Imaginative brilliance

Would you consider the audio edition of The Third Policeman to be better than the print version?

Jim Norton is the best reader of audiobooks bar none. His reading of Ulysses is a revelation - making the book readable to me for the first time, but this is also inspiring - and very very funny for O'Brien's tale is a wonderful demonstration of how to make a nonsensical and unfilmable plot into something tangible and compelling. It is a perfect demonstration of how the requirements of logic can appear to be suspended and yet still operating at a narrative level. Totally brilliant all round.

8 people found this helpful

Terrific reading of a great book

Any additional comments?

This is one of the two or three best audiobooks I've yet heard (Julian Rhind-Tutt's Master and Margarita and Anthony Heald's Crime and Punishment both being worth a mention as well.) I'd actually recommend this above just reading the book straight, because Jim Norton's command southern Irish accents and total understanding of the text bring out the humour in a way no voice in your head is likely to. Someone should drag this man bodily back into the studio and MAKE him record At Swim-Two-Birds.

As for the book itself... well, it's possibly the weirdest book I know. Kind of Crime and Punishment meets Alice with a hint of Father Ted thrown into the mix. I think it's a (slightly flawed) masterpiece, others think it's a mess. But even if it doesn't hold together for you, it's probably still worth it just for some absolutely fabulous flights of the comic imagination.

7 people found this helpful

Get On Your Bike For A Ride Into The Surreal

An insane, comic allegory read by Father Ted's Bishop Brennan? What's not to like?

A beautifully crafted tale of the absurd that can only come from an Irish mind; lyrical, comical, and wonderfully visual.

A young man returns home to an unusual set of circumstances which seems to accept with disinterest and good grace as he is too engrossed in the study of the works of the fictional scientist/philosopher de Selby. Finally, when his crooked tenant declares that they are short on cash and suggests they rob & murder a local misery, our protagonist appears to willing go along with the scheme. Things take a strange turn when, eventually, the tenant agrees to divide up the stolen loot and lets our 'hero' fetch it from where it has been hidden. He then embarks upon a strange journey involving bicycle-obsessed policeman that inhabit buildings desperately short of dimensions. All the way through there are references and cross-references to scholars of the works of de Selby, and the intense and almost violent rivalries between them, which form a backdrop to the main story.

This book is almost a rite of passage for any fan of the comically absurd and Jim Norton is the ideal and logical choice. In fact, upon listening, one couldn't imagine anyone else reading it. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

3 people found this helpful

On a Different Planet . . .

Many reviews have been written about this title elsewhere on the web, so there seems little point in going into granular detail of what it?s about here. Just visit them and I think you?ll get the general picture. As for my opinion of it ? to be honest I?m left in two minds. I started off loving it, then hated it and at the end couldn?t really decide whether I?d enjoyed it or not! Yes, without doubt it?s strange, immensely clever, original (almost a forerunner to Father Ted in some of the more comic elements - guessing a stranger?s name immediately springs to mind for those of you who are fans of the series) and contains some of the best writing I have ?listened to?. The narration is also first rate (yet another Father Ted connection here too).

However, it could just be me but parts of this simply bored the pants off of me. I normally get through a lengthy (12 hours) audio book in a week or two but this one took me over a month and its just under seven hours long! The reason - well there?s only so much otherworldly ?nonsense? you can listen to and not let your thoughts drift off. If you let that happen then you loose the plot of course (not that I?m sure that really matters at times in this case) and have to 'rewind' or take a break from it.

So ? should you get this? It?s difficult to say really. I think some will absolutely love it and others hate it. To be honest its complete rubbish but then again wonderful rubbish ? I?m not being very helpful here am I? Oh go on, if you want to try something different then give it a go and see how you feel at the end of it ? what?s a few quid eh? Now I know how it ends I may even have a re-listen to see how it all pieces together. How many audio books can you say that about? I think I must have liked it (probably)!

12 people found this helpful

An Oddity

As has been mentioned on another review, this book is not the usual fayre and thus has been received by many with mixed feelings.



It's an odd read: strange happenings - a lot involving bicycles - in pursuit of ill gotten gains. Treachery abounds in a place populated by unusual souls. I kind of understood the main character's predicament and so there were no suprises in the ending for me.



This version is well narrated, though I may have had the occasional quibble with pronunciation. There are footnotes in this book (be warned!) mostly relating to the work of a fictional scientist and philosopher, de Selby, which interrupt the storyline and I'm not sure how these contribute to the plot - really - but Mr Norton deals with these deftly.



I'm not sure I could recommend this book; it certainly held my interest on long, boring commutes, but is that really a recommendation? I don't think I would intentionally sit down to read it; in fact, I've had a hard copy on my bookshelves for a few years now never having passed the first page. Still, the audio was pleasant, but it truly was an odd choice of material.



If you want something weird, odd, strange and befuddling, this is the audio book for you.

2 people found this helpful

A tricky man with a tricky pipe!

What made the experience of listening to The Third Policeman the most enjoyable?

Wonderful language and beautifully pitched narration. Lovely use of odd descriptive terms

What did you like best about this story?

The use of language and the characters. Its not about the destination....its all about the journey

Have you listened to any of Jim Norton’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Like the lovechild of Father Ted and The Guard on acid

Any additional comments?

Flann O'Brien wrote extensively in an Irish version of English. The odd grammar reflects elements of Irish sentence structure that helps imbue the language with extra absurdity. Its a shame that the influence of the Irish language will be superceded by the cocacolanistion of Ireland (and the UK) by the dominant American media culture

4 people found this helpful

Be prepared

Don't listen to this if your are in anyway depressed. Its about your brain death and from my experience of deathbeds its spot on. A masterpiece and very well read. Black humour.

1 person found this helpful

cycling <br />

Probably the best cycling book ever written.
dont ride your bike again until you have read this book

1 person found this helpful

Surreal and brilliant

I actually got this book by accident and I thought I would give it a go anyway.
it is and absolutely bizarre read and is highly recommended.
I don't want to say anymore as it will give too much away.

A Comic Joy

I read this book years ago, always looking back on it fondly, so I thought I would refresh my memory of it with the Audible version ... I'm so glad I did. The surreal comedy is enhanced enormously by being rendered in the native Irish Brogue, brilliantly performed by Jim Norton (Father Ted's Bishop Brennan). That said it is the writing where the true comic genius lies. It's worth the entry fee just hear the police sergeant expound on his 'atomic theory' ... it is just a delicious sensation to read/listen to this highly amusing nonsense. The book is just chock-a-block full hilarious dialogue, situations and ideas ... an absolute treat from beginning to end. I can't recommend it highly enough.