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adamrshields's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this second book of Father Brown up because a friend was talking about how much she liked the Father Brown tv show. I am not a particular fan of short stories. I like more than what can be revealed in a short story.
And short story mysteries in particular seem to be reduced to too simple stories or slight of hand. I was saying to my friend (who was favorably comparing Father Brown to Grantchester) that I liked Father Brown as an idea, but that he didn't seem fully fleshed out. He was too good, both in the way he solves mysteries and personally. Maybe I am just a creature of this age and want my heroes to be a bit less perfect, but the less than perfect parts of Father Brown are not humanizing, they are characteristics of his age. I know Chesterton is writing against some of the scientific racism and social darwinism in these stories, but the age of the stories shows. There is a lot of cultural stereotyping.
I also am not a fan of the narrator. So that did not help me want to stick these out. I stayed with it for over two hours. But I am moving on.
And short story mysteries in particular seem to be reduced to too simple stories or slight of hand. I was saying to my friend (who was favorably comparing Father Brown to Grantchester) that I liked Father Brown as an idea, but that he didn't seem fully fleshed out. He was too good, both in the way he solves mysteries and personally. Maybe I am just a creature of this age and want my heroes to be a bit less perfect, but the less than perfect parts of Father Brown are not humanizing, they are characteristics of his age. I know Chesterton is writing against some of the scientific racism and social darwinism in these stories, but the age of the stories shows. There is a lot of cultural stereotyping.
I also am not a fan of the narrator. So that did not help me want to stick these out. I stayed with it for over two hours. But I am moving on.
lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book of short stories, and I wasn't all that intrigued by any of them. Perhaps I'm not a short-story person. Father Brown is a priest (Roman Catholic) who studies human nature. He is, thereby, able to puzzle out conundrums more easily than most...or something like that. Whatever, each story is a little baffling mystery. I didn't find them all that interesting, but perhaps I'm in a state of distraction these days. I had read previously The Innocence of Father Brown and liked it moderately well. This volume is ok, but ....
andrealoverke's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the first story best. But I did not like this book very much. Probably because it were all little stories of 20 or so pages.
michael5000's review against another edition
2.0
I always really want to like the Father Brown stories. But alas.
sleightholme's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
Not as good as The Wisdom of Father Brown, these stories left me unsatisfied. The clues are not revealed to the reader beforehand like Christie's works, which I can accept as that was one of her innovations. However unlike even the Sherlock Holmes stories the explanation given by Father Brown does not leave me with the confidence that it is the correct explanation, only that it is one. Even more that it is often not to the degree that would stand up in a court of law, so I feel that the criminals in these cases would go free.
Additionally these cases take place all across Europe, which leaves me wondering how Father Brown manages to get to all of them when he is supposedly a simple parish priest which is a full time job with limited time off. Innocence takes places entirely within London and the home counties where is is quite conceivable Father Brown could be there, but Wisdom has him spending weeks in Sicily, Paris and Germany.
Additionally these cases take place all across Europe, which leaves me wondering how Father Brown manages to get to all of them when he is supposedly a simple parish priest which is a full time job with limited time off. Innocence takes places entirely within London and the home counties where is is quite conceivable Father Brown could be there, but Wisdom has him spending weeks in Sicily, Paris and Germany.
donkeykong64's review against another edition
3.5
I found the prose in this to be rather wonderful, certainly better than most of these mystery books I’ve read. Father Brown is a great character, and while the stories get a bit repetitive when read in rapid succession they are still a joy to read. A bit dated at times, especially one story that is particularly egregious with its racism which I’m sure is a dealbreaker for a lot of the “reads old books and is shocked by old thoughts and opinions when compared to today” reviewers here but even throwing out that story completely (which while one of the weaker ones I’d never support it’s omission from this collection) this is still a solid enough read.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Von Pater Brown habe ich hauptsächlich von meiner Mutter gehört, die die Serie sehr gerne mag. Ich habe mich nun mal an den Geschichten versucht. Aber beim Versuch wird es wahrscheinlich bleiben.
Brown und auch sein Kollege Flambeaux haben mir eigentlich sehr gut gefallen. Ich mag es, dass Chesterton seinen Helden als einen kleinen Sherlock schildert, jedoch ohne dessen Attitüden. Ein kleiner, zurückhaltender Mensch, der erst im letzten Augenblick eingreift.
Aber vielleicht liegt auch genau da mein Problem. Denn irgendwie kam ich in keine der Geschichten wirklich rein. Zu ausführend waren mir die Beschreibungen der Umgebung und schlussendlich unwichtiger Charaktere. Irgendwie zog sich immer alles unglaublich in die Länge.
Vielleicht versuche ich diese Bücher irgendwann mal auf Deutsch. Vielleicht geht das dann ja auch etwas flüssiger? Ein Versuch ist es bestimmt wert.
Brown und auch sein Kollege Flambeaux haben mir eigentlich sehr gut gefallen. Ich mag es, dass Chesterton seinen Helden als einen kleinen Sherlock schildert, jedoch ohne dessen Attitüden. Ein kleiner, zurückhaltender Mensch, der erst im letzten Augenblick eingreift.
Aber vielleicht liegt auch genau da mein Problem. Denn irgendwie kam ich in keine der Geschichten wirklich rein. Zu ausführend waren mir die Beschreibungen der Umgebung und schlussendlich unwichtiger Charaktere. Irgendwie zog sich immer alles unglaublich in die Länge.
Vielleicht versuche ich diese Bücher irgendwann mal auf Deutsch. Vielleicht geht das dann ja auch etwas flüssiger? Ein Versuch ist es bestimmt wert.
feliciar33ds's review against another edition
So disappointed - this doesn't contain a lot of the great characters from the tv series. I found it pretty boring.