From the author of the classic novel 'At-Swim-Two-Birds' comes this ingenious tale which follows the mad and absurd ambitions of a scientist determined to destroy the world. Flann O'Brien's third novel, 'The Dalkey Archive' is a riotous depiction of the extraordinary events surrounding theologian and mad scientist De Selby's attempt to destroy the world by removing all the oxygen from the atmosphere. Only Michael Shaughnessy, 'a lowly civil servant', and James Joyce, alive and well and working as a barman in the nearby seaside resort of Skerries, can stop the inimitable De Selby in his tracks.
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'Flann O'Brien is inventive, his storytelling is swift and sure, making the eccentric seem natural and the commonplace hilarious.' The Times '"The Dalkey Archive" is worth every penny for the hilarious fourth chapter alone in which De Selby and his two drinking companions in aqualungs converse with St Augustine in an underwater cave off Dalkey seafront. A wicked yet affectionate satire on Irishry.' City Limits 'O'Brien's dialogue is keen and inspired, the prose lucid and sharp with a blend of lunatic improbable and seamless quotidian.' Irish Times
About the Author
Flann O'Brien was one of the many pseudonyms of Brian O'Nolan, author of the classic novel 'At-Swim- Two-Birds' and, under the name Myles na Gopaleen, writer of a celebrated satirical column in the Irish Times which appeared daily for almost thirty years. Highly praised by Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, amongst others, O'Brien is regarded as one of the great comic writers of the twentieth century. He died in 1966.
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By Jack Blatant
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I've heard Flann O'Brien compared with James Joyce many a time, and fair enough: O'Brien in some ways is almost like a shadow side of Joyce, a court jester who leaves you shaking your head at his ridiculous antics, and then sitting up in bed later that night as you see the message underneath those antics.
This book is my favourite of Flann O'Brien's. It doesn't contain my favourite scene of all time, but I find this the most evenly paced of the mad Irishman's work. The section where Saint Augustine argues that he is not black is my favourite part of the book, although it is really as a total (and totally bizarre) piece that this book has its strength. A good reminder of how ridiculous the world probably is.
This book is my favourite of Flann O'Brien's. It doesn't contain my favourite scene of all time, but I find this the most evenly paced of the mad Irishman's work. The section where Saint Augustine argues that he is not black is my favourite part of the book, although it is really as a total (and totally bizarre) piece that this book has its strength. A good reminder of how ridiculous the world probably is.
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book by my favourite Irish author. It has several plots all of which are very funny, although I think my personal favourite is the love triangle between Mary, Mick, and Hackett. It was also written after James Joyce had died so it is very interesting (and amusing) how he is miscast in this book. He is alive and in hiding for one thing. Joyce was actually an early champion of Flann's work so they might have been friends.
By Gaunilon
Format:Paperback
O'Brien is not a household name but he is a wag of the calibre of Oscar Wilde or even Joyce when Joyce wasn't taking himself too seriously. This is a classic but nearly unknown work. It does require some interest in traditional literary issues such as the history of church metaphysics, but only to give the basis of a good joke. Track this work down and read it, for the betterment of your wit and understanding.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Most Peculiarly Funny Books Ever Written
I first read "The Dalkey Archive" twenty years ago, while a graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin. Read more
Published on May 8 2002 by "botatoe"
5.0 out of 5 stars
O'Brien's hallucinatory vision of the Midwest
Flann O'Brien is well known among eireophiles and connoisseurs of high modernism alike for his hilarious literary forays, as he tilts at the absolute limits of language like a... Read more
Published on Oct 31 2001 by John Galton, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Logic of Laughter
I love Flann O'Brien in both his languages and all his names. No book has ever made me laugh as loud or as long as his An Beal Bocht/The Poor Mouth, but along with the laughter,... Read more
Published on July 9 2001 by J. S. Custer
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my all-time favorites
This is a charming, wonderful book, one of my all-time favorites. It's as quirky and funny as the rest of O'Brien's work; the underwater conversation that the two main characters... Read more
Published on May 2 2001 by James Nawrocki
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Most Peculiarly Funny Books Ever Written
I first read "The Dalkey Archive" twenty years ago, while a graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin. Read more
Published on Jun 28 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surreal Science Fiction and Outlandish Humor Combine
I don't recall reading an odder book than "The Dalkey Archive", with the possible exception of Wilson and Shea's "Illuminatus! Trilogy". Read more
Published on April 27 1998
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