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Rhapsody in St Stephen's Green: The Insect Play
O'Brien, Flann
- GenresIrish Literature
98 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Flann O'Brien
67 books829 followersPseudonym of
Brian Ó Nualláin
, also known as Brian O'Nolan.
His English novels appeared under the name of Flann O’Brien, while his great Irish novel and his newspaper column (which appeared from 1940 to 1966) were signed Myles na gCopaleen or Myles na Gopaleen – the second being a phonetic rendering of the first. One of twelve brothers and sisters, he was born in 1911 in Strabane, County Tyrone, into an Irish-speaking family. His father had learned Irish while a young man during the Gaelic revival the son was later to mock. O’Brien’s childhood has been described as happy, though somewhat insular, as the language spoken at home was not that spoken by their neighbours. The Irish language had long been in decline, and Strabane was not in an Irish-speaking part of the country. The family moved frequently during O’Brien’s childhood, finally settling in Dublin in 1925. Four years later O’Brien took up study in University College Dublin.
Flann O'Brien is considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Flann O'Brien novels have attracted a wide following for their bizarre humour and Modernist metafiction.
The café and shop of Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich (www.culturlann.ie), at the heart of the Belfast Gaeltacht Quarter, is named An Ceathrú Póilí ("The Fourth Policeman"), as a play-on-words of the title of O'Brien's book The Third Policeman.
His English novels appeared under the name of Flann O’Brien, while his great Irish novel and his newspaper column (which appeared from 1940 to 1966) were signed Myles na gCopaleen or Myles na Gopaleen – the second being a phonetic rendering of the first. One of twelve brothers and sisters, he was born in 1911 in Strabane, County Tyrone, into an Irish-speaking family. His father had learned Irish while a young man during the Gaelic revival the son was later to mock. O’Brien’s childhood has been described as happy, though somewhat insular, as the language spoken at home was not that spoken by their neighbours. The Irish language had long been in decline, and Strabane was not in an Irish-speaking part of the country. The family moved frequently during O’Brien’s childhood, finally settling in Dublin in 1925. Four years later O’Brien took up study in University College Dublin.
Flann O'Brien is considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Flann O'Brien novels have attracted a wide following for their bizarre humour and Modernist metafiction.
The café and shop of Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich (www.culturlann.ie), at the heart of the Belfast Gaeltacht Quarter, is named An Ceathrú Póilí ("The Fourth Policeman"), as a play-on-words of the title of O'Brien's book The Third Policeman.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 25, 2019
An entertaining read enough for any serious O'Brien fan. The characters are lively enough to get one through. But, as satire, this is maybe O'Brien's only failure. The imagery and metaphors are far too obvious to be effective. The indictments are scathing, but O'Brien put the targets too square upon the backs of his subjects. The correlations are so obvious, in fact, that one wonders why O'Brien even used the insect world to make his point. Other than allowing him to narrow the scope to a single, small location, the insects served an entertainment value, but the artistic integrity is squandered by an overt and simplistic evaluation of Irish and British life in the 1940s, even though it's easy for the audience to agree with O'Brien's evaluations. Animal Farm this is not. As a huge O'Brien fan it was worth the read, but it's easy to see why the play has had so small of a life since it was first staged.
January 27, 2024
[The Lilliput Press] (1994). SB. 88 Pages. Purchased from Kennys Bookshop.
I love Flann O’Brien.
This is very poor.
** earned with a few choice turns of phrase and out of respect to Robert Tracy for his fine introduction.
I love Flann O’Brien.
This is very poor.
** earned with a few choice turns of phrase and out of respect to Robert Tracy for his fine introduction.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews