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Table of Contents
About The Book
~ The Irish contemporary classic in a beautiful new edition ~
'Weren't you never out for an easy dip?' he asked . . . 'I don't mean the baths, I mean with a pal. For a lark like.'
Out at the Forty Foot, that great jut of Dublin rock where gentlemen bathe in the scandalous nude, two boys meet day after day. There they make a pact: that Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and in a year, they will swim the bay to the distant beacon of the Muglins rock, to raise the Green and claim it for themselves. As a turbulent year drives inexorably towards the Easter Rising of 1916 and Ireland sets forth on a path to uncertain glory, a tender, secret love story unfolds. Written with verve and mastery in a modern Irish tradition descended from James Joyce and Flann O'Brien, At Swim, Two Boys is a shimmering novel of unforgettable ambition, intensity and humanity.
'One of the greatest Irish novels ever written' David Marcus
'The music of Jamie O'Neill's prose creates a new Irish symphony' Peter Ackroyd
'Heartachingly beautiful' Independent on Sunday
'A vivid picture of human freedom' Sunday Times
'Weren't you never out for an easy dip?' he asked . . . 'I don't mean the baths, I mean with a pal. For a lark like.'
Out at the Forty Foot, that great jut of Dublin rock where gentlemen bathe in the scandalous nude, two boys meet day after day. There they make a pact: that Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and in a year, they will swim the bay to the distant beacon of the Muglins rock, to raise the Green and claim it for themselves. As a turbulent year drives inexorably towards the Easter Rising of 1916 and Ireland sets forth on a path to uncertain glory, a tender, secret love story unfolds. Written with verve and mastery in a modern Irish tradition descended from James Joyce and Flann O'Brien, At Swim, Two Boys is a shimmering novel of unforgettable ambition, intensity and humanity.
'One of the greatest Irish novels ever written' David Marcus
'The music of Jamie O'Neill's prose creates a new Irish symphony' Peter Ackroyd
'Heartachingly beautiful' Independent on Sunday
'A vivid picture of human freedom' Sunday Times
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (July 1, 2002)
- Length: 656 pages
- ISBN13: 9780743207140
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Raves and Reviews
‘At Swim, Two Boys gets nearer to the truth of our lives than most established writers dream of’
– Independent
‘Jamie O’Neill’s masterpiece holds a special place in my heart for its bravery, its originality, its memorable characters and the dexterity of its language’
– John Boyne
‘The music of Jamie O’Neill’s prose creates a new Irish symphony’
– Peter Ackroyd
‘O’Neill has stepped boldly and knowingly into the company of the Irish high modernists . . . At Swim, Two Boys is both footnote and foot forward, flexing its muscles within the Irish canon and breaking new emotional ground’
– Guardian
‘A vivid picture of human freedom; of moving from fear of the world to acceptance of its fluid variety, while illuminating the nature of the imagination that makes it possible to do so’
– Sunday Times
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): At Swim, Two Boys Paperback 9780743207140
