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Flann O'Brien

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The Dalkey Archive Paperback – September 1, 2006

by Flann O'Brien (Author)

4.2 97 ratings

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Hailed as "the best comic fantasy since "Tristram Shandy" upon its publication in 1964, "The Dalkey Archive," is Flann O'Brien's fifth and final novel; or rather (as O'Brien wrote to his editor), "The book is not meant to be a novel or anything of the kind but a study in derision, various writers with their styles, and sundry modes, attitudes and cults being the rats in the cage." Among the targets of O'Brien's derision are religiosity, intellectual abstractions, J. W. Dunne's and Albert Einstein's views on time and relativity, and the lives and works of Saint Augustine and James Joyce, both of whom have speaking parts in the novel. Bewildering? Yes, but as O'Brien insists, "a measure of bewilderment is part of the job of literature."

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dalkey Archive Press
Publication date

September 1, 2006
Dimensions

5.52 x 0.65 x 8.51 inches
ISBN-10

1564781720
ISBN-13

978-1564781727
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“ The Dalkey Archive is witty, sly, outrageous, and the characters remind one at times of Nabokov or De Vries.” (Texture)

“Flann O'Brien is unquestionably a major author. His work, like that of Joyce, is so layered as to be almost Dante-esque . . . Joyce and Flann O'Brien assault your brain with words, style, magic, madness, and unlimited invention.” (Anthony Burgess)

“Dalkey Archive [Press] has made one reader very happy and likely will intoxicate many others with Flann O'Brien's fine brew of malt, salt, air, heady ideas and rich, ripe prose.” (Chicago Tribune)

“The undoubted humor of [The Dalkey Archive] derives as much from Mr. O'Brien's facile use of language as from the play of his fertile imagination . . . not to be missed.” (Library Journal)

“It is increasingly clear that O'Brien is Ireland's finest novelist after Joyce.” (Boston Sunday Globe)

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dalkey Archive Press; 2nd edition (September 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1564781720
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1564781727
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.52 x 0.65 x 8.51 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,491,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,459 in Dark Humor
- #16,147 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #62,417 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 97 ratings

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Flann O'Brien

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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.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

97 global ratings

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Jeff Cochran

Fantastic

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2012

Verified Purchase

I'm biased. Love this book. Love this author. Cannot get enough.

What really got me about this book? Believe it or not, it was the ending. The pages between the covers were hysterical as well, but the... well, I better not ruin it. Just read the %^*$ book.

4 people found this helpful

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gary farrell

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

Not Flann O'Briens best work, draws on the then unpublished Third Policeman, but still most interesting and amusing.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Bill Buchanan

The government needs to do more for pigs because of the rain.

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2018

The Dalkey Archive, The Poor Mouth and the Third Policeman are three of the most brilliant and funny books in the English language to those of us who are like that.
Some people are not.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

A flawed pastiche -- not Myles at his best

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2006

Taken on its own, "The Dalkey Archive" is a funny, brilliant, innovative piece of work. But readers familiar with "The Third Policeman" will recognize that "Archive" is a bowdlerised, compromised pastiche of "Policeman" that Myles released after the failure of the far greater book to find a publisher. Only Mylesean scholars need pursue it -- for all other interested readers, read "The Third Policeman" and ignore "The Dalkey Archive".

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Pat Magee

One of the Most Peculiarly Funny Books I've Ever Read

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2006

I first read "The Dalkey Archive" twenty-six years ago, while a graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin. It struck me then, as it strikes me now upon re-reading it (for the second time), as one of the most peculiarly funny books I've ever read. It combines elements of original lunacy and weird science with the resonating touchstones of a uniquely Irish comic sensibility. The story is driven by the madcap schemes of a character named De Selby, who describes himself as "a theologist and a physicist, sciences which embrace many others such as eschatology and astrognosy." De Selby invents a substance which removes all oxygen from the atmosphere (a substance he calls "DMP", the acronym for the Dublin Metropolitan Police) and then discovers that a deoxygenated atmosphere cancels the serial nature of time. The plot moves on from there, with Mick Shaughnessy, a "lowly civil servant", engaging the local constable to help him save the world from De Selby's scheme to deoxygentate the world's atmosphere. In the course of things, "The Dalkey Archive" contains two of the funniest chapters ever written (Chapters 4 and 9): one in which De Selby, Mick Shaughnessy and a drinking companion named Hackett, clad in aqualungs, talk to Saint Augustine (his "Dublin accent was unmistakable") about arcane theological doctrines and the Church Fathers in an underwater cave; the other in which Sergeant Fottrell, the constable, explains to Mick his "Mollycule Theory", the theory that people's personalities become mixed up with those of bicycles through the pounding of man and machine while pedaling down bumpy Irish country roads ("a process of prolonged carnal intercussion"). Along the way, Mick discovers that James Joyce is alive, well and bartending in the small coastal town of Skerries. Need I say more? "The Dalkey Archive" is a work of startling wit and originality, one of my comic favorites!

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

One of the Most Peculiarly Funny Books Ever Written

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2002

I first read "The Dalkey Archive" twenty years ago, while a graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin. It struck me then, as it strikes me now upon re-reading it, as one of the most peculiarly funny books I've ever read. It combines elements of original lunacy and weird science with the resonating touchstones of a uniquely Irish comic sensibility. The story is driven by the madcap schemes of a character named De Selby, who describes himself as "a theologist and a physicist, sciences which embrace many others such as eschatology and astrognosy." De Selby invents a substance which removes all oxygen from the atmosphere (a substance he calls "DMP", the acronym for the Dublin Metropolitan Police) and then discovers that a deoxygenated atmosphere cancels the serial nature of time. The plot moves on from there, with Mick Shaughnessy, a "lowly civil servant", engaging the local constable to help him save the world from De Selby's scheme to deoxygentate the world's atmosphere. In the course of things, "The Dalkey Archive" contains two of the funniest chapters ever written (Chapters 4 and 9): one in which De Selby, Mick Shaughnessy and a drinking companion named Hackett, clad in aqualungs, talk to Saint Augustine (his "Dublin accent was unmistakable") about arcane theological doctrines and the Church Fathers in an underwater cave; the other in which Sergeant Fottrell, the constable, explains to Mick his "Mollycule Theory", the theory that people's personalities become mixed up with those of bicycles through the pounding of man and machine while pedaling down bumpy Irish country roads ("a process of prolonged carnal intercussion"). Along the way, Mick discovers that James Joyce is alive, well and bartending in the small coastal town of Skerries. Need I say more? "The Dalkey Archive" is a work of startling wit and originality, one of my comic favorites!

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

BARnone

Funny.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2022

Verified Purchase

A masterpiece. Captivating and hilarious. I somehow identify strongly with the main character. It's no surprise that the publishers initially didn't like it as too bizarre a story but the combination of the everyday humdrum and the incredible constitute the story's attraction.
Desperately want to visit Dalkey now!

One person found this helpful

Samantha Doyle

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

All fine and on time

pgm3

Definitive postmodern literature which is actually fun to read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

A classic, neo-scifi tale Lem would have been proud to have written, but Joyce would have too. That's the sort of writer O'Nolan was. These are not the tortured explorations of a troubled soul (though O'Nolan had his problems); these are the hilarious camfire tales of a superhuman imagination.

2 people found this helpful

craig mckechnie

Skerries

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

I fell 8n love with flank in my 20s and this has to be his most splendid work surreal yes but surprisingly very philosophically deep.

One person found this helpful

noel nolan

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

very enjoyable book typical Flann

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