The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 I read in USA Today that the split second glimpse of the book "The Third Policeman" which you saw while Jack retrieved the film can is very influential in the storyline. THE THIRD POLICEMAN is Flann O'Brien's brilliant comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botche d robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where he is intruduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and the view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." TITLE: The Third Policeman AUTHOR: Flann O`Brien PUBLISHER: Plume ISBN: 0-452-25912-6 This is one of the strangest novels I have ever read. It was written in about 1940, but not published until 1967, a year or two after the author`s death. O`Brien is a pseudonym for the Irish writer Brian O`Nolan, who was also a celebrated newspaper columnist using the name Myles na gCopaleen, the latter name apparently Gaelic. O`Brien`s masterpiece is At Swim-Two-Birds, which was published in 1939. A selection of his "Myles" columns is also well-regarded. However, The Third Policeman is what I saw in the bookstore when I went looking for something by O`Brien, and it wasn`t a bad choice. This novel is quite funny, quite absurd, and, at bottom, very disturbing. The narrator is a very unpleasant man, who announces in the first sentence "Not everybody knows how I killed old Phillip Mathers, smashing his jaw in with my spade;" not only is he a murderer, but a very lazy man who ruins his family farm, and spends his life researching the works of a madman named De Selby, who believes that, among other things, darkness is an hallucination, the result of accretions of black air. The narrator relates his early life briefly, leading up to his association with another unsavory character, John Divney, who parasitically moves in with the narrator and helps squander his inheritance. Divney and the narrator plot to kill their neighbor, Phillip Mathers, to steal his money. After the murder they decide to leave the money for a while until the coast clears: however they distrust each other so much that they never leave each others company. Finally they go to Mathers`s house to fetch the strongbox with his money: then Divney sends the narrator ahead to the house alone, while he stands lookout, and things get very strange! The narrator meets Phillip Mathers, acquires a sort of soul which he calls "Joe", and sets out looking for three mysterious policemen. The first two are easily found, and the narrator discusses bicycles, boxes, and other unusual subjects with these policemen. Finally they decide to hang him (for bicycle theft, I think), but he is rescued by the league of one-legged men (the narrator himself has but one leg). He returns to Mathers` house where he encounters the third policeman, and eventually is reunited with John Divney. The above summary, obviously, does not represent the action or interest of the book at all. The book is full of off-the-wall philosophical speculations, some based on the mad works of De Selby, others original to the policeman (the latter including a theory about bicycles and their riders which has to be read to be appreciated, also a mysterious trip to an underground cavern where anything you can imagine can be created). There are a lot of footnotes discussing De Selby and the controversy surrounding his work: these make the book somewhat reminiscent of Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (also reminiscent in being the first-person narrative of an insane murderer). I`m sorry, I`m running out of time, but this is a very different book which I strongly recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien By no means recently published, Flann O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 By Patrick T. Reardon Chicago Tribune CHICAGO -- Talk about a strange cultural pairing. It would be difficult to think of a better example of mainstream American entertainment than the hit ABC show "Lost," about plane-crash survivors on a mysterious island. Last season, an average of nearly 17 million viewers watched the Emmy-winning show's 25 episodes. As many or more are expected for the second season. By contrast, the Illinois-based Dalkey Archive Press is famous in literary circles for publishing experimental and avant-garde books. The firm is lucky if it sells 90,000 books in a year. Yet, the TV show may bring an unusual bounty this fall to the 21-year-old company, headquartered on the Illinois State University campus in Normal. On Oct. 5, one of Dalkey's books -- a 1999 reprint of the comic novel "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien, an Irish writer who died in 1966 -- "will be prominently featured at a key moment" in the third episode of this season of "Lost," says Craig Wright, who wrote the script with Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Normally, that wouldn't mean a lot. Who watches television dramas to get tips on what to read? But "Lost" is decidedly not normal. It's filled with odd and unexpected plot twists -- for instance, the sudden appearance of a polar bear on the castaways' South Pacific island. And no one on the island, or in the television audience, is ever quite sure what's going on. Indeed, in the search for clues, "Lost" fans have latched onto every aspect of the show, from the numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42) a character named Hurley used to win the lottery back home, to a Spanish-language comic book of Flash and the Green Lantern ("Faster Friends") that another of the survivors was seen reading. And it's borne fruit. That polar bear? Well, by tracking down and reading a copy of the comic, fans learned that the appearance of the