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Stories and Plays
Book by O'Brien, Flann
Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
53 people want to read
About the author
Flann O'Brien
63 books817 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 2, 2008
Even a taste of Flann O’Brien is a treat. But this is not much more than a taste, and it’s not his finest work. I enjoyed it, but Stories and Plays is best for O’Brien completists. If you only have time for one book, At Swim-Two-Birds is his masterpiece. If I could read them all over again—like a virgin, touched for the very first time—I’d read The Dalkey Archive first, followed by The Third Policemen (where he gets supremely weird), followed by At Swim. The Hard Life is quite hilarious too…oh, see I can’t stop going on about Flann O’Brien (a pseudonym for Brian O’Nolan).
At any rate, this book contains the beginning of an unfinished novel (written just before he died) that has its hilarious moments, two very short stories, two plays and an essay about James Joyce. To give you a bit, this collection includes:
A man who thinks he’s a commuter train for a day.
A Scottish woman who plans to take over all of Ireland by planting Sago trees (in order that more of these drunken, whoring, gambling Irish folk don’t end up in the USA--where she lives--due to a potato famine).
A group of Irish politicians so annoying that they drive Satan himself out of town.
And a description of James Joyce as follows,
“Surely there,” observes our Professor, “you have the Irish artist? Sitting fully dressed, innerly locked in the toilet of a locked coach where he has no right to be, resentfully drinking somebody else’s whiskey, being whisked hither and thither by anonymous shunters, keeping fastidiously the while on the outer face of his door the simple word, ENGAGED?”
At any rate, this book contains the beginning of an unfinished novel (written just before he died) that has its hilarious moments, two very short stories, two plays and an essay about James Joyce. To give you a bit, this collection includes:
A man who thinks he’s a commuter train for a day.
A Scottish woman who plans to take over all of Ireland by planting Sago trees (in order that more of these drunken, whoring, gambling Irish folk don’t end up in the USA--where she lives--due to a potato famine).
A group of Irish politicians so annoying that they drive Satan himself out of town.
And a description of James Joyce as follows,
“Surely there,” observes our Professor, “you have the Irish artist? Sitting fully dressed, innerly locked in the toilet of a locked coach where he has no right to be, resentfully drinking somebody else’s whiskey, being whisked hither and thither by anonymous shunters, keeping fastidiously the while on the outer face of his door the simple word, ENGAGED?”
May 11, 2016
Есть у меня-читателя авторы, которые настолько родственники по манере жить (в тексте), что любое их высказывание немедленно обожаемо, даже если с формальной точки зрения (допустим, такая существует, хотя, спросите меня -- я не дам ей определения, нет уж) высказывание это камерное, невеликое, частное, малозаметное-на-фоне и т. п. У таких авторов обыкновенно заимствуешь на некоторое время речевые фиглярства и выкрутасы, копируешь их на письме и в целом как-то прижимаешь к впалым щекам.
У этого автора даже обтерханный залитый пивом жилет без пары пуговиц выглядит "от кутюр" -- и пусть этот писатель, по мнению многих его сокрушающихся биографов и читателей, инкрустировал брильянтами поселковый рукомойник.
Я люблю Флэнна О'Брайена на Гапалиня Барнабаса, и всё, что он говорит, вызывает у меня поросячий восторг. Невзирая и т. д., и т. п.
У этого автора даже обтерханный залитый пивом жилет без пары пуговиц выглядит "от кутюр" -- и пусть этот писатель, по мнению многих его сокрушающихся биографов и читателей, инкрустировал брильянтами поселковый рукомойник.
Я люблю Флэнна О'Брайена на Гапалиня Барнабаса, и всё, что он говорит, вызывает у меня поросячий восторг. Невзирая и т. д., и т. п.
April 19, 2022
My paperback Penguin edition was published in 1977 and was subsequently jettisoned from two libraries. What kind of library takes on the discards of another? There must be something here I'm missing. On the face of it, this book is unfinished and unpolished, and having placed enough of it in my mouth for three minutes chewing, I find it insubstantial but not unpalatable.
May 10, 2015
Поскребыши канона ФОБ, не менее занимательные, чем основной корпус текстов и журналистика, а драматургия так и вообще замечательная (на русском же его никогда не ставили, правда?). Во всем, однако, видна некоторая злободневность, и журнализм подымает голову во всех его текстах, более или менее: они тронуты импульсом окружающей реальности, если не вообще ею продиктованы, т.е. видно, зачем он то или другое начинал писать. В романах все же это не так лезет в глаза.
April 21, 2025
This book reminds me of a quote I once heard about Brendan Behan. A few Irishmen were in a pub waxing poetic on what a genius Mr. Behan was. Another said, "Bah! He was just another Irish drunk. Ah! But he wrote it all down!"
Sections of this book reminded me of that phrase. There are stories, essays and an unfinished novel here and while much of what he writes is interesting and entertaining, the works feel like it would mean more to the average Irishman and not completely interesting to those outside ol' emerald isle.
It did mean something to me personally, though, as one of the first shows that I did in Chicago was Faustus Kelly - in which I played the Englishman. And it felt odd that as I read the script again, I remembered very little from out production besides the Town Clerk - who just looks like Central Casting Town Clerk (and he was a clerk at the library) and one older gentleman whose lines almost always start and end with "I do, I do" (apparently not uncommon for someone from that section of Ireland. And I remember the guy who played him was always talking a big game ("yeah, it was a small role, only a hundred, hundred fifty lines or so" when in reality he rarely remember his own lines in that show. And he also had the habit of hearing about a prop we needed for the show, and saying "Oh geez, I wish you woulda told me - I got one of those in my garage"). It was also interesting that the opening scene shows Kelly signing with the devil and the director found it a little cheezy and cut it, but there isn't any way to figure out that he sold his soul until about 90% of the way through when the devil comes to take his due and Kelly and the other Irish trick him out of it. The parallels to Faust don't really work.
