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Silent Radio

Writer: Jon Nelson
Jon Nelson
Sep 13
1 min read

Updated: Oct 12

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a hat standing beside a large early radio receiver.

The Three Armageddons of Enniscorthy Sweeny is my favorite longer Lafferty work. One of its major ideas is silent radio, the drama that goes on inside us without being spoken or shown, yet somehow passes between us and enters the world we all share. Silent radio carries the ordinary richness of life, its pleasures, loves, and possibilities, but it also plays horrors that no one seems able to stop.


Sweeny thinks he composes his own inward programs. He finds other people receiving them and public history taking their shape. A major uncertainty in the novel is whether Sweeny has imagined what happened, remembered what he refuses to admit happened, or helped make it all happen by imagining it in the first place.


Everyone knows what it is to have a scene running in the mind. Sweeny discovers that the scene may have other inhabitants. When Sweeny helps another boy make more accurate snakes in the Age of Silent Radio, we begin to see how his contribution to an imaginative creation can make its horrors more dangerous. What this brought to mind tonight is that Enniscorthy's destructiveness is tied to a gift from his funny uncle: the Big Snake Book, which will tie to his great snakes, the Armageddon operas. This is some of the best horror in Lafferty.


Passage from The Three Armageddons of Enniscorthy Sweeny about silent radio and a boy devoured by a snake he created.
Continuation of the passage: Sweeny compares his three Armageddon operas to snakes and links silent radio to wars.
Conclusion of the passage: Sweeny lists battles, questions their reality, and says he cannot turn off silent radio.

Table describing ten features of silent radio, from inward sights and sounds to effects on history and failure of control.
Grass-covered trenches and hollows cross an open field bordered by trees.
Battle casualty table, entries 1–9: Tirlement through Rheims, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 10–22: Maubeuge through Noyon, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 23–35: Montdidier through Zemlin, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 36–47: Gumbinnen through Yarmouth, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 48–59: Scarborough through Dar-es-Salaam, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 60–71: Tanga through Augustovo Forest, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 72–83: Przasnysz through Elbasan, with dates, reported deaths and casualties, and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 84–95: Mt. Lovchen through the Tenth Battle of Isonzo, with loss estimates and qualifications.
Battle casualty table, entries 96–105: the Eleventh Battle of Isonzo through Sedan, with loss estimates and qualifications.
Sources and reading notes, references 1–29, supporting the identification of battles and their reported losses.
Sources and reading notes, references 30–62, continuing the documentation of battle identifications and reported losses.
Sources and reading notes, references 63–89, concluding the documentation of battle identifications and reported losses.

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