Discount The Man Who Was Thursday

Chesterton may just become one of my favorite authors - even if this is the only work by him that I'll ever bother to read. Why? Because I don't want to encounter another work by him that may not live up to my impression of The Man Who Was Thursday.

This novel is a tremendous piece of literary writing.

I would lay down every possible memory from the book which I enjoyed or which intrigued me. But that would be long winding.

Suffice to say, Chesterton's wit is a sinister thing. It crops up at the most unexpected junctures and never fails to catch me by surprise.

(I don't really like pasting quotes `coz it eats up space, but in this instance I do believe proof is called for:

"Why is it," he asked vaguely, "that I think you are quite a decent fellow? Why do I positively like you, Gregory?" He paused a moment, and then added with a sort of fresh curiosity, "Is it because you are such an ass?"

---

"I'm a policeman deprived of the help of the police. You, my poor fellow, are an anarchist deprived of the help of that law and organisation which is so essential to anarchy. The one solitary difference is in your favour. You are not surrounded by inquisitive policemen; I am surrounded by inquisitive anarchists.")

In a sense, this is a madcap tale of how `the man who was [called] Thursday' pursues an anarchist group's leader, the terrifying and mysterious man called `Sunday' with the help of several other characters who help make the story more and more bizarre.

Chock-full of twists - sometimes benignly predictable and sometimes too ludicrous for words - this novel is a rare treat. Even the Catholic allegorical bent is hardly something that fazed me, cynical git that I am.

Chesterton's narrative is at turns lyrical and wistful, sharp and witty. It is optimism couched in pessimistic premise. Reconciliation and resolution without the formulaic happy ending. A tumble down the rabbit hole without ever seeing where the hole gaped open.

They do say that a classic is one that everyone knows but hardly anyone reads (or something like that). And I admit that I was skeptical about this before turning the first page. By the second chapter however, I knew that this little piece of writing is one that unequivocally demands to be read.
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