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The Man Who Was Thursday (The Best Adventure Stories Ever)
 
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The Man Who Was Thursday (The Best Adventure Stories Ever) (Paperback)

by G.K. Chesterton (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £4.99
Price: £4.74 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Review; Pbk. Ed edition (12 Jul 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0755338863
  • ISBN-13: 978-0755338863
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 214,090 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #10 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > C > Chesterton, G.K.
    #47 in  Books > Fiction > Genre > Metaphysical

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Product Description

Product Description

A group of anarchists are under surveillance by Scotland Yard in Chesterton's hugely popular metaphysical thriller. 

The Supreme Anarchists Council is dedicated to overthrowing the world order. To keep their identities a secret, each of them has been named a day of the week. Gabriel Syme, an eccentric poet, is recruited by Scotland Yard to infiltrate the group. He tracks down the six men and manages to win a place on the council. But in a bizarre and surreal twist of events, Syme realises that five of the six members are not at all what they seem...



About the Author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in 1874, the son of a prosperous estate agent in west London. After working in publishing for a few years, he became a regular newspaper columnist. As well as being a great debater and well-known social critic, Chesterton wrote around eighty books, several hundred poems, some two hundred short stories; four thousand essays as well as a number of plays. THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY is perhaps his best-known novel. He died in 1936.

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The Man Who Was Thursday (The Best Adventure Stories Ever)
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Anarchy through the week, 11 Sep 2007
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
For a book that's as short as this one, "The Man Who Was Thursday" is pretty packed.

G.K. Chesterton's classic novella tackles anarchy, social order, God, peace, war, religion, human nature, and a few dozen other weight concepts. And somehow he manages to mash it all together into a delightful satire, full of tongue-in-cheek commentary that is still relevant today.

As the book opens, Gabriel Symes is debating with a soapbox anarchist. The two men impress each other enough that the anarchist introduces Symes to a seven-man council of anarchists, all named after days of the week. In short order, they elect Symes their newest member -- Thursday.

But they don't know that he's also been recruited by an anti-anarchy organization. And soon Symes finds out that he's not the only person on the council who is not what he seems. There are other spies and double-agents, working for the same cause. But who -- and what -- is the jovial, powerful Mr. Sunday, the head of the organization?

Hot air balloons, elaborate disguises, duels and police chases -- Chesterton certainly knew how to keep this novel interesting. Though written almost a century ago, "The Man Who Was Thursday" still feels very fresh. That's partly because of Chesterton's cheery writing... and partly because it's such an intelligent book.

He doesn't avoid some timeless topics that make some people squirm. Humanity (good and bad), anarchy, religion and its place in human nature, and creation versus destruction all get tackled here -- disguised as a comic police investigation. And unlike most satires, it isn't dated; the topics are reflections of humanity and religion, so they're as relevant now as they were in 1908.

But the story isn't pedantic or boring; Chesterton keeps things lively by having his characters act like real people, rather than mouthpieces. From Symes to the Colonel to the mysterious Sunday himself, they all have a sort of friendly, energetic quality. "We're all spies! Come and have a drink!" one of the characters announces cheerfully near the end.

And of course, once the madcap police investigations are finished, there's still a mystery. Who is Sunday? What are his goals? And for that matter, WHAT is Sunday -- genius, force of nature, villain or god? The answer is a bit of a surprise, and as a reflection of Chesterton's beliefs, it's a delicate, intelligent piece of work.

"The Man Who Was Thursday" is a wacky, literate little satire that will both amuse and educate you. Not bad for a book often subtitled "A Nightmare."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A bizarre little fable, 4 Feb 2009
By T. Hayton "thayton" (uk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I made a bit of a mistake with this. I bought it hoping for a 'swashbuckling yarn' along the lines of The 39 Steps, King Solomon's Mines or The Prisoner of Zenda. What I got was a surreal fable, written in a very plain style, which ends without a satisfactory conclusion.

I suspect that this is in fact a very clever allegorical tale, but I am not clever enough to make sense of it and so found it a bit of a frustrating waste of time. That said it is only about 150 pages long and I what else are you going to on the Tube?
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2.0 out of 5 stars Mystery, 15 Feb 2009
By M. Marshall - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The high regard in which this book is held is a mystery to me. The plot, what there is of it, consists of little more than a long-winded and, at times, ludicrous chase sequence (at one point the villain makes his escape through London on a stolen elephant). In case you get bored with this, Chesterton includes a number of plot twists throughout; or rather he uses the same plot twist over and over and hopes that no-one will notice.

Then just as patience is wearing thin, the increasingly silly chase comes to an abrupt end and we're faced with a bewildering conclusion in which the participants sit, in fancy dress, around a table and discuss philosophy and religion for a few pages. And that's it. If you're looking for a cohesive thriller, forget it. However, if you're looking for a book to throw at the wall..........
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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