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Myles Before Myles
Myles Before Myles is a wonderfully funny selection of writings from the pen of Brian O’Nolan (aka Flann O’Brien, Myles na Gopaleen, George Knowall).
In this fun-filled extravaganza he is, above all, an entertainer, a ‘gas man’. Like much of O’Nolan’s most entertaining work, the pieces in this did not originally appear in book form, but in periodicals and newspapers that are now almost impossible to find. Myles Before Myles reveals that some of his wittiest and most unusual were published years before Myles na Gopaleen (or Flann O’Brien) had even been born, and were destined to lie in almost complete obscurity for many decades.
FLANN O'BRIEN is a cult hero whose comic genius has been praised by anyone who is anyone – from James Joyce to Graham Greene, Dylan Thomas to Anthony Burgess, Bendan Behan to S.J.Perelman. Old addicts (lucky enough to have discovered Flann in previous hilarious guises) will rejoice at the rediscovery of lost laughter and new readers will revel in one of the funniest writers in any language. Here is a feast for them all: a book full of the joys of Myles as student, as blatherer, as romancer, as Irishman, as poet – as Myles! With an intelligent and amusing introduction from the compiler, John Wyse Jackson, Myles Before Myles (which has been out of print for some twenty years) is a brilliant addition to the O’Brien canon. Its reappearance has been well worth waiting for.
In this fun-filled extravaganza he is, above all, an entertainer, a ‘gas man’. Like much of O’Nolan’s most entertaining work, the pieces in this did not originally appear in book form, but in periodicals and newspapers that are now almost impossible to find. Myles Before Myles reveals that some of his wittiest and most unusual were published years before Myles na Gopaleen (or Flann O’Brien) had even been born, and were destined to lie in almost complete obscurity for many decades.
FLANN O'BRIEN is a cult hero whose comic genius has been praised by anyone who is anyone – from James Joyce to Graham Greene, Dylan Thomas to Anthony Burgess, Bendan Behan to S.J.Perelman. Old addicts (lucky enough to have discovered Flann in previous hilarious guises) will rejoice at the rediscovery of lost laughter and new readers will revel in one of the funniest writers in any language. Here is a feast for them all: a book full of the joys of Myles as student, as blatherer, as romancer, as Irishman, as poet – as Myles! With an intelligent and amusing introduction from the compiler, John Wyse Jackson, Myles Before Myles (which has been out of print for some twenty years) is a brilliant addition to the O’Brien canon. Its reappearance has been well worth waiting for.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 1988
12 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Flann O'Brien
63 books818 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 1, 2015
Бесценный сборник — от студенческого литературно-орфографического балагана и капустников до подходов к «Переполненному горшочку», включая, что важно, несколько эпизодов из AS2B, вычеркнутых или переписанных автором из паранояльных соображений. Но даже ранние эти тексты переводить на ру — та еще задача, ввиду полного отсутствия контекста у ру-читателя.
А оно того бы стоило — тут у нас великолепный шизофренический карнавал персон Флэнна О’Браена, годами (годами!) пишущих в газету письма, в которых обсуждается парик Генрика Ибсена, случайно уроненный в самовар с борщом, кто из них на самом деле был сыном Джона Раскина, частная жизнь ирландских писателей Джозефа Конрада (который на самом деле был женщиной) и Федора Достоевского (а вы не знали?) и многое другое… Дискуссии очень похожи на нынешнюю лит. критику (ну потому что литература — канализация, а писатели и журналисты — помойные крысы; эта метафора, кстати, тоже осуществляется наглядно), они разворачиваются в многолетние флеймы с троллингом. Можно сказать, что ФОБ сам этот жанр и изобрел как жанр. А также — формат «вавилонского разговорника».
А оно того бы стоило — тут у нас великолепный шизофренический карнавал персон Флэнна О’Браена, годами (годами!) пишущих в газету письма, в которых обсуждается парик Генрика Ибсена, случайно уроненный в самовар с борщом, кто из них на самом деле был сыном Джона Раскина, частная жизнь ирландских писателей Джозефа Конрада (который на самом деле был женщиной) и Федора Достоевского (а вы не знали?) и многое другое… Дискуссии очень похожи на нынешнюю лит. критику (ну потому что литература — канализация, а писатели и журналисты — помойные крысы; эта метафора, кстати, тоже осуществляется наглядно), они разворачиваются в многолетние флеймы с троллингом. Можно сказать, что ФОБ сам этот жанр и изобрел как жанр. А также — формат «вавилонского разговорника».
October 12, 2010
What amazes about this collection:
a) The humour hasn't dated, even if the references have.
b) It is twice as erudite and funny as any modern satirical book.
c) Flann O'Brien wrote an entire magazine by himself.
This collection is a scream: especially the excerpts from Blather, his early ramblings, and the assorted silliness under a billion or so pen-names.
The cuttings from The Bell and his poetry translations are very dull. But who cares. This is one of the funniest books you'll never read.
a) The humour hasn't dated, even if the references have.
b) It is twice as erudite and funny as any modern satirical book.
c) Flann O'Brien wrote an entire magazine by himself.
