At Swim-Two-Birds (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Brian O’Nolan
- First Published: 1939
- Type of Work: Satirical fantasy
- Time of Work: The mid-1930’s
- Setting: Dublin
- Principal Characters: The Narrator, Dermot Trellis, The Pooka Fergus MacPhellimey, John Furriskey, Finn MacCool, King Sweeny
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire, Fantasy
- Subjects: Culture, Mythology or myths, Nature, Psychology or psychologists, Literature, Writing, 1930’s, Novelists, Fantasy, Imagination, Ireland or Irish people, Comedy
- Locales: Dublin, Ireland
The Novel
All the action takes place in the mind of the anonymous narrator, a university student living with his carping and penurious uncle. This uncle continuously criticizes his nephew’s apparent indolence, in ignorance of the novel the young man is writing behind the locked door of his bedroom. This novel-within-the-novel features a man called Dermot Trellis, who neglects his bar business to write a novel of his own on the moral decline of modern Ireland. Trellis’ novel features two “original” characters, John Furriskey, a depraved villain, and Sheila Lamont, a girl...
[The entire page is 1325 words long]
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