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A review by aliceofx
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton
4.0
So as I was perusing the Recent Updates on Goodreads a book caught my attention – The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. The title is practically designed to catch one’s interest. And if you spend enough time in certain circles you’ll not read a hundred words without someone throwing in a quote from G.K. Chesterton. So I decided to go ahead and read this book.
The story’s central character is Gabriel Syme, a poet turned policeman turned spy in an anarchist movement. The book is his attempt to bring down the movement and its frightening leader.
The full title of this book is The Man Who Was Thursday: a Nightmare. That last word is very important. My reviews are rarely spoiler free so this is one of the exceptions because how do you talk about a plot that has the logic and consistency of a fever dream?
At times it was very funny, one of the few books that made me LOL. At times it seemed like a philosophy treatise cross-dressing as a fiction novel. Themes and allegories definitely take the front seat in this book. And then there were all those moments that made you go “Whaaa... what just happened?”
But at the end I felt overwhelmed, like I’d just been shown something great and my uneducated mind missed the importance of half of it. Or maybe this book is like one of those images where if you stare long enough you’ll definitely see something.
So should you read it? Eh... maybe, I don’t know. This is not one of those books that I found easy to read so it would be hard for me to recommend it to anyone. But take a shot, you might it enjoy. But you might not so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The story’s central character is Gabriel Syme, a poet turned policeman turned spy in an anarchist movement. The book is his attempt to bring down the movement and its frightening leader.
The full title of this book is The Man Who Was Thursday: a Nightmare. That last word is very important. My reviews are rarely spoiler free so this is one of the exceptions because how do you talk about a plot that has the logic and consistency of a fever dream?
At times it was very funny, one of the few books that made me LOL. At times it seemed like a philosophy treatise cross-dressing as a fiction novel. Themes and allegories definitely take the front seat in this book. And then there were all those moments that made you go “Whaaa... what just happened?”
But at the end I felt overwhelmed, like I’d just been shown something great and my uneducated mind missed the importance of half of it. Or maybe this book is like one of those images where if you stare long enough you’ll definitely see something.
So should you read it? Eh... maybe, I don’t know. This is not one of those books that I found easy to read so it would be hard for me to recommend it to anyone. But take a shot, you might it enjoy. But you might not so don’t say I didn’t warn you.