The Impossible Bird

I always brag that I know the end of a book within the first 20 pages -- because there is little that hasn't already been used as a plot device. I must say, I certainly did not see this one coming! I found this story very original and well written. Two brothers, close in childhood but distant as adults, suddenly find that teams of people are demanding information about their whereabouts, threatening death, kidnapping, etc. And those people don't seem to stay dead when killed. Also, we are given hints that something quit strange happened in South America to one of the brothers -- something involving a tribal chief, and maybe a hummingbird. OK, that is all I'll tell. Everything else, you have to get from the book. Read it! It's pretty good!

Intricate plot. A web of imagery that is so reminiscent of James Joyce. It also has a Freudian feel. I think read that in a review somewhere, but it is totally true. I think this novel shouldn't be classified as science fiction, but important but a real modern classic. But who am I, right? Characters cope with death and life through incredible means. The aliens were very important because of who they were and who they chose to speak to. His representation of how a child's mind works, how the characters deal with repressed memories, was so real. His represntation of the pure male emotional experience is very revealing. Incredible. Wow! I am just totally blown away by his attention to detail and his emotional dream-like imagery. On some level, very disturbing and certain plot turns really caught me off-guard, but in the scheme of the book it all makes some kind of crazy sense. Three nights in a row I stayed up from 10pm-2am to finish this book. When I read Door Number Three I was on vacation and my husband threatened to throw the book away, because I could not put it down. His books are the type you can read again and again and still think about them for days afterwards. I hope he continues to write more.

Intricate plot. A web of imagery that is so reminiscent of James Joyce. It also has a Freudian feel. I think read that in a review somewhere, but it is totally true. I think this novel shouldn't be classified as science fiction, but a real modern classic. But who am I, right? Characters cope with death and life through incredible means. The aliens were very important because of who they were and who they chose to speak to. His representation of how a child's mind works, how the characters deal with repressed memories, was so real. His represntation of the pure male emotional experience is very revealing. Incredible. Wow! I am just totally blown away by his attention to detail and his emotional dream-like imagery. On some level, very disturbing and certain plot turns really caught me off-guard, but in the scheme of the book it all makes some kind of crazy sense. Three nights in a row I stayed up from 10pm-2am to finish this book. When I read Door Number Three I was on vacation and my husband threatened to throw the book away, because I could not put it down. His books are the type you can read again and again and still think about them for days afterwards. I hope he continues to write more.

Patrick O'Leary's THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD rings all the great bells--betrayal, death, forgiveness, and absolution. Lyrical intensity intertwines the polar opposites of Kafkaesque absurdity with the roots of religious thought; the result is Truth, which strikes deep.The above is a quote of mine, which will appear on the paperback edition. I wanted to add it to this forum. THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD is a wonderful book. I can't praise it enough. O'Leary's work is always strange, always original. I think that this is his best novel yet.

If you don't have a brother, you'll wish you did by the time you are done reading The Impossible Bird -- a profound meditation on familial love wrapped in an intriguing Science Fiction plot. O'Leary's imagination and writing have never been more vibrant. Door Number 3 and The Gift are both great books, but this one blows them both away. I can't imagine there will be too many better novels published in 2002. Definitely worth checking out!