Today's Forum Topics
Set as homepage
|
View
New Forum Topics Today's Forum Topics Set as homepage |
 |
|
|||||||
| |
||||
Welcome to CyclingForums.com You are currently viewing our website as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions. You will have to register before you can post to this thread. By joining our free online community you will have access to post new topics, communicate privately with other cyclingforums.com members (PM), respond to polls, upload photos and access other special features like product reviews and classifieds. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Display Modes |
10-05.-2008, 08:33 AM
|
#1 |
|
Guest
Posts: n/a
|
the "Atomic Theory"
In Flann O'Brian's "The Third Policeman,"
" ...the main text is primarily concerned with the adventures of our antihero who, wandering through a weirdly defamiliarized rural district, comes to be detained by a pair of cheerfully batty policeman. Their worldview is what you might call bicyclogical: things fully make sense only when regarded through a lens involving tire pumps, handlebars, and light dynamos. It's connected to the `Atomic Theory': `People who spend most of the natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycles as a result of the interchanging of atoms of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles.' " O'Neill, Joseph. "The Last Laugh." May 2008. _TheAtlantic.com_. 9 May 2008 <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/flann-obrien/2> .... seems oddly pertinent though I'm not sure how or why. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" |
|
|
10-05.-2008, 08:54 AM
|
#2 |
|
Guest
Posts: n/a
|
Re: the "Atomic Theory"
On May 10, 12:33*am, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
<j.michael.elli...@GOLLYgmail.com> wrote: > In Flann O'Brian's "The Third Policeman," > > " ...the main text is primarily concerned with the adventures of our > antihero who, wandering through a weirdly defamiliarized rural district, > comes to be detained by a pair of cheerfully batty policeman. Their > worldview is what you might call bicyclogical: things fully make sense > only when regarded through a lens involving tire pumps, handlebars, and > light dynamos. It's connected to the `Atomic Theory': > > `People who spend most of the natural lives riding iron bicycles over the > rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the > personalities of their bicycles as a result of the interchanging of atoms > of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in > these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles.' " > > O'Neill, Joseph. "The Last Laugh." May 2008. _TheAtlantic.com_. 9 May 2008 > <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/flann-obrien/2> > > ... seems oddly pertinent though I'm not sure how or why. Easy to explain. He's Irish. Flann O'Brian is one of the great comic writers of the world. It is a pity he did not write more. There's a certain amount of truth in his description. The time he describes was of course before my time, but I remember that a couple of years ago a retired policeman entertained a party with a story of an inspector coming to a rural police station in the middle 1950's intent on viewing the bicycle each constable was still supposed to supply out of his own pocket, and how the country coppers wheeled through the single bicycle that was owned by some young unmarried fellow (he needed the bike to visit farmers' daughters, no? --- yeesss!) no fewer than six times, each one explaining that Black Dougal gave a very special discount to the police on this colour of Raleigh. The outrageous colour was silver... Andre Jute http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/...%20CYCLING.html |
|
|
Linear Mode
