false <![CDATA[The Third Policeman]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167876639m/27208.jpg 27208 31 A comic trip through hell in Ireland, as told by a murderer, <i>The Third Policeman</i> is another inspired bit of confusing and comic lunacy from the warped imagination and lovably demented pen of Flann O'Brien, author of <i>At Swim-Two-Birds</i>. There's even a small chance you'll figure out what's going on if you read the publisher's note that appears on the last page. 3359269 book 1967 The Third Policeman total:1638|5:680|4:521|3:311|2:87|1:39| 1638 6630 2674 283 5 8 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sun Aug 12 00:17:25 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 12:18:01 -0700 2007 scared of what he had been written, that something about it upset his meek Catho...more...]]> 4 4 false false Tue Mar 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 08:25:32 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 08:29:16 -0800 2009
I know that the conceit of this bo...more...]]> 3 3 false false Sun Sep 30 01:07:48 -0700 2007 Sat May 17 02:00:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Oct 29 04:35:03 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 17 05:10:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Aug 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 00:31:24 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 04 14:44:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Wed May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 03 07:20:35 -0800 2008 Wed May 21 10:12:39 -0700 2008 ***DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE NOVEL** I made the mistake of reading the intro first, and that intro contains a spoiler. It gave away the entire premise of the novel. So I feel like I was gyped a bit here.

That being ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Nov 24 15:59:27 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 15:59:48 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 05 10:41:54 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 11:01:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Oct 21 15:50:21 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 03:12:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jan 02 07:56:24 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 10 11:28:30 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 02 06:28:04 -0800 2008
Some of it was just flat out bizarre, but other parts of it were brilliant! I went to Wikipedia to read up on its history, and was amazed to find that it was written almost 20 years before it was published and shelved due to lack of interest. Th...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 07 19:33:48 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 17:51:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 10:14:25 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 10:42:38 -0700 2008 Lost.

Okay, couldn't keep a straight face. I am, sort of.

This book has two gears: tedium and suspense. Tedium of the circumlocutory-conversations-with-crazy-people variety (already read Swift and C.S. ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jul 05 08:43:05 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 19:19:05 -0700 2007
From Wikipedia:

Flann O'Brien is rightly considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. The British writer Anthony Burgess was moved to say of him: "If we don't cherish the work of Flann O'Brien we are stupid fools who...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 23:58:45 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 00:16:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 06:14:59 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 07:47:58 -0800 2009
What is this story a reaction against? This, for me, is the most frustrating question, even after having finished the book. Wit...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 14:00:17 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 10:27:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Oct 08 23:15:28 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 23:17:13 -0700 2008 And the ending, the very ending, tied it all together and added an unexpected depth. Loved it.]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 09 06:35:01 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 06:29:49 -0800 2009
I think, perhaps, Swim Two Birds made me laugh more. But only barely. The construction of de Selby, and the arguments between his critics that emerge in the footnotes is simply amazing. The k...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 20 18:10:12 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 18:19:20 -0800 2008
This book is so scrumtulescent.

I first thought the humor in this book is a litt...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 13 18:06:33 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 18:14:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=27208