num_pages: 787
description: In the five novels by Ireland's greatest comic writer, we can explore the full range of his invention, from the multi-layered madness of "At Swim-Two-Birds" to the piercing realism of "The Hard Life" and the surreal logic of "The Third Policeman". This is a world where bicycles listen to conversations, inventors search for methods of 'diluting' water, and characters play truant while novelists sleep; a world where spiteful fairies wreak havoc and heroes from legend blunder into suburban sitting-rooms. This is recognizably the Ireland of Joyce and Beckett - rowdy, high-spirited, by turns sensual and cerebral -transformed by O'Brien's unique vision.
language: English
title: The Complete Novels
titlecomplete: The Complete Novels
genres: Fiction, Ireland, Surreal, Anthologies, Humor, Literature, Classics, Novels, Irish Literature, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 316
places: Ireland
publisher: Random House