Book description
A masterpiece of black humour from the renown comic and acclaimed
author of 'At Swim-Two-Birds' - Flann O'Brien.
A thriller, a hilarious comic satire about an archetypal village police
force, a surrealistic vision of eternity, the story of a tender, brief,
unrequited love affair between a man and his bicycle, and a chilling
fable of unending guilt, 'The Third Policeman' is comparable only to
'Alice in Wonderland' as an allegory of the absurd.
Distinguished by endless comic invention and its delicate balancing of
logic and fantasy, 'The Third Policeman' is unique in the English
language. 'Flann O'Brien learned from Joyce the art of tuning language
to a lyrical pitch, which he could then turn to his purpose, whether it
was to be plain foolery, unconcealed indignation or high comedy. The
best of his contemporaries and many subsequent Irish writers have much
to thank him for.' Sunday Times
'Flann O'Brien is inventive, his storytelling is swift and sure, making
the eccentric seem natural and the commonplace hilarious.' The Times
'Even with “Ulysses” and “Finnegans Wake” behind him, James Joyce might
have been envious.' Observer
'Wonderful. “The Third Policeman” is a great masterpiece of black
humour.' George Mackay Brown Flann O'Brien was one of the many
pseudonyms of Brian O'Nolan, author of the classic novel 'At Swim-
Two-Birds' and, under the name Myles na Gopaleen, writer of a celebrated
satirical column in the Irish Times which appeared daily for almost
thirty years. Highly praised by Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, amongst
others, O'Brien is regarded as one of the great comic writers of the
twentieth century. He died in 1966.
