters but real people who live in your mind and draw out your feelings. The bitter coldness of the Irish Sea steels the boys' nerves and they are able to act beyond what you expect of them. Not just the main characters, but everyone has important roles. How it all plays out lets you understand the Irish national character, with its diversity of languages and loyalties. I recommend patience in the first chapters, as the language can be daunting, but language is so important to the Irish. By listening to the words, you'll soon be able to tell what's street slang and what's church latin. It is an historical novel about real people who are changed by history and are never the same.
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