At Swim-Two-Brids

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

Two-thirds of the way through this book I started to hate it. I nearly put it down, and then found myself loving it. To be frank this book is a bit of a mindfuck. It possesses genius which impels me to go back and explore it again, but that will be awhile because I found it somewhat exhausting.

I enjoyed 'The Third Policeman' and from it should have expected a challenging read from At Swim-Two-Birds, but this is by far more rich and intricate than O'Brien's second book. It is also much less enjoyable on first read for me.

Two stars or even one would be my review if it were for the numbing effect I feel after finishing this book, but again there is so much genius sprinkled through-out it that I am sure I will be raising it much higher on my re-read. Suffused with poetic genius, do not attempt At Swim-Two-Birds expecting a light read.

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