In his efforts to thwart the council's intentions, however, he discovers that five of the other six members are also undercover detectives each was just as mysteriously employed and assigned to defeat the Council of Days. The Council consists of seven men, each using the name of a day of the week as a code name Syme is given the name of Thursday. Instead of the anarchist Gregory getting elected, the officer Syme uses his wits and is elected as the local representative to the worldwide Central Council of Anarchists. After some time, the frustrated Gregory finds Syme and leads him to a local anarchist meeting-place to prove that he is a true anarchist.
Lucian Gregory, an anarchist poet, is the only poet in Saffron Park, until he loses his temper in an argument over the purpose of poetry with Gabriel Syme, who takes the opposite view. And the mystery of how this hard-to-fathom novel can have the power to keep you wondering long after you've finished reading it.In The Man Who Was Thursday we are transported to a surreal turn-of-the-century London, Gabriel Syme, a poet, is recruited to a secret anti-anarchist taskforce at Scotland Yard. Mystery-the mystery of what it's all about. Oddly, the story has been adapted for radio broadcast several times, including once by Orson Welles.ĭespite the above warnings, the novel is worth reading, if only to participate in the The Annotated Thursday, an edition of The Man Who Was Thursday annotated by the very non-religious Martin Gardner, is particularly useful for understanding this often hard-to-follow novel.īy the way, Chesterton in an article denied the story is a Christian allegory, pointing to the novel's subtitle, A Nightmare, and claiming it's just a whimsical tale about the duality of hope and despair. The narrative similarly twists and turns, at every juncture overthrowing what you may think you knew before (though I confess I found some of the "surprises" quite predictable).
Is he God or is he Satan?Įveryone talks like Chesterton at his paradoxical wittiest in aphorisms that defy logic, turning good and evil upside-down. Who is the most enigmatic figure and the key to uncovering the real,Īpocalyptic goal of the secret organization. Members of the gang he infiltrates are namedĪfter the days of the week. The poet-turned-detective Gabriel Syme uncovers an anarchistĬonspiracy against the world.
Intriguing chapters, it never feels right to me as a story I could care It's obvious.īut I don't get it as a novel. Sure, I get that it's considered a ChristianĪllegory, a morality tale, a comment on the decadence of Western societyĪnd the deep need for a spiritual foundation. Might prepare you for The Man Who Was Thursday. Stories-you may also be very disappointed. Mystery-hopefully along the lines of his beloved Father Brown If you come to it having heard that it's a Masterpiece expecting a piece of early twentieth-century realism, you're
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