The Impossible Bird

Rating:
Summary: Don't pass this one by!
Review: A paradise free from conflict, suffering, and death-that's what we all want, isn't it? Well, isn't it? This is a question central to O'Leary's thoughtful and accomplished new novel, which pulls off the seemingly impossible feat of merging an sf thriller with an insightful meditation on the meaning of suffering and the nature of love. The plot moves through some very strange imaginative territory, but O'Leary focuses on aspects of our humanity that are all too familiar: longing, jealousy, grief, joy. An exceptional novel.

Rating:
Summary: Mostly disappointing
Review: A quote near the beginning of this book makes a reference to C. S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce", commenting on "the smugness that tainted everything Lewis ever wrote." Aside from the fact that I think this quote reveals more about the author's own prejudices than it does about the actual tone of Lewis's writing, I could only wish that this book had been half as good as most anything written by Lewis. Lewis's fiction always involved a fleshing out of worldviews, attempting to show the reader how certain ways of looking at the world can lead to certain ways of living and acting in it. He understood that stories have the power to shape and inform the moral imaginations of their readers. This novel attempts to do the same thing, but, in my opinion, the results are a lot less insightful and inspiring than Lewis's works.

This is the story of two brothers and a meditation upon the meaning of life and death. The philosophy behind the story reminds me of my college existentialism class. It embraces the idea that death is the final end, and that knowing this fact makes our time here truly meaningful. Even if we could go on to an afterlife without pain and suffering, this would take all true meaning out of our lives, and therefore, all of the world's prominent religions are wrong. In keeping with this theme, the story concludes that our personal moral behavior ultimately doesn't matter all that much. Thus when one of the two main characters in the story commits adultery with his brothers wife, he is told by the character who is supposed to represent the divine (who is identified as a she, which I guess is supposed to show us how enlightened and open minded the author is) that it's really not that big of a deal. After all, if death is the end and there is nothing more, why do any of our actions ultimately matter? We're here today, gone tomorrow, and in a few generations most of us are forgotten, so why not do whatever feels good at the moment? How does a view of life like this one account for serious moral evils like the Holocaust, and all those victims of oppression and injustice who never receive justice in this life? In my opinion, this is the kind of view that can only be embraced by those who live in the relative comfort and safety of late modern Western civilization.

Contrary to the philosophy of this book, the idea of judgement and the afterlife tell us that our choices and actions are of ultimate importance. Existence after death is not a bland, happily ever after, Hallmark card version of this world, but is the place where we all complete the process of becoming who we chose to be in this life, good or bad. This was something that Lewis understood clearly, and it informed most of his life's work. This story seems to me to be nothing more than an attempt to justify the hedonistic, self-centered way of life that is so prevalent in our modern world. It takes an ultimately despair filled worldview, and attempts to dress it up in attractive clothing and make it seem meaningful.

In all fairness, the writing itself wasn't absolutely horrible, and there were some creative and original elements. The ending was also very strong. Ultimately, however, I was so profoundly turned off by the worldview that permeated and informed this entire book that I couldn't truly enjoy it. My advice is to read anything by Lewis instead, especially his Space Trilogy or his Chronicles of Narnia. Aside from being highly entertaining, both of these stories offer profound moral insights and interesting speculations on the nature of reality and the afterlife.

Rating:
Summary: exciting science fiction
Review: College literature professor Daniel Glynn still grieves the loss of his spouse Julie. He also feels guilty that he is unable to offer solace to his son Sean, suffering from painful nightmares. At the same time in Los Angeles, Daniel's brother Michael, a TV ad director, struggles with the recent death of a loved one. Neither sibling can turn to the other for relief, as they detest one another.

As the two siblings separately cope with death, strange beings assault both of them in different but related incidents involving demands to hand over the "codes" or reveal the whereabouts of one another. These "crossovers" force Michael and Daniel to seek each other out or else die. As they close in on one other, each brother questions what the future will hold, but both predict with absolute certainty that death is inevitable and this may be their time.

THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD is an exciting science fiction thriller that provides a series of unbelievable subplots tied together by the Glynn brothers. The story line seemingly touches on every corner of the absurd and then some including hummingbirds as a key element to the wild plot. However, that hitting so much on full cylinders causes the reader to lose empathy with the lead couple as the wild plot overwhelms the audience with a what next attitude. Fans of a weird well written, but all over the place journey past a certain sign post will enjoy Patrick O'Leary's strange adventure.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: the impossible book
Review: I have to disagree with the other reviewers here about this book. I liked Door Number Three a lot and came to this book with fairly high expectations. I kept waiting for the plot to become clear, to figure out why characters were doing what they were doing, if there were different "realities" or dimensions or what. Frequently I said to myself, only 40 more pages. Well, I finished it but just barely. Leary wrote a confusing muddle of a book. It is sort of obvious early on that the 2 brothers are living in another dimension, whatever that means, why they are there is not explained, that the other dimension has different rules is not explained. It is never clear to me why some people are killed, why they have to be killed so often, who the aliens are (though in the end, you have it figured out but not why they do what they do). I think Leary probably had an interesting idea to write a book, he just wasn't able to write a good book about it. Better luck next time. Like I said, Door Number Three is very good.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read!
Review: Intricate plot. A web of imagery that is so reminiscent of James Joyce. It also has a Freudian feel. I think read that in a review somewhere, but it is totally true. I think this novel shouldn't be classified as science fiction, but important but a real modern classic. But who am I, right?
Characters cope with death and life through incredible means. The aliens were very important because of who they were and who they chose to speak to. His representation of how a child's mind works, how the characters deal with repressed memories, was so real. His represntation of the pure male emotional experience is very revealing. Incredible. Wow! I am just totally blown away by his attention to detail and his emotional dream-like imagery. On some level, very disturbing and certain plot turns really caught me off-guard, but in the scheme of the book it all makes some kind of crazy sense. Three nights in a row I stayed up from 10pm-2am to finish this book. When I read Door Number Three I was on vacation and my husband threatened to throw the book away, because I could not put it down. His books are the type you can read again and again and still think about them for days afterwards. I hope he continues to write more.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read!
Review: Intricate plot. A web of imagery that is so reminiscent of James Joyce. It also has a Freudian feel. I think read that in a review somewhere, but it is totally true. I think this novel shouldn't be classified as science fiction, but a real modern classic. But who am I, right?
Characters cope with death and life through incredible means. The aliens were very important because of who they were and who they chose to speak to. His representation of how a child's mind works, how the characters deal with repressed memories, was so real. His represntation of the pure male emotional experience is very revealing. Incredible. Wow! I am just totally blown away by his attention to detail and his emotional dream-like imagery. On some level, very disturbing and certain plot turns really caught me off-guard, but in the scheme of the book it all makes some kind of crazy sense. Three nights in a row I stayed up from 10pm-2am to finish this book. When I read Door Number Three I was on vacation and my husband threatened to throw the book away, because I could not put it down. His books are the type you can read again and again and still think about them for days afterwards. I hope he continues to write more.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, but fire the editor
Review: O'Leary is a very thoughtful, inventive writer and I've enjoyed several of his books, but in this case the editor should really have kept a sharper eye for plot inconsistencies. In the chapter "The First Letter" (starts on p.92 of the hardcover edition), we learn of the character Michael's past affair with another man's wife--an affair which ended eight months before the birth of the married couple's son. But in the chapter "Please" (starts on p.189), Michael recalls "the first time he'd felt attracted to her"--which happens to be when her husband was tucking their son into bed! Such a plot glitch should never have been allowed to happen, especially when what we eventually learn about the characters' relationships with each other depends on the timetable of events. Shape up, editors. We still need your keen eye.

Rating:
Summary: Flying High
Review: Patrick O'Leary's THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD rings all the great bells--betrayal, death, forgiveness, and absolution. Lyrical intensity intertwines the polar opposites of Kafkaesque absurdity with the roots of religious thought; the result is Truth, which strikes deep.

The above is a quote of mine, which will appear on the paperback edition. I wanted to add it to this forum.

THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD is a wonderful book. I can't praise it enough. O'Leary's work is always strange, always original. I think that this is his best novel yet.