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Keith Hopper

Flann O'Brien

Short Fiction of Flann O'Brien (Irish Literature) Paperback – August 15, 2013

by Flann O'Brien (Author), Neil Murphy (Editor), Keith Hopper (Editor),

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This riotous collection at last gathers together an expansive selection of Flann O'Brien's shorter fiction in a single volume, as well as O'Brien's last and unfinished novel, "Slattery's Sago Saga." Also included are new translations of several stories originally published in Irish, and other rare pieces. With some of these stories appearing here in book form for the very first time, and others previously unavailable for decades, "Short Fiction" is a welcome gift for every Flann O'Brien fan worldwide.

Print length

159 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dalkey Archive Press
Publication date

August 15, 2013
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches
ISBN-10

156478889X
ISBN-13

978-1564788894
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Irish late modernist writer O'Brien (The Third Policeman, At Swim Two Birds, The Poor Mouth) wrote in Gaelic under the name Brian Ó Nualláin, and in English as Brother Barnabus, Myles na gCopaleen, Lir O'Connor, and Brian Nolan, among others. This present collection contains work from many of these known pseudonymns, with Gaelic stories in translation, as well as the unfinished novel, Slattery's Sago Saga. The variety taken together displays a playful, sardonic voice that is charmingly self-conscious in its invention. In "Scenes in a Novel," for instance, O'Brien's narrator is an author who must reckon with the rebellious characters of a novel he is writing, particularly his anti-hero Carruthers McDaid, "a man…created one night when had swallowed nine stouts and vaguely blasphemous." The story "Two in One" is narrated by Murphy, a taxidermist's assistant who attempts to hide the murder of his boss by wearing the deceased's skin, eventually fusing with it, only to be imprisoned for the crime of killing himself. Mirroring his own ambiguous approach to identity, a myriad cast of characters and voices seem to all jostle for attention, delightful in their assurance that "ot everything in story is as unbelievable as it may seem." (Aug.)

About the Author

Flann O'Brien, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, also wrote under the pen name of Myles na Gopaleen. He was born in 1911 in County Tyrone. A resident of Dublin, he graduated from University College after a brilliant career as a student (editing a magazine called Blather) and joined the Civil Service, in which he eventually attained a senior position. He wrote throughout his life, which ended in Dublin on April 1, 1966. His other novels include The Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman, The Hard Life, and The Poor Mouth, all available from Dalkey Archive Press. Also available are three volumes of his newspaper columns: The Best of Myles, Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn, and At War.

Keith Hopper teaches Literature and Film Studies for Oxford University s Department for Continuing Education and for St Clare s International College, Oxford. He is general editor of the "Ireland into Film" series (2001-2007).

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dalkey Archive Press (August 15, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 159 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 156478889X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1564788894
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21,017 in Short Stories (Books)

Customer Reviews:
41 ratings

About the authors

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Keith Hopper
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Keith Hopper teaches Literature and Film Studies for Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education and is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Irish Studies at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham. He is general editor of the Ireland into Film series (2001-2007), and co-editor (with Neil Murphy) of The Short Fiction of Flann O’Brien (Dalkey Archive Press, 2013).
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Flann O'Brien
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Flann O'Brien, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, also wrote under the pen name of Myles na Gopaleen. He was born in 1911 in County Tyrone. A resident of Dublin, he graduated from University College after a brilliant career as a student (editing a magazine called Blather) and joined the Civil Service, in which he eventually attained a senior position.
He wrote throughout his life, which ended in Dublin on April 1, 1966. His other novels include The Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman, The Hard Life, and The Poor Mouth, all available from Dalkey Archive Press. Also available are three volumes of his newspaper columns: The Best of Myles, Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn, and At War.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

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John D. Johnson

We need more Irish humor. Who doesn't?

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fabulous. Funny. Irish. What more can you desire?

One person found this helpful

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alexaSnow7

Good Stories.

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015

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a must read if you enjoy O'Brien. still too short for my taste though.

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NumbersBand15-60-75

A Practical Take from the Armchair

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2014

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If you are already well-versed, if that's possible, in Flann O'Brien's writings and wish to expand a bit more, certainly purchase it. However, if you are less acquainted with his body of work, start elsewhere.

6 people found this helpful

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Guttersnipe Das

Required reading for fans of Flann O'Brien

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2013

The Short Fiction of Flann O’Brien

Edited by Neil Murphy and Keith Hopper
Translations from the Irish by Jack Fennell
Dalkey Archive, 2013

Often a collection of short fiction is the place to start if you wish you wish to begin to discover a writer unfamiliar to you. For example, you could begin to explore Joyce with Dubliners, or Beckett with the Complete Short Prose. Not so in this case. This book is for fans and scholars. If you are not yet a fan, you will be shortly, but please: start with At Swim, Two Birds.

That said, Dalkey Archive has done great service by rescuing these stories. Several of them are so vivid and appealing that I expect that they will now be anthologized for as long as the human race hangs on. I am thinking of “John Duffy’s Brother” and especially “Scenes in a Novel”, which experiments with the device of characters in rebellion against their novel, prefiguring At Swim, Two Birds.

The story that impressed me most was “Drink and Time in Dublin” -- a relentless and unsparing account of going on a bender. My god, but the man tells a lot of the truth. (When I visited the Writer’s Museum in Dublin, I went up to the attendant and said very earnestly that I wished to visit all the places in Dublin associated with the life of Flann O’Brien. The gentleman shook his head at me and said, “You couldn’t possibly, you’d die a’ alcohol poisoning.”)

“Slattery’s Sago Saga”, the forty-one page manuscript of O’Brien’s last unfinished novel -- about a plan to remove all the potatoes from Ireland and replace them with sago -- is a joy and a frolic. If there turns out to be an afterlife, you will find me in the pub of that establishment, begging Flann O’Brien to tell me the rest of the story.

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mike I London

Flann and Myles before Flann and Myles

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2013

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This book is a well edited collection of short works (and an unfinished novel) by the great O' Brien. It might appeal more to Flanneurs than to an audience less versed in O' Brien's style. I was glad to be able to read a good number of texts by Flann before Flann, where the genius of his later works shines through. The translations from the Irish are very good, and provide a missing link between Flann's English language novels and An Beal Bocht. Warmly recommended

7 people found this helpful