The boys of the title are Jim Mack and Doyler, two 16-year-olds
living n Dublin in 1915. The pair have very different personalities
- Jim is shy and awkward, Doyler is brash and worldly - but they
bring out the best in each other. Their deep friendship develops
into a physical relationship as the lads discover their
homosexuality. The story of their burgeoning loves takes place in a
nation struggling to come to terms with itself, as some of its
people take up arms against the British, culminating in the Easter
Uprising of 1916. Revolution cannot come quickly enough for Doyler,
the keen Republican, but the more sheltered Jim is seemingly
preoccupied with navigating through adolescence. However, when the
fighting begins he will grow up very quickly.... Jamie O'Neill has
taken ten years to write this ambitious novel, and it has clearly
been a labour of love. There is plenty of scope across nearly 650
pages for O'Neill to develop character, and this is done with
varying degrees of success. The less satisfying characters tend to
dwell at either end of the social scale. Doyler, the poor boy,
lends himself to caricature, and his cocky indomitable nature often
seem one-dimensional. At the other end is MacMurrough, the nephew
of the 'first family' of the area, recently released from a term in
an English prison, having been jailed for his homosexuality.
Considerably older than the two boys, and involved with both, he
cuts a rather tragically sex-obsessed, self-justifying figure,
given to having conversations in his head with a deceased former
cellmate that even he admits is pretentious. There is a humanity to
the character, but it is all too rarely revealed. Between these two
in social standing lies Jim's aspirant lower-middle-class family.
All of them are well-observed, but Jim's father is a masterpiece of
characterisation, an ex-soldier, still feeling guilty at having
legitimately passed out of the army just as his regiment became
involved in heavy fighting in the Boer War. He is trying to do his
best for his family, but he is a relic from another age; a good man
who cannot help getting into scrapes, and who is unable to
comprehend the changes taking place in his country. O'Neill's idea
to juxtapose the sexual awakening of the boys with the political
revolution in Ireland is inspired. Some readers will find the style
a little pompous, and others will balk at the content, but overall
it is an impressive achievement and a journey worth taking. (Kirkus
UK)
Ireland, Easter 1915, turbulent times, and two young boys make a pact. In a year's time they will jump off Forty Foot, a jut of rock where gentlemen bathe in the nude, and swim to the glow of the Muglins light to raise the Irish flag and claim it for their country and for their love of each other.
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