"The Third Policeman"
by Flann O'Brien
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Policeman-Harper-Perennial-Modern-Classics/dp/0007247176/
Reading history and reviews
Finished in 2007
I bought this and The Prestige as holiday reading for my holiday with Kyle in Myrtle Beach - I think we both had a vision of sitting on the beach whiling away many quiet hours reading and relaxing (when in reality we spent most of our time playing miniature golf).
Instead I started reading "The Third Policeman" on the plane back from New Jersey, wow it is a strange and fascinating read where the plot seems almost incidental to the various happenings in the book. In places it feels genuinely disturbing, but there is also lots of humour. I was reminded a bit of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, although it's been a long time since I read that.
The reason that I'd even heard about "The Third Policeman" was because it had been mentioned in the context of the TV series "Lost", and certainly many of the themes and ideas seemed familiar or at least have an echo in the TV programme. However I don't know that I feel it has explained anything particularly. Still to quote a quote from "Lost" scriptwriter and producer Craig Wright (from the notes at the end of my edition of the book): "... fans who bravely decide to delve into O'Brien's world '... will have read a really great book.'"Finished on 3rd August 2016
Finished on 22nd September 2023