the third policeman is flann obriens brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time death and existence told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder the novel follows him and his adventures in a twodimensional police station where through the theories of the scientistphilosopher de selby he is introduced to atomic theory and its relation to bicycles the existence of eternity which turns out to be just down the road and de selbys view that the earth is not round but sausageshaped with the help of his newly found soul named joe he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to himthe last of obriens novels to be published the third policeman joins obriens other fiction at swimtwobirds the poor mouth the hard life the best of myles the dalkey archive to ensure his place along with james joyce and samuel beckett as one of irelands great comic geniuses