This collection is a scream: especially the excerpts from Blather, his early ramblings, and the assorted silliness under a billion or so pen-names.
The cuttings from The Bell and his poetry translations are very dull. But who cares. This is one of the funniest books you'll never read.
May 6, 2016
Rats! The ONE TIME that the band Europe plays my work lunchroom I forget to bring something microwaveable.
My new hairstyle has been affording me the opportunity to go through life looking exactly like Lena Dunham after a cocaine binge.
I'm proud to state that today's outfit, my purple crop top with high-waist green leggings, literally covers pretty much everything.
Other than Bono testifying to congress it's been a pretty good year so far.
My new hairstyle has been affording me the opportunity to go through life looking exactly like Lena Dunham after a cocaine binge.
I'm proud to state that today's outfit, my purple crop top with high-waist green leggings, literally covers pretty much everything.
Other than Bono testifying to congress it's been a pretty good year so far.
November 7, 2024
I’ve lost all reason for reasoning the reasons this author might appeal. That hasn’t stopped me photographing many pages of these last few chapters, to send to friends and family on topical connections of unsyncopated music performances, the value of small fry in the shallows of linguistic scholarship, nicknames for Cicero, making oneself mad to fit in with the mad world, etc. My dear Irish fellow of my unfortunate sympathies receives far too many messages from me when I read Myles because everything he writes or quotes is also about the Irish, mocking and fiercely proud on the topic together.
The book is fun for Myles fans, it would be a weird place to start for anyone else. I loved encountering Standish O’Grady at the end, Myles’ 19th century idol and a scholar who worked on his scholarship for people to enjoy it. He mocked the supremacy of the big foreign intellectuals and ancient Rome, but was anti-hierarchy without being anti-intellectual; he refused to stop sabotaging his own work by making erudite multilingual puns that his collaborators misunderstood as insults. Absolutely my grandfather in literary studies!
I read some of the final poems in translation aloud, the traditional ones on Mad King Sweeney, but although he talks almost exclusively about oaky oaks and cressy cress, not a single fungus is mentioned! The mushroom I was reading out loud too does not show a reaction either way and I cannot goad it into saying something lightly offensive like Begorra to add colour to the story.
Ignore my review and just go by the pen marks inside: “Great crack, man. It’s good gas. -Charlie”
The book is fun for Myles fans, it would be a weird place to start for anyone else. I loved encountering Standish O’Grady at the end, Myles’ 19th century idol and a scholar who worked on his scholarship for people to enjoy it. He mocked the supremacy of the big foreign intellectuals and ancient Rome, but was anti-hierarchy without being anti-intellectual; he refused to stop sabotaging his own work by making erudite multilingual puns that his collaborators misunderstood as insults. Absolutely my grandfather in literary studies!
I read some of the final poems in translation aloud, the traditional ones on Mad King Sweeney, but although he talks almost exclusively about oaky oaks and cressy cress, not a single fungus is mentioned! The mushroom I was reading out loud too does not show a reaction either way and I cannot goad it into saying something lightly offensive like Begorra to add colour to the story.
Ignore my review and just go by the pen marks inside: “Great crack, man. It’s good gas. -Charlie”
July 11, 2022
Parodies and satires. The sort of thing one finds in
Mad Magazine
, but very literary and very Irish. James Joyce called Flann O’Brien “a real writer with the true comic spirit,” and this book is a collection of some of the work of “Myles Before Myles” (to misquote a Beatles song, his name was Brian O'Nolan, and he called himself Flann O'Brien, but everyone knew him as Myles na cGopaleen). Included in this book are O’Brien’s articles for the student newspaper at University College, Dublin, articles for the comic magazine The Blather, and a number of letters sent to the editor of
The Irish Times
in which O’Brien, writing under one pen name, would criticize the writers of other letters to the editor (which letters were also written by O’Brien, but under different pen names). The book will probably be of interest mostly to fans of O’Brien; if you’ve not read him, perhaps the best things with which to start are books like The Third Policeman or At Swim-Two-Birds.
Acquired Jul 28, 2009
Attic Books, London, Ontario
Acquired Jul 28, 2009
Attic Books, London, Ontario
January 3, 2008
Early short pieces by Flann O' Brien (aka Brian O' Nolan, aka Myles na gCopaleen) most written before he started his regular column 'An Cruiskeen Lan' in The Irish Times. There is some pretty hilarious stuff in here, though I suspect some of the humor is so specific to Ireland that it would be inaccessible to many readers. Then there is that habit of his of moving from English to Irish and back, all within the same sentence.
March 14, 2012
A book to dip into and to share with friends who understand the Irish sense of humour.
It will particularly appeal to those who love the many and varied works of O'Nolan/O'Brien/na Gopaleen, an author with many and varied names.
It is a worthy precursor to "The Best of Myles", an encyclopaedic collection of his later (and better) newspaper columns. A look at a brilliant polymath as he develops his skills.
It will particularly appeal to those who love the many and varied works of O'Nolan/O'Brien/na Gopaleen, an author with many and varied names.
It is a worthy precursor to "The Best of Myles", an encyclopaedic collection of his later (and better) newspaper columns. A look at a brilliant polymath as he develops his skills.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews