The Third Policeman
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,…
Why read it?
3 authors picked The Third Policeman as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book continues to astound me. Flann O’Brien puts together such a surreal set of circumstances for his unnamed narrator that the book is hard to put down.
O’Brien doesn’t strike me as the Hunter Thompson type; this book made me wonder what they were brewing into the whiskey on the Emerald Isle. The improbability of the narrator’s criminal activity and the law enforcement response often seems like a fever dream, albeit a very entertaining one. Even though I now know the M. Knight Shyamalan twist, I still can re-read this book, thinking, “What’s next? What’s next?”
From Crawford's list on hilarious high weirdness.
This is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. It’s suffused with a kind of grim humour that kept me reading through a surreal journey.
I felt sorry for the narrator even as I was repulsed by him. But for me, it fits into this list because of its insistence on the addictive nature of cycling—rendered delightfully, absurdly literal in this book as the policemen are able to quantify to the precise percentage point the degree to which other characters have melded with their bikes. (I think I know a few people in danger of becoming part…
From Kathleen's list on cycling novels that put you right in the heart of the action.
This gem of a book is a dark comedy of extraordinary originality. It explores the moment of a murder and stretches it to the length of a short novel.
Unlike his hero James Joyce, who sometimes took himself a little too seriously, Briain O'Nolan (Flann O'Brien) remains with his tongue firmly in his cheek. As I lived and worked in Dublin I have a special association with this novel.
If you have ever travelled along the magical Vico Road, south of Dublin, you will have passed the house of De Selby, the fictional annotator of the book, whose scientific theories turn…
From Robert's list on supernatural challenging the way we see the world.
Want books like The Third Policeman?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Third Policeman.
Browse books like The Third Policeman
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in Dublin, dark comedy, and surrealism?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Dublin, dark comedy, and surrealism.