At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O' Brien

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Brien’s story of an undergraduate wannabe writer in early Dublin is a very novel tale of creating characters that come to life. We learn of his student characteristics and of his correspondence with his friends who attempt to open him up to the wider world. Brien prefers to withdraw into his own mind rather than interact with the world around him, and dream up nonsense characters for others to follow with difficulty; often due to the dialogue presented, and it is very difficult to piece it together into a meaningful conversation; which is very similar to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Brien even tries to assist the reader with the jumbling by providing us with a regular summary of what has happened so far. There is also a sub-textual warning to this; in that if you stay withdrawn in the fantasy realm; you will just become plain and will be unable to struggle to react with the world around you. A pint of plain is your only man.

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