Citas de The Third Policeman

Estoy leyendo The Third Policeman de Flann O’Brien. El camino que seguí para llegar hasta este libro –aunque algunos podrán deducirlo- lo dejaré para otro momento. Ahora lo que quiero comentar es que lo estoy encontrado delicioso, divertido y fascinante. Para que se hagan una idea, algunas citas del libro:

Sobre las reglas de la sabiduría:

‘You told me what the first rule of wisdom is,’ I said. ‘What is the second rule?
‘That can be answered,’ he said. ‘There are five in all. 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.’
‘These are interesting rules,’ I said dryly.
‘If you follow them,’ said the Sergeant, ‘you will save your soul and you will never get a fall on a slippy road.’

Un consejo que sí que suena a sabio.

I find it is a great strain for me to believe what I see, and I am becoming afraid occasionally to look at some things in case they would have to be believed.

Pasa siempre con los intelectuales:

‘Your talk,’ I said, ‘is surely the handiwork of wisdom because not one word of it do I understand.’

La novela parece estar fascinada con las bicicletas y con la conversión de humanos en bicicletas (y viceversa):

‘The gross and net result it is that people who spent most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the 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.’

Aunque no es la única conversión posible:

The continual cracking of your feet on the road makes a certain quantity of road come up into you. When a man dies they say he returns to clay but too mucho walking fills you up with clay far sooner (or buries bits of you along the road) and brings your death half-way to meet you. It is not easy to know what is the best way to move yourself from one place to another.

Es, como pueden imaginar, un libro tirando a lo surrealista o superrealista como dicen ahora (esto, por cierto es un chiste, sé que… ¡bah, qué más da!).