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The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare |
|
| Genre | Fiction, English Literature |
| Author(s) | |
| Illustrator(s) |
None |
| Series | None |
| Publisher(s) |
Various (copyright expired) |
| Publication date | 1907 |
| ISBN(s) |
ISBN 0140183884 |
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is a novel by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1907.
The central character, Gabriel Syme, is a poet, recruited to a secret counter-terrorist taskforce. In a single night, he manages not only to penetrate the local terrorist cell, but to get elected as the cell's representative to a council of seven (each using, as a code name, the name of a day of the week) who oversee terrorist activities across Europe.
The novel's subtitle, "A Nightmare," is an accurate summation of the frightening and increasingly surreal world in which Syme finds himself enmeshed. Like most of Chesterton's fiction, the story is heavy in Christian allegory.
Setting
Surreal turn-of-the-century London.
Characters
Major
- Gabriel Syme: a Scotland Yard policeman who was originally a poet
- Lucian Gregory: a lower-ranking anarchist of the Central Anarchist Council
- Sunday: President of the Central Anarchist Council
Minor
- Gogol:
- Professor Bull:
Synopsis
In a bizarre suburb of London, Gabriel Syme converses with Lucian Gregory, a supposed anarchist. Incensed by Syme's mockery, Gregory pledges to prove the seriousness of his anarchism. Gregory leads Syme to a subterranean chamber decked with typical implements of the anarchist agenda: bombs, swords and the like. By a strange turn of events, Syme (who reveals to Gregory that he is a policeman sworn to oppose anarchy) is elected to the worldwide council of anarchists -- his efforts to thwart the council's intentions and oppose all anarchic acts reveal a comical number of unlikely allies. Ultimately, Syme and his fellow champions of order confront the head anarchist, only to find their perception of order and chaos turned completely upside down.
Reviews
At a surface level The Man Who Was Thursday is a rollicking detective story with unmistakably British wit. Related to the latter, it seems that nearly every word of dialogue is carefully crafted to deliver the precise amount of passion, slant and depth for each scene. The somewhat surreal atmosphere may confuse some readers, but overall Chesterton succeeds at instilling a controlled amount of whimsy, enough to entertain without distracting from the novel's greater significance.
Interpretations
Chesterton, who suffered from depression for much of his life, claimed afterwards that he wrote this book as an unusual affirmation that goodness and right were at the heart of every aspect of the world. He had hoped the book would serve as an encouragement to himself and to other members of his family who also had the tendency to become melancholy.
The book is not exactly explicit in endorsing Christian beliefs, and the philosophy expressed in the book is in some ways more dualistic than most Christian theologians would accept. Chesterton's beliefs, however, make an undeniable mark on the book, especially in the final chapters, where Sunday (the chief anarchist) is closely aligned with the Christian God both in the symbols surrounding him and in the claims he makes about himself.
Influences
External link
See also: The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Category: