Maram’s Reviews > At Swim-Two-Birds > Status Update

I genuinely don't understand the purpose of this book, like what's the theme? What's the message? It's experimental in an awful way, the writing doesn't serve a proper purpose. I don't see any brilliance in it, it's like O'Brien is writing for people to call him "smart", there's no depth or substance. I feel like people who enjoy this book are people who like looking like as if they're intellectual and smart.

Writing a confusing and an awfully hard book to understand doesn't make you a good writer, it makes you a pretentious prick!

Started this about two weeks ago and read about 40% for a post-modernism course, had reread it again because it's pretty bloody difficult to understand. I am reading and listening to the audiobook at the same time, and I think it's helping me grasp whatever the fuck this is.