The Third Policeman

Title: The Third Policeman
Author: Flann O'Brien

What it's about: An unnamed narrator goes on a search for a black box that belonged to the man he murdered. He's joined by his soul named Joe, and his search takes him to a two-dimensional police station that's staffed by three policemen with interesting foibles. Our friend learns a lot about bicycles, atomic theory, and the nature of the universe.

What I thought: You wanna know just how far out this book is? I got high from reading it. Okay, well, seriously, this book is a trip and a half. It's very readable in that the language is simple and unpretentious. The main thing that gave me trouble was just wrapping my mind around the sheer weirdness of O'Brien's imaginings. However, they're very creative things that he comes up with, connecting bicycles with atomic theory, the idea of a two-dimensional police house, that whole underground place. I mean, what is this I don't even. The digressions about de Selby are very amusing, too. But, jeez, holy extended footnotes, Batman!

Overall: Very weird, and not the easiest thing to read. However, this is entertaining and worthwhile overall.