At Swim, Two Boys
Book Tracking
Sign up to add this book to your recommneded, reading, or planned reading list.
Book Covers
Multiple editions, click to view covers:
Currently Reading
Recommended By
Planning on Reading
Book Details
Written by Jamie O'Neill.
Buy this on Amazon
($16.00)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
Set during the year preceding the Easter Uprising of 1916 -- Ireland's brave but fractured revolt against British rule -- At Swim, Two Boys is a tender, tragic love story and a brilliant depiction of people caught in the tide of history. Powerful and artful, and ten years in the writing, it is a masterwork from Jamie O'Neill.
Jim Mack is a naïve young scholar and the son of a foolish, aspiring shopkeeper. Doyler Doyle is the rough-diamond son -- revolutionary and blasphemous -- of Mr. Mack's old army pal. Out at the Forty Foot, that great jut of rock where gentlemen bathe in the nude, the two boys make a pact: Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and in a year, on Easter of 1916, they will swim to the distant beacon of Muglins Rock and claim that island for themselves. All the while Mr. Mack, who has grand plans for a corner shop empire, remains unaware of the depth of the boys' burgeoning friendship and of the changing landscape of a nation.
User Reviews (1) Login or create an account to write a review.
DeeDee thinks this book is Excellent.
Set against the backdrop of the 1916 Easter Rebellion, this is a beautifully written novel about two Irish boys who gradually realize their love for each other. Filled with gorgeous imagery, a rambling Dickensian narrative, colorful and fascinating characters, and - of course - a heart-wrenching love story.