The Third Policeman
The Third Policeman is a novel by Irish writer Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It was written in 1939 and 1940, but after it initially failed to find a publisher, the author withdrew the manuscript from circulation and claimed he had lost it. The book remained unpublished at the time of his death in 1966. It was published by MacGibbon & Kee in 1967.[1][2]
Author
English
1967
Ireland
Print (hardback & paperback)
212 pp
823/.912 21
PR6029.N56 T48 1999
Allusions in other works[edit]
The Third Policeman was featured in a 2005 episode of television series Lost with the intent of providing context for the show's complex mythology,[40] with the result that sales of the book in the three weeks following its mention equalled what it had sold in the preceding six years.[41]
John Cooper Clarke's nonsense prose poem, "Ten years in an open necked shirt" contains the line "What with the drink trade on its last legs and the land running fallow for the want of artificial manures",[42] the same line John Divney uses in the book to explain their lack of funds.
A book cover of the Norwegian book edition is displayed in the last scene of the movie Next Door (2005).[43]
Irish musician Hozier referenced The Third Policeman in the tracks De Selby (Part 1) and De Selby (Part 2) on his 2023 album Unreal Unearth.[44]
Adaptations[edit]
The book was adapted by the Ridiculusmus theatre company. Premiered at Aras na nGael, London in 1992 and toured in repertory until 1997.
The book was adapted for an open-air theatre production by Miracle Theatre in 2017,[45] with The Stage judging it to be an "Enjoyably absurd and inventively staged alfresco summer theatre".[46]