Sunday, 21 February 2021

Philosophy by Johnny Guitar and the Sergeant in The Third Policeman


 

True, isn't it? Unless you don't smoke or drink coffee, in which case I'm reminded of the Adam Ant lyric from Goody Two Shoes: 'Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?'. Don't tell me or Johnny Guitar that there are more fundamentals in life.

Talking of wisdom, here are five rules suggested by the bicycle-obsessed Sergeant in Flan O'Brien's The Third Policeman:

Always ask any questions that are to be asked and never answer any.

Turn everything you hear to your own advantage.

Always carry a repair outfit.

Take left turns as much as possible.

Never apply your front brake first.

You can't argue with those, especially if, like me, you're a cyclist. If you've not read The Third Policeman you really should. Unless, that is, your literary taste does not run to murder, crazy, fantastical mechanical inventions and other-worldly madness akin to Samuel Beckett on acid. There, you want to read it now, don't you?

Good luck to your luck.


4 comments:

  1. Alright Robin, here's a present for you. It's from "The Woman Who Walked into Doors" by Roddy Doyle:
    "He was with a gang but all by himself. His hands in his pockets with the thumbs hooked over the denim and a fag hanging from his mouth. It got me then and it gets me now: cigarettes are sexy - they're worth the stench and the cancer.

    How about that. The book is very good, by the way.

    Hey, you owe me a memory!

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    Replies
    1. Like the quote. I've not read him. 'You owe me a memory' sounds like something a PKD character would say!

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    2. PKD... is that Philip K. Dick? I first asked the internet and got "polycystic kidney disease" in return.

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    3. Ha-ha! Yes. Not saying you sound like a Dickhead. Honest.

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