At Swim-Two-Birds (1939)

Metafiction is not my favorite thing; that said, this book is a pretty stunning early example. Maybe you have to be Irish to do it without being unbearably ponderous? William Gass's introduction to this edition was very worthwhile. ( )

This was a lot of fun to read. It's not a novel in the traditional sense, but several stories mashed together, and the characters rebel from the author at one point and so forth and so forth. Cowboy stories, trials, and Irish mythology. It's almost confusing, but very entertaining. I'll be reading more Flann O'Brien soon enough. ( )

In the recent Dalkey reissue there is a nice intro from William Gass about O'Brien and the book. The book itself was a good read once I brought my expectations back to a reasonable level. It contains a wealth of decent to fine pastiche of Irish lit in addition to its structural shenanigans. Representative quote:

The passage, however, served to provoke a number of discussions with my friends and acquaintances on the subject of aestho-psycho-eugenics and the general chaos which would result if all authors were disposed to seduce their female characters and bring into being, as a result, offspring of the quasi-illusory type. It was asked why Trellis did not require the expectant mother to make a violent end of herself and the trouble she was causing by the means of drinking a bottle of disinfectant fluid usually to be found in bathrooms. The answer I gave was that the author was paying less and less attention to his literary work and was spending entire days and nights in the unremitting practice of his sleep. This explanation, I am glad to say, gave instant satisfaction and was represented as ingenious by at least one of the inquirers concerned. ( )

This is an incredibly imaginative book, with often-amazing linguistic play. Highly recommended, even though it may take a bit to get into it. ( )

This is a writer's book. It's for those who are fascinated by the writing process and those who fear their creation or obsession could overwhelm them. Reading up on this book afterwards, I found out that most early fans were writers, but not so much the general public. Even Borges praised it in a famous essay When Fiction Lives in Fiction:

"At Swim Two Birds is not only a Labyrinth: it is a discussion of the many ways to Concieve the Irish novel and a repertory of exercises in prose and verse which illustrate or parody all the styles of Ireland."

This is one of those books that could have been the inspiration for movies like Inception. The unnamed author is writing a story about an author creating a mythology tale that includes devils, fairies, and other figures of Irish mythology and Legend. The main author is attending college with an occasionally drinking binge. It's a worry by his uncle that he may not complete his studies. Indeed as the story progresses more and more time is spent with the author's author's characters who defy him when he is asleep. Inciting his son to write a story about the author where the characters rebel and then try the author in court. It becomes a surreal Alice in Wonderland situation. Will these characters overwhelm it's author? Will the story overwhelm the author's studies?

A very wild ride that goes deeper and deeper into the idea of writing and creating. It reminded me of If on a Winter's night as it covers this same territory of the fascination over the writing process.

"In reply to an inquiry, it was explained that a satisfactory novel should be a self-evident sham to which the reader could regulate at will the degree of his credulity." p. 21

"Your father is dead, said Linchehaum. That has seized me with a blind agony, said Sweeny.
Your mother is likewise dead. Now all the pity in me is at an end.
Dead is your brother. Gaping open is my side on account of that.
She has died too, your sister. A needle for the heart is an only sister.
Ah, dumb dead is the little son that called you pop.
Truly, said Sweeny, that is the last blow that brings a man to the ground. p. 67

"When things go wrong and will not come right
Though you do the best you can
When life looks black as the hour of night
A pint of Plain is your only man. p. 74

He is a great man that never gets out of bed, he said. He spends the days and nights reading books and occasionally he writes one. He makes his characters live with him in his house. Nobody knows whether they are there at all or whether it is all imagination. A great man. p. 97 ( )