Christopher's Reviews > The Third Policeman
The Third Policeman
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by
Christopher's review
bookshelves: 20th-century, british, fiction, future-classics, nameless-characters
Feb 01, 2013
bookshelves: 20th-century, british, fiction, future-classics, nameless-characters
It was as if the daylight had changed with unnatural suddenness, as if the temperature of the evening had altered greatly in an instant or as if the air had become twice as rare or twice as dense as it had been in the winking of an eye; perhaps all of these and other things happened together for all my senses were bewildered all at once and could give me no explanation.
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman continuously defied my expectations. Before reading, I had no preconceived notions about it, other than that it was an influence on the TV show LOST, but from its beginning pages, I hypothesized it to be a short, clever novel about murder. That's the only thing I got right about this book. When I thought it was a tale of an obsessive friendship, it became a philosophical examination of death. Then it became a trip down Alice's rabbit hole. Then it became a farcical look at science. Then it made several left turns and U-turns and roundabouts that I'll let the reader discover for herself.
This book feels vastly important, mostly because it's really old. It was written in 1940. That's a long time before David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which has a similar hysterical-realistic aesthetic. It's a long time before Paul Auster infused his The New York Trilogy with a healthy dose of O'Brien's metafiction. That's even before Borges' Ficciones or Beckett's Waiting for Godot made their marks on postmodernism. And being so old, The Third Policeman feels remarkably modern in every sense other than its usage of old Britishisms like using "stone" as a unit of measure.
I know this is a short review, but I don't know what else to say. It's hard to talk about this book without giving anything away and I think it should come as a complete surprise to the reader. It's an important book which I don't think has received its just deserts. Read it.
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman continuously defied my expectations. Before reading, I had no preconceived notions about it, other than that it was an influence on the TV show LOST, but from its beginning pages, I hypothesized it to be a short, clever novel about murder. That's the only thing I got right about this book. When I thought it was a tale of an obsessive friendship, it became a philosophical examination of death. Then it became a trip down Alice's rabbit hole. Then it became a farcical look at science. Then it made several left turns and U-turns and roundabouts that I'll let the reader discover for herself.
This book feels vastly important, mostly because it's really old. It was written in 1940. That's a long time before David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which has a similar hysterical-realistic aesthetic. It's a long time before Paul Auster infused his The New York Trilogy with a healthy dose of O'Brien's metafiction. That's even before Borges' Ficciones or Beckett's Waiting for Godot made their marks on postmodernism. And being so old, The Third Policeman feels remarkably modern in every sense other than its usage of old Britishisms like using "stone" as a unit of measure.
I know this is a short review, but I don't know what else to say. It's hard to talk about this book without giving anything away and I think it should come as a complete surprise to the reader. It's an important book which I don't think has received its just deserts. Read it.
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Reading Progress
February 1, 2013
–
Started Reading
February 1, 2013
– Shelved
February 1, 2013
– Shelved as:
20th-century
February 1, 2013
– Shelved as:
british
February 1, 2013
– Shelved as:
fiction
February 1, 2013
–
22.5%
"I take that back. It's nothing like a Paul Auster novel. It's like Alice in Wonderland or The Phantom Tollbooth or The Master and Margarita."
page
45
February 5, 2013
– Shelved as:
future-classics
February 5, 2013
– Shelved as:
nameless-characters
February 5, 2013
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)
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message 1:
by
Megan
(new)
Feb 05, 2013 02:05PM
are you planning on reviewing this? i sort of started at swim two birds, and i'm curious about his other works..
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Yeah, I started my review. I'm not sure if it's going anywhere, but I'll post something. No money back guarantee if you're unsatisfied.
I only just became aware of At Swim-Two-Birds - is it good so far? I'll definitely try some more of his work.
I only just became aware of At Swim-Two-Birds - is it good so far? I'll definitely try some more of his work.
i have a tendency to start books that i own and then they move from the pile on my nightstand to my bookshelf and then i take them down and the process starts all over again. so when i say i sort of started this i mean i started it 2 1/2 years ago, read about a quarter of it - loved it, but got distracted by other books/life. so yes, definitely read it!
You put this in context well, Christopher, with the other books you mentioned that follow it. I liked your line about his farcical look at science, too. That was a very fun part of the book, I thought.
I'm so happy you liked this, Christopher! Relieved too (recommending books to people can be stressful). Just like you, the only thing I knew about the book prior to reading it was its relation to LOST. Now it's a favorite.
Ha. I need to read this.
And the use of stone isn't old-fashioned. That's the maesurent people use to talk about their weight now.
And the use of stone isn't old-fashioned. That's the maesurent people use to talk about their weight now.
Nice review. I'm so glad you like it. By the way "stone" -14 pounds - is still in common use in the UK and Ireland, especially for body weight.