The Club of Queer Trades
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Product Description
Product Description
The six "Club" tales contained in this volume are an excellect near-parody of detective stories the late 19th and early 20th century (and in particular of the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Together, they form a pleasant introduction to G. K. Chesterton's whimsical, offbeat style of detective fiction.
About the Author
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) made his name in journalism, working with Hilaire Belloc at The Speaker. A prolific writer, his work included literary criticism, essays, poetry and detective fiction. He is best known for his Father Brown stories. Novelist, biographer, and critic Gilbert Adair is best known for his highly creative novels and his extensive writings on film. His latest novel is Buenas Noches, Buenos Aires (2004).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
G.K. Chesterton always had a knack for making ominous situations that turned out to be... pretty normal. And that's what "The Club of Queer Trades" is all about, a string of Sherlock-Holmes-style mysteries that spoof the elaborate deduction process. And show readers some of the bizarrest jobs Chesterton could think of.
The book introduces us to Basil Grant, a judge who came to realize that law and justice aren't the same thing, and who ended up giving sentences like "Get a soul" before leaving the courtroom. Then his detective brother Rupert introduces him to Major Brown, an army officer who suspects that his neighbor is plotting to kill him. It isn't too surprising, since there are pansies spelling out "Death to Major Brown."
But with his deductive processes, Basil reveals the bizarre truth behind the Major's problem: an adventure company which is part of the Club of Queer Trades, a "society consisting exclusively of people who have invented some new and curious way of making money."
Throughout the stories, he, Rupert and the narrator encounter other people who have found weird ways of making a living: an ex-lieutenant who seems to be telling tall tales, the "the wickedest man in England," an Essex vicar who was kidnapped by men disguised as old ladies, a dancing professor who has apparently lost his mind, and finally a lady being imprisoned in a basement who flat out refuses to leave -- and it may have something to do withBbasil.
Only the guy behind "The Man Who Was Thursday" could pull off a book like "The Club of Queer Trades," or a concept like the club itself. And as an added humorous twist, this book is apparently meant as a sort of spoof to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries -- Rupert is sort of Holmesian in his elaborate deductions, but he never gets it right.
These are some of Chesterton's frothier stories, but he still peppers his stories with little moral and philosophical moments ("they have not merely no notion, they have an elaborately false notion of what the words mean"), but never enough to bog down the light banter and funny action scenes. And there are moments of Chesterton's prose that are pure poetry ("... a mystic, elvish, nocturnal hunting").
Basil himself is a bit of a know-it-all, but at least he's a funny, slightly offbeat one, and perfectly at ease with talking to a tied-up criminal about Darwinism. His brother Rupert introduces himself as being a detective, but gets more and more upset as the book goes on, until he desperately grasps at the idea of a villainous milkman giving "secret signs."
"The Club of Queer Trades" is a deliciously quirky little book, and leaves readers wishing that they could hear a few more tales of these wonky jobs. Definitely worth employing.
The book introduces us to Basil Grant, a judge who came to realize that law and justice aren't the same thing, and who ended up giving sentences like "Get a soul" before leaving the courtroom. Then his detective brother Rupert introduces him to Major Brown, an army officer who suspects that his neighbor is plotting to kill him. It isn't too surprising, since there are pansies spelling out "Death to Major Brown."
But with his deductive processes, Basil reveals the bizarre truth behind the Major's problem: an adventure company which is part of the Club of Queer Trades, a "society consisting exclusively of people who have invented some new and curious way of making money."
Throughout the stories, he, Rupert and the narrator encounter other people who have found weird ways of making a living: an ex-lieutenant who seems to be telling tall tales, the "the wickedest man in England," an Essex vicar who was kidnapped by men disguised as old ladies, a dancing professor who has apparently lost his mind, and finally a lady being imprisoned in a basement who flat out refuses to leave -- and it may have something to do withBbasil.
Only the guy behind "The Man Who Was Thursday" could pull off a book like "The Club of Queer Trades," or a concept like the club itself. And as an added humorous twist, this book is apparently meant as a sort of spoof to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries -- Rupert is sort of Holmesian in his elaborate deductions, but he never gets it right.
These are some of Chesterton's frothier stories, but he still peppers his stories with little moral and philosophical moments ("they have not merely no notion, they have an elaborately false notion of what the words mean"), but never enough to bog down the light banter and funny action scenes. And there are moments of Chesterton's prose that are pure poetry ("... a mystic, elvish, nocturnal hunting").
Basil himself is a bit of a know-it-all, but at least he's a funny, slightly offbeat one, and perfectly at ease with talking to a tied-up criminal about Darwinism. His brother Rupert introduces himself as being a detective, but gets more and more upset as the book goes on, until he desperately grasps at the idea of a villainous milkman giving "secret signs."
"The Club of Queer Trades" is a deliciously quirky little book, and leaves readers wishing that they could hear a few more tales of these wonky jobs. Definitely worth employing.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel has an unusual hero in the form of Basil Grant, an ex high-court judge who went mad. Basil employs methods not too dissimilar from Sherlock Holmes to solve five very unusual and intriguing mysteries. It is a beautifully written book and very evocotive of life at the turn of the century. A very enjoyable way to spend an hour or so.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
These are six, separate, stand-alone little mysteries that together contain a larger book-length plot. The book is full of cunning though largely innocent deception, and each story backflips into a droll surprise ending. The characters -- the practioners of queer, and quaint, trades -- are likewise other than they seem. For all the philosphical and theological depth of Chesterton, these stories are light and deft and thoroughly entertaining. This is a small book expertly turned and burnished -- an exquisite Victorian miniature.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The antidote to Sherlock Holmes ?
This book was my first taste of Chesterton and one of my first free Kindle Books. It's a highly entertaining read. Read more
Published 3 months ago by I. McCormick
Good read but annoying line spacing.
I agree with the other reviews about the excellence of G K Chesterton's prose, but upon downloading the book I find that the line spacing is irritating. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Bob
Review for Kindle edition
I can't say I disagree with what the other reviewers have written about the content of this entertaining little book, but all the other reviews have been of the paperback formats... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Chinatown Blue
Book-lover beware
A great book - one that, in its own words, "makes a man feel what a man should feel, that he is still in the childhood of the world" - but whatever you do, don't buy the Wordsworth... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2010 by J. Toon
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