Tento írsky autor je považovaný za kľúčovú postavu modernej írskej literatúry, známy svým bizarným humorom a modernistickou metafikciou. Jeho diela, ktoré často vychádzajú z absurdity života, skúmajú témy identity a reality s neobvyklou iróniou. Autor majstrovsky využíva jazyk a literárne konvencie na vytvorenie jedinečných, často znepokojujúcich svetov, ktoré čitateľov nútia prehodnotiť svoje vnímanie sveta.
Podtitul: mizerný příběh jednoho krušného osudu.
Nejlepší humoristický román napsaný v moderní irštině. Satira na přístup městských intelektuálů a úředníků k irsky mluvícímu venkovu, která paroduje mimo jiné autobiografické romány irských venkovanů (které se dají přirovnat k roli Babičky v osnovách našich škol). Nevysmívá se však jejich autorům, ale idealizování těchto textů a stereotypu, který na jejich základě vznikl. Knihu autor napsal irsky, pod pseudonymem Myles na gCopaleen; do angličtiny byla přeložena roku 1973.
Within the boudaries of this novel the reader will find: a murder thriller; a comic satire about an archetypal village police force; a surrealistic vision of eternity; the story of a tender, brief unrequited love affair between a man and his bicycle; and a chilling fable of unending guilt.
Flann O'Brien's innovative metafictional work, whose unruly characters strike out their own paths in life to the frustration of their author, At Swim-Two-Birds is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense published in Penguin Modern Classics. Flann O'Brien's first novel tells the story of a young, indolent undergraduate, who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dubin and spends far too much time drinking with his friends. When not drunk or in bed he likes to invent wild stories peoples with hilarious and unlikely characters - but somehow his creations won't do what he wants them to. A dazzling work of farce, satire, folklore and absurdity that gives full rein to its author's dancing intellect and Celtic wit, At Swim-Two-Birds is both a brilliant comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, and a portrayal of Dublin to compare with Joyce's Ulysses. Brian Ó Nualláin, (1911-1966), better known by his pseudonym Flann O'Brien, was born in Strabane, County Tyrone, and studied at University College Dublin before joining the Irish Civil Service. Ifyou enjoyed At Swim-Two-Birds, you might like Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'This is just the book to give your sister if she's a loud, dirty, boozy girl' Dylan Thomas 'That's a real writer, with the true comic spirit' James Joyce, author of Ulysses 'A brilliant, beer-soaked miniature masterpiece' Time
A collection of the best pieces from the first five years of Flann O'Brien's "Cruiskeen Lawn" column, the column he wrote for "The Irish Times" from 1940-66 under the name of Myles na Gopaleen.
Considered by the author to be almost a work of science fiction, the book includes among its "characters" St Augustine, James Joyce and a man who is in danger of turning into a bicycle. There is also the first published portrait of the mad scientist, who was later to achieve fame as de Selby.
The greatest satirical Irish writer of the twentieth-century turns his attention to the garrulous Irish and vividly captures the wit, extravagance and glory of their talk.
