Reviews - El candor del padre Brown

this was okay. i honestly expected so much more from it, because of how some of my favourite authors (neil gaiman, dorothy sayers, agatha christie) regarded chesterson's writing and his stories, but it was rather disappointing.

the cases themselves are peculiar, and i've never seen anything quite like them. they don't really have a pattern to them, unlike most golden age mysteries (and some modern day ones too) that use "the least likely suspect" concept. i'd say they're a mix between the style of holmes and omission of important details and golden age mystery style. they're also set in unorthodox settings, either really mundane, really bizarre, or somehow both, simultaneously. i've solved a few of the cases before the truth was revealed, but i was mostly bored while reading so i didn't really pay much attention most of the time.

the writing style is what i'd consider the biggest disappointment of all. i've heard amazing things about chesterson's humour, and, although he really is funny in an odd and rather likable way, it felt like his writing style as a whole lacked something. most of the detective and mystery authors that i've read have an extra cool, characteristic thing about their writing style that sets them apart; for christie and ngaio marsh, it's their dialouges, for sayers, it's her attention to detail, for doyle, it's his characters, and it goes on like that. however, chesterson doesn't really have anything quite like that, and his humour, which is what i'd definitely consider the most characteristic thing about his writing, isn't really enough to make up for how boring his writing is.

his character, father brown, doesn't really make up for it either. he's a peculiar man, and a rather interesting one as well, but he's not as interesting as any of the other detectives i've read about, so most of the time, it was just dull. this doesn't mean that he didn't have his own remarkable attributes, he definitely did and i rather liked them, but reading about him wasn't necessarily something i looked forward to.

overall, it was an alright book. i will try to read chesterson's other works, and i really hope that i like them more.

lyindis's review against another edition

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funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

mr_lighthouse's review against another edition

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3.0

A curious situation in which I found myself enjoying the characters more than anything else. Some of the mysteries are quite fun but the majority of them were clearly not meant to be solved by the reader. Father Brown was a thoroughly delightful character in all of the stories and the evolution of Flambeau was a great joy. But at least half of the plots felt downright preposterous and, strangely, all a bit same-y with their overused of “it was all in plain sight you just weren’t told the truth until the end” denouements.

kkraus's review against another edition

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3.0

Not much like the current show, and yet there are echos of the surprising ability of Father Brown to solve the puzzling cases.

spiritualkungfu's review against another edition

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4.0

The best thing about Father Brown is how unassuming he is and how as a character he seems more interested in crime as an act of sin rather than legality grounding him in a humility, combined with the writing makes him not only believable but also enduring.

pecatonicagirl's review against another edition

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4.0

Delightful (well for murder mysteries) collection.

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