bear is one of several events on the island that also happen in the Flash-Green Lantern story. So, when a character named Sawyer got to reading "Watership Down," by Richard Adams, and later Madeleine L'Engle's children's book "A Wrinkle in Time," aficionados grabbed the books and scoured them for meaning. Adams' 1972 bestseller is about rabbits fleeing a developer and seeking a safe haven, while L'Engle's work, published in 1962, deals with space and time travel. So one or both may provide a pivotal insight into where the series is going and how it will turn out. Or they may not. Wright and the other writers and producers on "Lost" are coy about the significance -- or lack of significance -- of such hints. After all, it certainly helps build up the show's aura of mystery. Consider O'Brien's book from Dalkey. "This book," Wright says, "was chosen very specifically for a reason." It's narrated by a dead man, although the reader doesn't learn this until the end of the book. A red herring, perhaps? Or a telling hint? Wright won't say. What he will say is: "Whoever goes out and buys the book will have a lot more ammunition in their back pocket as they theorize about the show. They will have a lot more to speculate about -- and, no small thing, they will have read a really great book." Wright is a fan of Dalkey and the work it does, keeping great works from the margins of popularity in print. And officials at the press are betting his use of the book on the show will reap them a windfall. "It's going to be huge," says Chad Post, development director at the press. Of course, "huge" at Dalkey isn't exactly earth-shaking at most publishing houses. At Harper Perennial, part of the massive HarperCollins organization, publicist Leslie Cohen says no one's noticed any big sales jump in "Watership Down" because of its appearance on "Lost." Indeed, she was unaware that it had been featured on the show. But the Adams book has sold well for more than 30 years and is a staple of high-school English classes. A sales rise due to "Lost" might not be noticeable. That's not the case at Dalkey. In its first two printings over the past six years, "The Third Policeman" sold nearly 15,000 copies -- one of the biggest sellers in the publishing house's history. But now, in anticipation of the "Lost" appearance, the firm has ordered up a new batch of 10,000 copies. Post is hoping that 8,000 of those copies will be sold to the show's fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 well im glad i got a few answers from this episode. ok heres my take: a slave ship crashed on the island long ago and the others are decendants oh forget it :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Jesus where is everyone at?? These past 2 weeks have been huge. Did anyone else notice that when Hurley was dreaming of feeding his fat face and drinking the milk, Walt's picture was on the 'missing child' ad on the side of the carton??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 i did not notice that.... i thought last nights eps sucked! it went nowhere. f hurley. this show is getting to be like carnival on hbo, interesting but going nowhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfe Jet Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 DK, I couldn't disagree more - there was lots in last night's ep, dude. Maybe you haven't gotten all the way caught up yet, because a lot of things were subtle... - Walt on the Milk carton was coooool - Hurley's boss Randy - same actor that played Locke's boss Randy in Season 1 - same character!?! - All of the bunkers like the Swan are on this island (with the exception of 1 that's underwater, imo.) - What's killing the tail-enders?!?! - Sun giving up hope on Jin, buries her wedding ring w/the bottle - Welcome Bernard - Kate in a nice short towel... Lots of good stuff in there last night. A new website has emerged at mrclucks.com... check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHJF Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 What's killing the tail-enders?!?! I have this theory: They're on 2 separate islands. Remember, Locke, Michael and Jin floated in on raft debris. Who's to say they landed back on THE island? Also, if you remember the film that Jack and Locke watched in the hatch, there are 5 outposts in the Dharma Initiative. I believe the tail-enders are in a different hatch on a different island: Outpost 1, 2, 4, or 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 in all fairness my little doggy has kidney failure and ive been a wreck with no sleep and i watched it with one eye closed. i tivoed it so ill check it out again. heres a tidbit: my wife says that the symbol is a common thing is brasil. people put them by the door to ward off bad energies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfe Jet Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 A new theory I just heard about the "udders": In the "orientation" film, we see the 2 grad students at the Univ of Michigan behind the Dharma Initiative, the DeGroots - a dark haired, bearded man, sitting at opposite facing desks with a light haired woman.... Could these 2 people be the same as on the boat that takes Walt?? Bearded man "We'll have to take the boy..." & the fair haired "woman" that throws the explosive onto the raft?? They appear to be 20+ years older than on the film.... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 A new theory I just heard about the "udders": In the "orientation" film, we see the 2 grad students at the Univ of Michigan behind the Dharma Initiative, the DeGroots - a dark haired, bearded man, sitting at opposite facing desks with a light haired woman.... Could these 2 people be the same as on the boat that takes Walt?? Bearded man "We'll have to take the boy..." & the fair haired "woman" that throws the explosive onto the raft?? They appear to be 20+ years older than on the film.... