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Re: Pale Fire / The Third Policeman (F. O'Brien) (fwd)
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From: Ben Walsh <benw@meta.dublin.iona.ie>
I've often wondered why more isn't said of Myles na gCopaleen/Flann
O'Brien. To my mind, he's the greatest Irish writer. Better than Joyce
because his writing is as good as Joyce and he's much more fun.
Myles (his real name was Brian Ua Nuallain, or Brian O'Nolan in English, he
took the names Flann O'Brien and Myles na gCopaleen as a series of
linguistic jokes) wrote a daily column, Cruiskeen Lawn, in _The Irish
Times_ for a while. Cruiskeen Lawn featured outrageously bad puns using
Irish, English and Latin; satire of the government of the day; reflections
on the opulent lifestyle of the fictional Sir Myles; the adventures in
wordplay of Keats and Chapman; thumbnail portraits of Dublin characters and
caricatures; advice for railwaymen and the earthy wisdom of The Brother.
This material - collected in _The Best of Myles_ - is brilliantly clever
and incredibly funny, but has trivialised Myles' image a bit. There is true
genius behind _At Swim-two-Birds_ and _The Third Policeman_, and much of it
is very reminiscent of VN. Characters write about their creators; an
obsessive narrator appends obscure footnotes; all the action takes place in
layers within layers within layers.
I would recommend to anyone - especially readers of this list - those three
books and his biography, _No Laughing Matter_, by Anthony Cronin. Avoid
_The Dalkey Archive_; it's a substandard pastiche of _The Third Policeman_.
ben
At 12:36 PM 2/14/98 -0800, you wrote:
>From: "Christopher Berg" <tentender@hotmail.com>
>
>
>>Having just read Flann O'Brien's novel THE THIRD POLICEMAN (written
>1940
>>or so), I wonder if anyone else has been struck by the book's
>remarkable
>>similarities to PALE FIRE? Structure (in this case a story interleaved
>>with frequent scholarly interruptions on the work of a fictional [and
>>clearly mad] philosopher scientist), themes (scholarship, madness,
>>death), even the issue of authorial identification (possibly even more
>>convulted in the case of the O'Brien than in PF -- if that's possible).
>>Also, perhaps most importantly, the reader's uncanny chill while
>>reading, especially the remarkable final chapters. The evocation of the
>>"otherworld" -- possibly not the same one that VN evokes so frequently,
>>but a dark mirror image of it -- is detailed and extraordinary.
>>
>>I am away from home and don't have my SO index with me, but I don't
>>recall VN making any reference to this wonderful writer. Does anyone
>>know whether he (VN) was acquainted with F O'B?
>>
>>This book is so good I cannot believe that his more famous book (At
>>Swim-Two-Birds) is any better. (But I will be finding out for myself
>>immediately!)
>
>And has anyone seen a production of O'Brien's version of the Capeks'
>INSECT PLAY?
>>
>>Christopher Berg
>>
>>______________________________________________________
>>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>>
>
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
I've often wondered why more isn't said of Myles na gCopaleen/Flann
O'Brien. To my mind, he's the greatest Irish writer. Better than Joyce
because his writing is as good as Joyce and he's much more fun.
Myles (his real name was Brian Ua Nuallain, or Brian O'Nolan in English, he
took the names Flann O'Brien and Myles na gCopaleen as a series of
linguistic jokes) wrote a daily column, Cruiskeen Lawn, in _The Irish
Times_ for a while. Cruiskeen Lawn featured outrageously bad puns using
Irish, English and Latin; satire of the government of the day; reflections
on the opulent lifestyle of the fictional Sir Myles; the adventures in
wordplay of Keats and Chapman; thumbnail portraits of Dublin characters and
caricatures; advice for railwaymen and the earthy wisdom of The Brother.
This material - collected in _The Best of Myles_ - is brilliantly clever
and incredibly funny, but has trivialised Myles' image a bit. There is true
genius behind _At Swim-two-Birds_ and _The Third Policeman_, and much of it
is very reminiscent of VN. Characters write about their creators; an
obsessive narrator appends obscure footnotes; all the action takes place in
layers within layers within layers.
I would recommend to anyone - especially readers of this list - those three
books and his biography, _No Laughing Matter_, by Anthony Cronin. Avoid
_The Dalkey Archive_; it's a substandard pastiche of _The Third Policeman_.
ben
At 12:36 PM 2/14/98 -0800, you wrote:
>From: "Christopher Berg" <tentender@hotmail.com>
>
>
>>Having just read Flann O'Brien's novel THE THIRD POLICEMAN (written
>1940
>>or so), I wonder if anyone else has been struck by the book's
>remarkable
>>similarities to PALE FIRE? Structure (in this case a story interleaved
>>with frequent scholarly interruptions on the work of a fictional [and
>>clearly mad] philosopher scientist), themes (scholarship, madness,
>>death), even the issue of authorial identification (possibly even more
>>convulted in the case of the O'Brien than in PF -- if that's possible).
>>Also, perhaps most importantly, the reader's uncanny chill while
>>reading, especially the remarkable final chapters. The evocation of the
>>"otherworld" -- possibly not the same one that VN evokes so frequently,
>>but a dark mirror image of it -- is detailed and extraordinary.
>>
>>I am away from home and don't have my SO index with me, but I don't
>>recall VN making any reference to this wonderful writer. Does anyone
>>know whether he (VN) was acquainted with F O'B?
>>
>>This book is so good I cannot believe that his more famous book (At
>>Swim-Two-Birds) is any better. (But I will be finding out for myself
>>immediately!)
>
>And has anyone seen a production of O'Brien's version of the Capeks'
>INSECT PLAY?
>>
>>Christopher Berg
>>
>>______________________________________________________
>>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>>
>
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>