Reviews
Astounding for any era, let alone for something created just after the turn of the century.
If you are a regular reader of book blogs, you've probably seen the reviews for The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut that's meant to introduce children to G. K. Chesterton. I turned down the offer to review the book here, finding the indoctrination idea unsavory even if he has been an influence on writers that children and tweens will come across (C. S. Lewis and Neil Gaiman, for instance). Karma and probably the name stuck in the back of my mind guided my hand during a recent random book selection at my local library. The book I picked was The Man Who Was Thursday. I liked the title and the author's name was familiar though I didn't connect it to the Uncle Chestnut book until I was finished. The book is about Gabriel Syme, a policeman and poet who goes undercover as "Thursday" to bring down a dangerous group of anarchists. They all go by days of the week. His investigation leads to revelations about the society that surprises everyone involved, including its leader. Like Father Malachy's Miracle by Bruce Marshall I picked up more on the anarchists as communists theme than I did the underlying religious rhetoric. As a piece of social commentary on the excesses of government, it's a very funny novel. As a piece of theological discourse it's something altogether different. The third of the book is where the anarchy vs theology come head to head. The police hone in on the leader (Sunday, of course!) and seek to take him down to save society. I think I would have enjoyed the novel more without puzzling over the religious undertones of it.
I didn't really like it. Apart from the very first revelation, I guessed every single one of them from the very first clue, which did not make me feel like Hercule Poirot but instead made me feel cheated. Basically I thought this was going to be a real thriller, perhaps even a nightmare, but instead it was a a clunky dud.
I truly enjoyed this book. It has been on my ‘to read’ list for ages and just now I gave it a go. The novel follows Gabriel Syme, an undercover policeman, who has managed to infiltrate an organization of dangerous and desperate anarchists. The organization is composed by 7 members, each with a day of the week nickname, that includes Sunday, the overweight and mysterious leader of the group. They are plotting to kill a man in Paris. Each of the men have a huge secret, but Sunday has the biggest secret of them all. This novel is over a century old but it reads quite easily, although it has weird twists (philosophical I’d say), paradoxes and many mysteries that will unfold as the narration advances. This book is like an onion with many layers and I think is open to many answers and interpretations. I don’t know howI felt with the ending of the story -it got me thinking though- but I do felt a sense of joy as I explored the oniric pages and unique characters that populate this story.
Such a difficult book for me to follow. There were so many references to which I was unacquainted that much of the true depth of the satire was most likely lost on me. And the ending was totally bewildering. I did appreciate the masterful use of the english language that Chesterton puts to use, and his ability to use to most inventive metaphors I think I've ever come across. I'm not sure I'll be going back to Chesterton's fiction very soon, but I still have an interest in reading his detective novels.
I had to read this for my fantasy literature class and honestly it was so hard to get through. Despite the fact that it had the energy of that MMM Watcha Say SNL skit, I could barely decipher the physical events of the story, much less the metaphorical and allegorical aspects. I can now say that I read it, but I barely understood anything and it took a lot of effort despite it being pretty short.
I have not read much Chesterton fiction, but it looks like I should.
Good fun!
Empiezas una página y te lo devoras en un par de horas, intriga hasta el final. Altamente recomendado.
