At Swim-Two-Birds
by Flann O'Brien · first published 1939
88% recommend13% critical
Why HN recommends it
Absurd, playful metafiction about a novel within a novel. It is witty and idiosyncratic, and it rewards rereading. Comparable in ambition to Ulysses, it suits those who enjoy formal experimentation.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Flann O'Brien's first novel is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense. Operating on many levels it incorporates plots within plots, giving full rein to O'Brien's dancing intellect and Celtic wit. The undergraduate narrator lives with his uncle in Dublin, drinks too much with his friends and invents stories peopled with hilarious and unlikely characters, one of whom, in a typical O'Brien conundrum, creates a means by which women can give birth to full-grown people. Flann O'Brien's blend of farce, satire and fantasy result in a remarkable, astonishingly innovative bo
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One of my favorites, if you couldn’t guess from my user name. At-Swim-Two-Birds is also wonderful. Flann O’Brien isn’t completely obscure, but not very well known in the US.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗A lot of my absolutely favorite books are rated below 4.0. A few examples: 1. White Noise at 3.86 2. Catch-22 at 3.99 3. Dhalgren at 3.77 4. At Swim-Two-Birds at 3.86 5. Midnight's Children at 3.98 6. Омон Ра at 3.90 7. Never Let Me Go at 3.84 Drawing the line at 4 rules out some of the most interesting books. In my experience, you really have to fall…
on “The murky math of the New York Times bestsellers list” ↗A surprise to see Flann O'Brien pop up in the comments. While we're here, I will say that At Swim Two Birds and The Third Policeman are fantastic books, I highly recommend them.
on “Has_not_been_viewed_much” ↗Also reading DCC as a light read, and then reading At Swim-two-birds by Flann O'Brien as something a bit meatier. ASTB worth the read if you're looking for absurd meta fiction. Some parts I've found to be a bit of a slog, but it's short overall so worth the read
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗…Tractatus Logico Philosophicus Discipline and Punish The Ethics Beyond Good and Evil The Gay Science The Master and Margarita The Prince A Book of Five Rings The Book of Changes A Hero of our Times At Swim Two Birds
on “Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?” ↗Flann O'Brian's novel about a novel "At swim two birds" has been one of my favorite yearly re-reads, I must take it down off the shelf again this weekend!
on “I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton” ↗Flann O'Brian can't be celebrated enough - 'At Swim-Two-Birds' is up there with Ulysses in terms of the great works of English language literature. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/08/100-best-novel... In terms of the cultural resurgeance of Irish, whilst…
on “The Ghosts of Gaelic” ↗Cheer's for the response, both forms are entertaining but I fear I'd mistake neither for work by the author of An Béal Bocht, The Third Policeman, and At Swim-Two-Birds. It's not just language style that requires capture, or rather a particular style of smashing two languages together in a steam bath, it's also a manner of logic tangential to both the norm and to Spike…
on “GPT-4 autonomously hacks zero-day security flaws with 53% success rate” ↗Make 2025 the year of not reading At Swim-Two-Birds !!
on “Discworld Rules” ↗