There is an interesting discussion on James Joyce in the final chapter.
Bottom line, it's a fun read, but not necessarily anything more than an Irish drunk who wrote it all down.
Sections of this book reminded me of that phrase. There are stories, essays and an unfinished novel here and while much of what he writes is interesting and entertaining, the works feel like it would mean more to the average Irishman and not completely interesting to those outside ol' emerald isle.
It did mean something to me personally, though, as one of the first shows that I did in Chicago was Faustus Kelly - in which I played the Englishman. And it felt odd that as I read the script again, I remembered very little from out production besides the Town Clerk - who just looks like Central Casting Town Clerk (and he was a clerk at the library) and one older gentleman whose lines almost always start and end with "I do, I do" (apparently not uncommon for someone from that section of Ireland. And I remember the guy who played him was always talking a big game ("yeah, it was a small role, only a hundred, hundred fifty lines or so" when in reality he rarely remember his own lines in that show. And he also had the habit of hearing about a prop we needed for the show, and saying "Oh geez, I wish you woulda told me - I got one of those in my garage"). It was also interesting that the opening scene shows Kelly signing with the devil and the director found it a little cheezy and cut it, but there isn't any way to figure out that he sold his soul until about 90% of the way through when the devil comes to take his due and Kelly and the other Irish trick him out of it. The parallels to Faust don't really work.
There is an interesting discussion on James Joyce in the final chapter.
Bottom line, it's a fun read, but not necessarily anything more than an Irish drunk who wrote it all down.
April 2, 2022
Not the best introduction to the flann, but a must-read if you're already a fan.
January 2, 2020
So I don't think this was the right place to start with this writer because I was lost half the time lol. The play Faustus Kelly had a few bright and humorous moments, showing the ludicrous scenes and personalities involved in politics, although I think there was some lost in translation moments for me so I couldn't fully enjoy it.
September 5, 2014
It was Rosetta Stone, a girl I know from Memphis, that once said "Sheesh. A Year without a pageant and I lose all of my high heel walking skills."
You've heard of the expression 'two-faced?' Well, add another face to that expression and then you've got Rosetta Stone.
Honestly.
One day she told me that her birthday was on March 27 and then yesterday at the temple she mentioned November 27 as her birthdate.
I would say "I don't know who to believe" except that phase doesn't work in this instance. However, to her credit, Rosetta Stone proved to be the crucial key to the process of decryption of encoded information that I needed in order to then exclaim "Be bad, but at least don't be a liar, a deceiver!”
Thanks Rosetta.
Anyway, both Bruce Springsteen and Toto wrote a song with your name as the title.
You've heard of the expression 'two-faced?' Well, add another face to that expression and then you've got Rosetta Stone.
Honestly.
One day she told me that her birthday was on March 27 and then yesterday at the temple she mentioned November 27 as her birthdate.
I would say "I don't know who to believe" except that phase doesn't work in this instance. However, to her credit, Rosetta Stone proved to be the crucial key to the process of decryption of encoded information that I needed in order to then exclaim "Be bad, but at least don't be a liar, a deceiver!”
Thanks Rosetta.
Anyway, both Bruce Springsteen and Toto wrote a song with your name as the title.
January 8, 2011
A collection of three stories and two short plays from Ireland's greatest living humorist. Faustus Kelly was produced at the Abbey Theatre in the 1940s and featured then up-and-coming actor Cyril Cusack (famous for his role in The Day of the Jackal). Slattery's Sago Saga was to be Flann's next novel following The Dalkey Archive, until the demon drink took him in 1966. It's a satirical marvel stretching beyond the provincialism of his other works, featuring an obscure form of starchy cereal. Only seven chapters were completed.
Worth a look for fans.
Worth a look for fans.
November 20, 2016
A collection of unpublished works, some duly so.
I didn't read Slattery's Sago Saga because I don't like the idea of reading something unfinished.
The rest is rather unequal, the short stories are fun and filled with a peculiar sense of the absurd —notably the one featuring a man who impersonates a... train— but the plays were very underwhelming and somewhat too... specifically Irish? to engage me. Certainly the weaker part of the book.
Finally, the short essay on Joyce —was it really about Joyce or an excuse to tell drinking jokes?— was hilarious and finished to convince me to read more from O'Nolan/O'Brien.
I didn't read Slattery's Sago Saga because I don't like the idea of reading something unfinished.
The rest is rather unequal, the short stories are fun and filled with a peculiar sense of the absurd —notably the one featuring a man who impersonates a... train— but the plays were very underwhelming and somewhat too... specifically Irish? to engage me. Certainly the weaker part of the book.
Finally, the short essay on Joyce —was it really about Joyce or an excuse to tell drinking jokes?— was hilarious and finished to convince me to read more from O'Nolan/O'Brien.
September 7, 2012
Odds and ends from O'Brien - unfinished novel, a couple of short plays, etc.
August 24, 2012
Some great short pieces by O'Brien, including his unfinished hilarious novel, Slattery's Sago Saga.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews