At Swim, Two Boys (2001) By Jamie O'Neill

 

Considered controversial on multiple fronts, Jamie O’Neill’s novel At Swim, Two Boys is one of the best written books I have ever read.

It is penned in the literary style of stream of conscious made famous by James Joyce, but unlike my reading of Ulysses, O’Neill’s book remains comprehensible throughout. Which is not to say it is an easy read, it is not. The languages/dialects used in the book alternate from the traditional Irish, to the formal Latin of the Catholic Mass, the formal English of the landed-British colonial aristocracy and its Anglican Church, and the common English spoken by the general population.

While Joyce influenced the writing style, it is another Irish writer, Oscar Wilde, who heavily influenced the storyline of the book. Wilde’s trial, conviction, and imprisonment took place in 1895, just 20 years before the timeline of O’Neill’s book.

At Swim, Two Boys takes place in 1915-1916, and is set in Ireland, at the time a British colony. With limited employment opportunities at home, Irish men often served in the Empire’s military, including India and South Africa – two other British colonies. During the course of the story, Irish men are again being actively recruited, this time to fight in the first World War.

Two of the characters in the book, Mr. Mack and Mr. Doyle, are proud veterans of the Boer War in South Africa and the British occupation of India, having served together in the Second Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Their sons are two of the three main characters of the book.

Mr. Mack’s son Jim is a teen who is just finishing school and is bound for college on scholarship. The Macks are not rich, but they are relatively well-off and run a general store. His older brother Gordie will enlist in the army early in the book.

Mr. Doyle’s son, known as Doyler, is the same age as Jim. The Doyle’s are dirt poor with little prospects at a better life. Doyler has attended school only sporadically due to the need to hold down a job to help support the family.

The third main character is Anthony MacMurrough. He is living the nightmare of Oscar Wilde, having been just released from a two-year imprisonment for an affair he had while in college in England. He watched his partner die while they were imprisoned. Although he was born in England, he spent his childhood summers at his Aunt’s estate in Ireland. With his reputation destroyed by the trial he has now returned to the Estate as a virtual refugee to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. And while his Aunt Eveline is not one of the main characters in the book, she is clearly one of the most interesting.

The controversies in this book are many – the Catholic Church and the politics of the Mass; the diocese structure vs. the religious orders; the Anglican Church as the protestant denomination of the English overlords, the colonial administration’s attempts to outlaw the Irish language, both Church’s policies of outcasting “fallen” parishioners (gay men, pregnant unmarried women, etc); Nationalists, Loyalists, and budding Socialists; the police and their allegiance to the Crown and church leaders; the rich vs the poor; rural vs. urban, and family generational divides. O’Neill’s book helps readers understand all of this history, because it never lets you forget we are talking about real people.

The book concludes with the Easter Rising.

Recommendation:  Yes, absolutely.