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... I looked for the pic...they are different people...Actually...the guy who was driving the boat that took walt....is the alos playing the guy who desmond took over for...coincidence? This is by far my favorite TV show..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 I use this Lost Message Board....It's pretty cool. http://lost-forum.com/index.php?styleid=31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlugORama99 Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 The first thing I thought of when they brought Sawyer, Jin and Michael back to the "tail-enders" hideout was that they ate the rest of the 23 people. Anyone else get that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 The first thing I thought of when they brought Sawyer, Jin and Michael back to the "tail-enders" hideout was that they ate the rest of the 23 people. Anyone else get that? I thought for sure something ate them....but not the passangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 This show rocks. Nice message board Smizzy. Good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gg Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 ok i just watched it on tivo..it was a crazy week! WOW! love the show. Interesting that Rose and Benard are an interracial couple. That is still not a common thing on tv nowadays... how many of you were surprised at that? hurley rocks!!! dk... i hope your doggie is ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 The first thing I thought of when they brought Sawyer, Jin and Michael back to the "tail-enders" hideout was that they ate the rest of the 23 people. Anyone else get that? thats sick i never thought that. thanks for ruining it :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 ok i just watched it on tivo..it was a crazy week! WOW! love the show. Interesting that Rose and Benard are an interracial couple. That is still not a common thing on tv nowadays... how many of you were surprised at that? hurley rocks!!! dk... i hope your doggie is ok so do i, thanks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 ok i just watched it on tivo..it was a crazy week! WOW! love the show. Interesting that Rose and Benard are an interracial couple. That is still not a common thing on tv nowadays... how many of you were surprised at that? hurley rocks!!! dk... i hope your doggie is ok I think its great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 Am I the only one that hates Hurley??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alk Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Am I the only one that hates Hurley??? I actually hated him early on but I'm starting to like him more now. I was laughing my ass off when he was about to blow all the food up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alk Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 The first thing I thought of when they brought Sawyer, Jin and Michael back to the "tail-enders" hideout was that they ate the rest of the 23 people. Anyone else get that? That was the first thing that popped into my head too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Am I the only one that hates Hurley??? How can you hate this guy? "I'm gonna pee on you" is one of the best quotes of the show! Anyway, about show theories etc., I have heard of one. It revolves around the candy bar they find: APOLLO. The Apollo star constellation apparently involves 6 figures (the 6 scientific bunkers on the island). Two of which are a swan (Desmond's) and an arrow (the recent one). The Dharma sign for the bunker shows a swan (also seen on the shark swimming by the raft or closely resembling it) and the bunker the others took Sawyer to have an arrow in it that follows the star configuration of Apollo. I wish I had more time to post, but I don't. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 How can you hate this guy? "I'm gonna pee on you" is one of the best quotes of the show! Anyway, about show theories etc., I have heard of one. It revolves around the candy bar they find: APOLLO. The Apollo star constellation apparently involves 6 figures (the 6 scientific bunkers on the island). Two of which are a swan (Desmond's) and an arrow (the recent one). The Dharma sign for the bunker shows a swan (also seen on the shark swimming by the raft or closely resembling it) and the bunker the others took Sawyer to have an arrow in it that follows the star configuration of Apollo. I wish I had more time to post, but I don't. Discuss. I have a theory. my theory is that people are looking way too deep into stuff and grasping at straws i wouldnt be surprised if all these mysteries are never explained and that they dont have anything to do with the final outcome. ill bet the producers put stuff in there to throw people off and create hysteria which feeds ratings we shall see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smizzy Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 I have a theory. my theory is that people are looking way too deep into stuff and grasping at straws i wouldnt be surprised if all these mysteries are never explained and that they dont have anything to do with the final outcome. ill bet the producers put stuff in there to throw people off and create hysteria which feeds ratings we shall see It's possible but the writters have sayed time and time again..EVERYTHING is there for a reason. Nothing is put on Lost by chance or mistake. So that's why people overanalyze every detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetFanByMarriage Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 It's possible but the writters have sayed time and time again..EVERYTHING is there for a reason. Nothing is put on Lost by chance or mistake. So that's why people overanalyze every detail. I am looking forward to tonight!!!! I missed last week so I need to catch up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 hmmmm well i was not aware of that. that makes things different then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickkotite Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 last nights episode was more of nothing. again. what did i learn except that commercials suck? the show is sloooow moving, imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetFanByMarriage Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 last nights episode was more of nothing. again. what did i learn except that commercials suck? the show is sloooow moving, imo I agree! I was not thrilled with last nights episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 I think that they blew so much of their wad in those 2 back to back bunker shows that they needed to slow things down for a few. I agree it was a very slow episode with very very little revealed. But I think they're setting us up for the first contact with "The Others". Oh By the way.... WTF - 3 weeks til the next episode??? WTF Is that all about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfe Jet Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Best episode of season 2. WOW! I'm so glad I'm staying clear of spoilers this year. I won't rehash everything we saw last night, but I will present this: I do not think Ana-Lucia shot Shannon - I think the editing is somehow setting us up to think that for 2 weeks.. 2 things bothered me: - The gunshot sounds to me like a rifle, not a handgun. I remember when hearing it at the time, my brain immediately thought "Rousseau!" Then of course, the screen shows A-L with Sawyer's gun & the chamber empty suggesting she just fired.... But, we know that Rousseau has rifles, and she shot the rest of her party when they "got sick"... She is capable of taking that shot, and Sayid's reaction to seeing Danielle at the other end of the gun would be similar to if he saw A-L... - The other thing that bothered me is that Shannon & Sayid were screaming, and if Mike heard someone yelling Walt's name - he would have reacted somehow... Now the rain & the whispers may have drowned out the yelling, but I think the writers are using us on this... Also, Mr. Eko stated they were at least a day away from the other side of the island - Shannon's just past Boone's grave, which isn't that far from their beach... So, I think Danielle shot Shannon & A-L shot Cindy. By the way, in case you hadn't heard yet, Walt says "They're coming... and they're close" to Shannon in the tent. The next 2 weeks will be damn interesting, to see what happens to the Tail-ies, and to see the continuation of Sayid's quickly building rage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetFanByMarriage Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I fell asleep the last 20 minutes last night. UGH!!!!! What happened at the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHJF Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I thought it was a bummer of an episode for the most part, but the last 15 min certainly made up for it. How can you understand anything that Walt says? I always turn the volume up when he appears so I can hear what he's saying. So far, I haven't been able to decipher anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfe Jet Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I fell asleep the last 20 minutes last night. UGH!!!!! What happened at the end? Shannon continued to search for Walt, Sayid caught her, they both started hearing the "whispers" and then Walt appeared to them (Sayid admitted he could see him too), Walt was telling them to "Shhh" again, then ran off to the right... Shannon ran after him yelling his name, and a few seconds after, Sayid realized Shannon might be running into trouble, and started chasing her, yelling her name. He tripped, and as he was getting up off the ground we hear a gunshot - Sayid catches up w/Shannon, who turns around bleeding from her abdomen... She collapses into his arms, appearing to die.... Sayid looks up, and the camera snaps to Ana-Lucia holding Sawyer's handgun, and we can see the gun's been fired (from the empty chamber). She's got a angered, but troubled look on her face, and Jin & Mike both have shocked looks on their faces... Camera goes back to Sayid where his face goes from intense shock, to sorrow, to a bubbling rage... and then the screen we all dread... L O S T I'd just like to reiterate that we never see Sayid & the others (not the be confused with the "Others") in the same camera shot - which is why I think it's 2 different shootings edited to make us think A-L shot Shannon... Next week will be a look back to see what happened to the Tail-ies for their 1st 48 days on the island, so it'll probably be 2 weeks before we get back to this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfe Jet Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 How can you understand anything that Walt says? I always turn the volume up when he appears so I can hear what he's saying. So far, I haven't been able to decipher anything.He speaks backwards - you can't tell during the show. Fans record it digitally & play it backwards to hear what was said. Here's a link to Walt in the tent. They play the scene forwards, then immediately backwards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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