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Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works
Science-fiction & fantasy literature: a critical list with discussions.
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This is a brief discussion of Flann O’Brien and, of course, of some speculative-fiction books by O’Brien.
This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by O’Brien: it includes only those books that I both know and like. Just as with the author list itself, omission of a particular item may mean I didn’t think highly enough of the omitted item, or it may simply mean that I have not yet sufficient familiarity with it. (In a very few cases, I have listed some books merely on the strength of my opinion of the author: all such books are clearly marked below, as throughout these lists, with a hash mark (#) before the title so you know what’s what.)
I don’t pretend that this discussion is a deep analysis. My intent is no more than to give you a rough idea of what kinds of tales O’Brien tells, how those tales are usually told, and what makes them and O’Brien worthy; in sum, to help you rank Flann O’Brien (and the works by O’Brien listed here) on your personal literary “to do” list.
Note: “Flann O’Brien” was a pen name of Irish author Brian Ó Nualláin [or Brian O’Nolan), who also wrote extensively as “Myles Na Gopaleen”.
Regrettably, I have not yet had an opportunity to write an essay on this author, but the “Other Resources” section below will lead you to some information about the “Notable Books” listed farther down this page.
Considering that for decades Flann O’Brien was a more or less “lost” author, there is now—gratifyingly, if all of a sudden—an explosion of material about him and his oeuvre on the web, so much so that it’s easiest to present it in tabular form. I have tried in this list to stick to pages that say at least something meaningful about thr works, but even so, well, just look at it. Here those pages are, in more or less random order—but be aware that most have spoilers (read the books, then read these analyses):
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