The Man Who Knew Too Much
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Product Description
Book Description
Horne Fisher is the man who knew too much. He has a brilliant mind and powers of deduction -but he always faces a moral dilemma . These eight adventures will amaze and delight as we follow Horne and his friend, Harold March in the world crime among eminent people.
About the Author
G K Chesterton has been described as one of the most unjustly neglected writers of our time. Born in 1874, he became a journalist and later began writing books and pamphlets. His work includes novels, literary and social criticism, political papers and spiritual essays in a style characterised by enormous wit, paradox, humility and wonder. He converted to Catholicism in 1922 and he explores the nature of spirituality in many of his books and essays, including the mighty Orthodoxy. Chesterton is one of the few authors who are genuinely timeless and whose work has as much relevance today as when it was written.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
G.K. Chesterton was happy to do some spoofery of the deductive detective genre -- his detectives seemed to depend more on the knowledge of human nature. One good example is Horne Fisher, the star character who solves bizarre little mysteries because he "knows too much... and all the wrong things."
The first story opens with a reknowned book critic stumbling across a dead man with his head bashed on. Fortunately Fisher is fishing nearby, and is able to deduce who killed the poor man, when, and cleverly figures out the best (and most theatrical) way to get results.
In each story, Horne deals with another strange mystery -- the framing of an Irish "prince" freedom fighter, the vanishing of a priceless coin, a man killed off in the Middle East, an eccentric rich man dies during an obsessive fishing trip, another vanishes during an ice skate, a bizarre dispute over an estate, and most shockingly, a statue crushing his own uncle...
Chesterton was a good mystery writer. He could spin up bizarre little crimes (murder, theft, treachery) for a variety of colourful reasons, from the political to purely psychological. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a good example of that, and it shows Chesterton veering into more politically-charged territory than in his other mysteries, with the Irish-English conflict, spies and impending war.
But these mysteries also have Chesterton the philosopher/theologian/thinker. He writes in colourful, poetic prose ("as if the world were steeped in wine rather than blood"), and has brief moments where Horn muses on human nature.
"Patriotism is not the first virtue. Patriotism rots into Prussianism when you pretend it is the first virtue," he remarks at one point, as an example. Through him, Chesterton gives us brief little insights into what he knows too much of -- a worldview remarkably simple, but very insightful.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is an odd kind of detective -- instead of the quirky detectives or deep thinkers, Horn is rather melancholy and plaintive, almost tormented by his own knowledge. This comes to a peak in the bittersweet final story, where Horne finds himself in a wretched situation, with shocking results.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a solid collection of detective stories, but underlying the mysteries are Chesterton's deeper looks at human nature. Excellent reading.
The first story opens with a reknowned book critic stumbling across a dead man with his head bashed on. Fortunately Fisher is fishing nearby, and is able to deduce who killed the poor man, when, and cleverly figures out the best (and most theatrical) way to get results.
In each story, Horne deals with another strange mystery -- the framing of an Irish "prince" freedom fighter, the vanishing of a priceless coin, a man killed off in the Middle East, an eccentric rich man dies during an obsessive fishing trip, another vanishes during an ice skate, a bizarre dispute over an estate, and most shockingly, a statue crushing his own uncle...
Chesterton was a good mystery writer. He could spin up bizarre little crimes (murder, theft, treachery) for a variety of colourful reasons, from the political to purely psychological. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a good example of that, and it shows Chesterton veering into more politically-charged territory than in his other mysteries, with the Irish-English conflict, spies and impending war.
But these mysteries also have Chesterton the philosopher/theologian/thinker. He writes in colourful, poetic prose ("as if the world were steeped in wine rather than blood"), and has brief moments where Horn muses on human nature.
"Patriotism is not the first virtue. Patriotism rots into Prussianism when you pretend it is the first virtue," he remarks at one point, as an example. Through him, Chesterton gives us brief little insights into what he knows too much of -- a worldview remarkably simple, but very insightful.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is an odd kind of detective -- instead of the quirky detectives or deep thinkers, Horn is rather melancholy and plaintive, almost tormented by his own knowledge. This comes to a peak in the bittersweet final story, where Horne finds himself in a wretched situation, with shocking results.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a solid collection of detective stories, but underlying the mysteries are Chesterton's deeper looks at human nature. Excellent reading.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This came recommended to me as a collection of stories about a witty, melancholy and urbane character and his exploits - like all the improbable sleuths with some degree of popular renown, death seems to follow him around and it is in his dealings with it that we come to learn of the main character's, and through him the author's, plight as a man who knows too much.
At the current price it is worth getting it on your kindle and then dipping in whenever you feel to, I thoroughly enjoyed the progressions through cases and by the end of the book was quite attached to the character. Give it a go!
At the current price it is worth getting it on your kindle and then dipping in whenever you feel to, I thoroughly enjoyed the progressions through cases and by the end of the book was quite attached to the character. Give it a go!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
GKChesterton has for a long time had space on my bookshelf. The Father Brown series are particular favourites and when I read the blurb for this book I thought it felt like GKC's take on Sherlock Holmes, and was intrigued to see what it would be like.
In fact, I rather liked it. Horne Fisher is a tall, melancholy character who mourns that he knows too much of the wrong sort of thing; what he is referring to is a kind of intuitive grasp of how people work. This means that in any given set of circumstances he sees the flaw in what seems apparently obvious logic; this cannot be true because in this circumstance, a man would naturally do that. GKC pulls off the trick of making you completely buy into the first set of circumstances; and then when Horne Fisher explains his objections (usually based on some small action or other) it absolutely rings true; very pleasing.
So why four stars rather than five? Four because it's a good, well-written book of short stories, elegantly set up and each with a satisfying conclusion (especially the one about the man who fishes from dawn till sunset); but four rather than five because Horne himself is so passive that you are not entirely gripped by the stories.
They are clever, intellectually pleasing, beautifully written with an elegiac tone; but throughout, Horne might solve the crime but there it ends. There is little mention of police or the sort of official tying-up-of-ends that rounds the story off; and to my mind (though this might be just opinion) it takes from the urgency and the seriousness of the whole thing, rendering it a bit 2D. It's probably a bit of a pretentious simile, but the book is like a stained-glass window; beautifully drawn and richly coloured, but ultimately lacking in depth.
Should you read it? Yes, I would say so; don't expect to be unable to put it down, but if you're like me, you'll enjoy the reading anyway.
JAC
In fact, I rather liked it. Horne Fisher is a tall, melancholy character who mourns that he knows too much of the wrong sort of thing; what he is referring to is a kind of intuitive grasp of how people work. This means that in any given set of circumstances he sees the flaw in what seems apparently obvious logic; this cannot be true because in this circumstance, a man would naturally do that. GKC pulls off the trick of making you completely buy into the first set of circumstances; and then when Horne Fisher explains his objections (usually based on some small action or other) it absolutely rings true; very pleasing.
So why four stars rather than five? Four because it's a good, well-written book of short stories, elegantly set up and each with a satisfying conclusion (especially the one about the man who fishes from dawn till sunset); but four rather than five because Horne himself is so passive that you are not entirely gripped by the stories.
They are clever, intellectually pleasing, beautifully written with an elegiac tone; but throughout, Horne might solve the crime but there it ends. There is little mention of police or the sort of official tying-up-of-ends that rounds the story off; and to my mind (though this might be just opinion) it takes from the urgency and the seriousness of the whole thing, rendering it a bit 2D. It's probably a bit of a pretentious simile, but the book is like a stained-glass window; beautifully drawn and richly coloured, but ultimately lacking in depth.
Should you read it? Yes, I would say so; don't expect to be unable to put it down, but if you're like me, you'll enjoy the reading anyway.
JAC
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Man Who Knew Too Much
When I downloaded this book I thought it was the same story as the film by the same name staring James Stewart and Doris Day. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Janet
Hasn't lasted
These short stories just don't work as mysteries because there isn't much, well, mystery. The protagonist knows what happened because he knows everything and each episode is so... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Graham R. Hill
More Chesterton
At his best I have found Chesterton to be sublime, but this whilst still good is not on a par to his usual high standards. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lord Of All He Surveys
Entertaining short stories.
This was pretty entertaining. There was a bit of a Sherlock Holmes feel to many of these stories.
They were very well written and quite witty and inventive. Read more
They were very well written and quite witty and inventive. Read more
Published 12 months ago by The Emperor
Not for me
I must have misunderstood what this book was about. I thought it was a complete novel but turned out to be a few different stories which I found boring and hard going, didnt even... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sanz Read
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