“Is it about a bicycle?”

June 13, 2014 8:43 AM

Flann O'Brien: The Lives of Brian [VIMEO]: A documentary about Flann O'Brien aka Brian O'Nolan.

Brian O'Nolan (Irish: Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966) was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist, considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature.[1] His English language novels, such as At Swim-Two-Birds, and The Third Policeman, were written under the nom de plume Flann O'Brien. His many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish language novel An Béal Bocht were written under the name Myles na gCopaleen. [Wiki]

posted by Fizz (13 comments total)

Oh, I'm excited to see this. Thanks for posting!
posted by JohnLewis at 9:01 AM on June 13, 2014

I recommend the collections "Myles Before Myles", "The Best Of Myles" and "The Short Fiction Of Flann O'Brien" which are collections of short pieces, newspaper pieces and so on. Especially the ones under the heading 'The Brother' which I return to constantly.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:05 AM on June 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

I loved the Flann O'Brien novels. He not only made me laugh and laugh, he taught me to see the night dust as it falls at twilight and gets on everything.
posted by valetta at 9:09 AM on June 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

SO EXCITE. So few things are uproariously funny and also as intricate and poetic and deep and bright as Brian O'Nolan's output.
posted by beefetish at 9:46 AM on June 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

!!! I'm excited enough to finally let my bicycle come inside!
posted by Bromius at 10:06 AM on June 13, 2014 [8 favorites]

Looking forward to watching this. Anthony Cronin's biography, No Laughing Matter, is an excellent run-down of O'Nolan's talent and the diminishing uses to which it was turned, and Joseph O'Connor's piece on him a few years ago, "Our Unluckiest Genius," more or less nails the sadness behind a lot of his humor.
posted by bokane at 10:31 AM on June 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

At Swim-Two-Birds is a contender for my favorite novel ever. I can't watch this right now, but I am so looking forward to it. Just wanted to thank you for the post.
posted by trip and a half at 10:35 AM on June 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

I can't watch now and also thank you. The Third Policeman was amazing, but the writing in At Swim Two Birds was sometimes just beyond belief.
posted by marienbad at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

Watching now. A pint of plain is your only man. Thanks again.
posted by trip and a half at 1:29 PM on June 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

And btw, Anthony Cronin's "Dead as Doornails" is really interesting and funny as hell.
posted by sneebler at 3:56 PM on June 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

Thanks for this post! Love his work!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:10 PM on June 13, 2014

At-Swim is absolutely my favorite book in the world - thanks for this!
posted by Golem XIV at 9:08 AM on June 14, 2014

By an odd coincidence, I just read 'The Third Policeman' last week, and wrote a bit of a response on my blog. After knowing nothing about the guy for N+1 years, funny to see him come up on MeFi just as I finish reading one of his books.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:23 AM on June 14, 2014