Rating: 
Summary: Swim slow, swim well
Review: Ireland, 1915. A boy says to his friend, "Come swimming in the sea. It's different in the sea, don't ask me why, but you don't find the same anywheres else. There's a freedom I can't explain, like your troubles was left in your pile of clothes." The friend agrees, and one naked leap from the Forty Foot later a pact is made-- that in a year's time, on Easter 1916, the two boys will meet to swim the treacherous path from the Forty Foot to the beacon of light at Muglin's Rock. "Are we straight?" asks Doyler. "We're straight as a rush," says Jim.
So begins author Jamie O'Neill's unashamedly honest journey into the heart of a country and its people, and the painful, awkward search for both an identity and an acceptance of what identity they find. Ireland, under British rule, is at war with itself over whether it wants to be free; or as O'Neill writes, "The truth had not made up its mind: the signs were contrary everywhere." The human faces that make a war are beautifully portrayed all the way from the rebel commanders, to the philosopher contemplating the "object lesson in the madness of war," down to the kid-soldier who stops someone on the street to ask if they are winning: "Only," said he, "I never been in a revolution before."
But is in the shadow of Dublin and the coming revolution that the soul of O'Neill's work lives. The two boys, and those with whom their lives are intricately and fatefully intertwined, lead the reader thoughtfully and irresistibly right up to the face of humanity in all its ugliness and glorious beauty. Without ever seeming heavy handed, O'Neill's memorable characters demand that the reader reflect on the diapason of what it means to be human: religion, sex, love, friendship, poverty, social class, politics, mercy and forgiveness are perfectly woven together to create a story that compels rather than preaches. In a moment of exquisite writing, the Wildean friendship and love of the two swimmers, Doyler and Jim, seamlessly embrace the love of country and freedom that haunts the novel:
"But what is Ireland that you should want to fight for it?"
"It's Doyler," he said.
"Doyler is your country?"
"It's silly, I know. But that's how I feel. I know Doyler will be out, and where would I be but out beside him? I don't hate the English and I don't know do I love the Irish. But I love him. I'm sure of that now. And he's my country."
Ultimately, the patient reader who perseveres through the initially daunting Irish prose will be well rewarded. O'Neill has created a deeply moving story with layer upon layer of meaning and detail that would benefit from more than one reading. The force behind the deep commitment of his ten years of labor on this novel echoes throughout the work in the ideals and words of its characters-- when Jim is asked why he and his friend must achieve their goal of swimming to Muglin's Rock, he replies, "You see, we're extraordinary people. We must do extraordinary things."
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Irish Voice
Review: Jamie O'Neill took ten years in the writing of At Swim Two Boys and, for this reader, it was time well spent. He has crafted a magnificently beautiful tale of two boys in love that expands into the larger world of politics and class and patriotism, just a few among the many ideas shaded throughout this wonderful book. The Irish voice is thick and may prove a challenge for a few pages but the beauty of its poetry will seep into the reader before long and carry one along on its delicious brogue. The reader's Patience is rewarded in this book most thoroughly and thoughtfully. It is nice to read a gay novel that is this rich with so many well-drawn characters, the boys' fathers and the other gay man's aunt, beyond those of the title characters. This novel is a richly written slice of Irish history and about fighting for freedom in all its contexts.
Rating:
Summary: A heartbreaking tale that rewards the reader's patience
Review: Let's start off by saying this book may not be for everyone--but it should be. I'm not referring here to the fact that its three lead characters are gay, since "At Swim, Two Boys" is so much more than "a gay novel" and since, while often sensuous, it is hardly erotic. Instead, the efforts of many readers may be thwarted by O'Neill's challenging and lyrical prose, the Irish brogue and street slang, the invented Latin derivations and oh-so-clever puns. After 50 to 75 pages, though, the reader's patience is well rewarded. Once you accustom yourself to the pattern of the prose, the context provides clues to even the most unfamiliar words, and I found the book difficult to set aside. (A little advice: after you pick up the cadence of the dialect, you may well want to go back and read those beginning pages again. The second time around revealed some wonderful passages and pivotal characterizations that flew right over my head initially.) Set during the year prior to the Easter Rising in 1916, the novel focuses on two 16-year-old boys, Doyler and Jim, and their families. The main characters are finely portrayed, and (as others have noted) they successfully arouse the reader's sympathies. But O'Neill adds a memorable supporting cast: Jim's aunt, a doddering, whiskered crone who always seems far more aware of what's going on than one is led to believe; Eva MacMurrough, a rich patron of Irish rebel causes who is flustered by her nephew's Wildean tendencies; and, for comic relief, Jim's father, a pretentious wannabe who always manages to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time. The most nuanced portrayal is that of the Anthony MacMurrough. Once may quibble over whether he is a pedophile: textual clues place his age in his early- to mid-20s; Doyler, his "rent boy," is 16. (If he were straight, such a relationship would be lawful and accepted in many states and most countries.) Legality aside, though, one cannot deny he is a sexual predator, and it's difficult not to detest his narcissism and self-rationalizing hedonism. But, as the novel progresses (and here I am necessarily vague in order not to give anything away), he gradually and subtly realizes that such encounters are not the road to happiness. He ultimately redeems himself, learning to find fulfillment by sharing his love rather than taking his way. But to claim that MacMurrough is a "mentor" to Doyler and Jim misses the point: he learns far more from the boys than they learn from him. A lesser author would be foolish to tackle so much: Irish nationalism, sexual orientation, Catholic guilt, alcoholism, class identity, unwed pregnancy, unionism and socialism, the burden of tradition, Joyce and Wilde and Flann O'Brien. O'Neill's success is his enviable ability to weave together all these topics so seamlessly while fashioning a unique and lyrical voice and spinning a page-turning, heartbreaking yarn.
Rating:
Summary: A redefinition of historical fiction
Review: Most people would agree that the purpose of a novel is to transport someone to a different time, a different place, or a different person - if it's a biography. For those people, Jamie O'Neill's novel At Swim Two Boys is an extraordinary novel.
Extraordinary should be only word to describe this novel. At Swim Two Boys redefines historical fiction. It is centered around the Irish uprising of 1916 that took place on Easter of that year. The story follows two boys, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle and their tribulations throughout the years of 1915 and 1916. The reason it redefines historical fiction is because it is more dedicated than other novels of the historical fiction genre. It is more about the characters that the time period, and that makes it more alluring. If you are looking for a book about the Irish rebellion then At Swim Two Boys is not the novel you want to read.
At Swim Two Boys is not an easy read. If you are looking for a book to curl up and read before you go to sleep, or a book to read as your sunbathing sitting on the beach then At Swim Two Boys is not the book you want to buy. However, if you are looking to buy a book that will send a message of hope and a message of love, and emit a feeling that some people consistently attempt to grasp, then buy and read At Swim Two Boys.
Like I said, At Swim Two Boys is not a typical novel, and Jaime O'Neill is not a typical author. He writes in Irish dialect, and most people in America are not familiar with the sound and flow of the Irish dialect. For this reason, it takes about fifty pages of the book before you get used to how his characters speak; then you want to go back and reread the first fifty pages to see if you missed anything important. The language of this book might be compared in some circles to Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, except in this book they are speaking a real language, not something made up by troubled youths.
Jaime O'Neill's writing style in At Swim Two Boys is complimentary to the entire novel. They are two separate entities that come together as one. After you become accustomed to it, his writing is so soothing that you do not feel as if you are reading a novel, but it flows as if someone is narrating a story to you. It is as if the words take you in as one of their own and don't let you go until the book is finished telling its engaging tale. It is not a surprise that Jaime O'Neill is so knowledgeable about the Irish dialect and the Irish landscape. He was raised and currently lives in Ireland; it is all he has known, and it shows throughout At Swim Two Boys. His descriptions of the land make this novel much more visual.
At Swim Two Boys is not a short book by any means. It is 526 pages but it does not seem like that at all because Jaime O'Neill does a fantastic job of getting the reader emotionally involved in his plot, but more importantly in his characters. At the end of the novel you want there to be more; you want to know more about the characters, and how their lives will turn out. You want to know if the promises that are made will come true, or if it just pipe dreams that will help them get through their lives - quite similar to Lenny and George in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. You are so involved with them that two years just is not enough.
At Swim Two Boys is sure to resonate with most of those who read it. Anyone who has experienced loss, sadness, love, and happiness will be able to experience this book on the level it should be. At Swim Two Boys is a testament to life, only it is shown in two years of the lives of two boys. It will have you cheering for them, crying for them, laughing through them. At Swim Two Boys touches on all of the basic human emotions, and it is done so well that it mimics life; the emotions come and go so quickly but you know they happened and you can look back and conjure the same feelings.
So go out and buy At Swim Two Boys, and read it. If you don't like it and it doesn't touch you then post here and let me know, but I honestly believe that wouldn't, but more importantly couldn't happen.
Rating:
Summary: Two boys, one man, one nation (once again)
Review: This is a novel that asks a lot of its reader. For one thing, it asks that you spend dozens and dozens of pages in the mind of a recently released "unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort", a mind that is already occupied by an Oxford don, a nanny, a chaplain, and a strong sexuality personified with the name (you guessed it) Dick. It also asks you to at times decipher archaic Irish slang, and to know at least something about the time period, and to have a fairly good knowledge of Oscar Wilde. It asks you to have a long attention span and to pay attention to every word.
It's all worth it in the end.
While certainly not light reading, At Swim, Two Boys is highly engrossing and remains one of the few books that has actually made me start crying. Far from entirely tragic, however, it has several moments that leave me screaming with laughter - I don't think I'll ever look at a flute, a toadstool, or sticky buns the same way again.
There are several reviews here that go into great detail about Jim and Doyler, so allow me to focus on MacMurrough. The first time I read this book, I started off hating him. Intensely. With passion. Frankly, I wished he'd jump off the Forty Foot and drown himself so everyone else might have a less complicated life.
Near the middle, though, I felt too sorry for him to actually hate him. Two-thirds of the way through, I found I rather liked him. By the time one-fourth of the book remained, he had a permanent place among my favorite fictional characters. Such is the power of Jamie O'Neill.
Jim and Doyler, though, are wonderful as well. They are truly pals of the heart in the best possible sense.
Really, just go on and read it already.
Rating:
Summary: Impressed, One Reader
Review: This novel, set in First World War Ireland, follows the friendship of two 16-year-old boys, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle. The poor, rebellious Doyler is the more obviously interesting of the two early on, but the inspiring transformation of the quiet, studious Jim into a positively heroic young man is what this story is about. The upper-class Anthony MacMurrough, recently back from England where he spent time in prison for crimes of the Oscar Wilde sort, provides an adult perspective on their relationship. His growth, too, from a cynical, shallow idler to a caring mentor who feels real (and painful) love, is a very moving aspect of the story. I do have complaints about the book. Unfamiliar-and worse, unlookupable-Irish dialect and slang frustrated and distracted me until I gave up and lived with it. Also, I found it a bit slow at times. Lastly, I'm not 100% comfortable with the ending. But these criticisms, as they say, are minor. The experience of reading the last couple of hundred pages of the book isn't one I will soon forget. The brilliance and beauty and power of it is indescribable, at least by someone with my feeble skills. A week later, recalling any of several scenes is still a dangerous thing to do in public. As it is, I hope you'll take my word for it that At Swim, Two Boys is well worth reading. If you're gay, I'd almost say it's required.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most important gay novels ever written
Review: Yes, I would go so far as to make that claim. At first AT SWIM, TWO BOYS reads, in its first fifty pages or so, too much like the earlier chapters of the "Odyssey" section of Joyce's ULYSSES: the stream-of-consciousness style, the detailed description of early 20th-century lower- middle-class Dublin, the Bloomian everyman character of Jim Mack's father. But as it continues you begin to see how orginal Jamie O'Neill really is in this novel even as he plays off Joyce's style and milieu with Oscar Wilde's and Lady Gregory's biographies. The world of detail that swims around young Jim Mack and his love interest, Doyler Doyle, is astonishing, and the sophistication of linguistic play every bit as remarkable as you'd expect in a major Irish author. And the balancing of the political demands of the nascent independent Irish nation with the private world of the two young gay lovers seems something O'Neill has done that is completely new and original. This is one of the best books I've read in years--stay with it, because it's worth it.
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