complete gopaleen policeman literature

books:

The Complete Novels (Everyman's Library)

4 reviews
Flann O'Brien

Everyman's Library, 2008

One of the Best Irish Writers
On the dust jacket for The Complete Novels of Flann O'Brien, the author is lumped in with Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, perhaps the two most famous figures in Irish literature. It's lofty company to be sure, but for most Beckett and especially Joyce are tough mountains to climb. I will readily admit that a lot of what is going with the works of Beckett and Joyce go over my head. I needed a ...

The Third Policeman

1 review
Flann O'Brien

Picador, 1979

Silly Absurdism
Nick Drake was "rediscovered" because a Volvo commercial played Pink Moon. O'Brien was similarly rediscovered because a character in Lost was spotted (you had to look close to see it) reading this book. This has sparked a renaissance for the book, and host of new reviews touting it as the "source of Monty Python's humor," etc. Though the book is funny, it's also extremely repetitive, and I ...

The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story About the Hard Life

13 reviews
Flann O'Brien

Dalkey Archive Press, 1996

Not for Nationalists
This book is an inside joke, and a classic at that. It is a grand send up of professional Irish (both at home and abroad). As example, consider a book written in Gaelic making sport of the Gaelic movement by means of a Gaelic festival. ( In ourland of the professional ethnic festival, this might serve as an effective antidote to "Irish" nights and "Scots weekends.") If you are inclined to ...

The Third Policeman (1960s A)

77 reviews
Flann O'Brien

Flamingo, 2001

An Astounding Pancake
It is unfortunate that Flann O'Brien isn't assigned reading, and that one is generally forced to discover him for oneself. The Third Policeman is one of the funniest books I've read. Unlike "At Swim-Two-Birds," O'Brien's other classic, it's plotted more or less linearly. The plot is fantastically involved, and is -- uniquely in modernist writing -- one of the best things about the book. A ...

BEST OF MYLES NA GOPALEEN

8 reviews
FLANN O'BRIEN

MACMILLAN, 1977

YES! I Can Finally Own My Own Copy!
A friend lent me his copy (an Irish edition) of this book five or more years ago, and I've been searching for my own copy ever since. I'm delighted to find it's been reprinted and I just placed my order. I envy anyone who has not yet read this book of collected columns and essays -- the outrageous details of the Ventriloquists' War, the intricacies of the Catechism of Cliche, and the wisdom ...

The Third Policeman (The Folio Society)
Flann O'Brien

The Folio Society, 2006

At Swim-Two-Birds (John F. Byrne Irish Literature Series)

40 reviews
Flann O'Brien

Dalkey Archive Press, 1998

at swim-two-birds
good book. read it after i read gilbert sorrentino's piece on it from "Something Said".