Cool. our first "something to look forward to" in 2017!

Ah.. Bottle-Man not Bottlemen.. not that I'm any the wiser.. in my defense, it was def the latter on their Twitter page.. really want to know what this is! 

Blending in nicely...Damien Molony reads Bottlemen for BBC Belfast https://t.co/tYiPm63erl

— Soundhouse Studios (@The_Soundhouse) January 30, 2017

not long to wait then!

Forum countdown is up! only 5 days to go until Damien is back on the radio! Who will be tuning in?

This will be Mr Radio 4's twelfth appearance on BBC Radio 4, pretty impressive.

I might try to tune in live.  Will be 11:45 am for me.  Then I'm sure I'll listen to it a "few" more times... 

Did everyone manage to catch this? what did you think? (if not you can listen any time at the same link on catch up!)

I really liked Bottle Man, big fan of the non realism side to it (artful) and loved how curious that made me feel.. definitely needs a re-listen. It really was funny and dark, light but deeply disturbing, and I felt Damien adapted his reading style in a way I'd not heard before. Awesome work all round. In terms of stories with a more 'absurdlist' or abstract flavour it  brought to mind The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I couldn't really say why though and should also add I have flu = flu addled brain.

This has def piqued my interest in Nicole Flattery's writing, I hope we see more of her work.

I thought this was a really nicely crafted bit of writing and Damien's reading established an unreliable narrator without labouring the point. I'd say it leaned more to the dark than the comedic side - although there were flashes of dark humour I found it more disturbing overall.

I agree with you RP, the bottle seemed to be a metaphor for a barrier between the narrator and all the things he can't deal with, which seemed to be just about everything, TBH.

I found myself thinking about what was not said long after I'd listened to it and had to go back to listen again for some details that might confirm (or deny) thoughts I had about it. I suspect with that level of surrealism, most things bear a second or third reading/listening to figure out what might be going on. There are some lines that could appear to be throw aways that could also point to significant events ("I don't remember the kicking motion/...and I think that small voice was mine") and there are some recurring themes/images that stand up to some unpicking, too, notably fire/flames.

I think Nicole Flattery is a young writer who doesn't have much out there as yet, Domino. There's a magazine specialising in new Irish writers called The Stinging Fly that has stories from her in a couple of issues. I noticed the Radio 4 blurb mentioned that stories were specially commissioned so presumably she got noticed either through those publications or through some sort of workshop.

I loved this! Although it did need a double take.  I pretty much agree with everything you've already said about it Maghat!

I'm not sure how 'comedic' it was....but I like your description 'light' domino - it did feel light, and a bit quirky...mildly amusing....right up until the rug got pulled out from under me and I felt very disturbed, but kinda not sure if i should feel like that and immediately needed to listen to it again to see if I'd got it!  Which is genius.....but I'm not sure how I'd feel about it if I hadn't had the opportunity to listen again.  i guess it would still be playing on my mind....which is still genius!!

And I loved the casual/matter of fact delivery that Damien gave it.....it totally added to the whole 'did i just get that?' feeling.