Reviews

El hombre que fue Jueves by G.K. Chesterton

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lastbraincell's review against another edition

3.0

Exciting as a detective/mystery story, with a few touches of humor, but the whole allegorical/metaphysical/philosophical/socio-political thing was lost on me.

I feel like a child brought to watch a critically-acclaimed play, and my only take away was that "the bad man was scary" and "the costumes were pretty".

Read for free on Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1695

writing_badger's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition

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5.0

I have occasionally read a book, watched a movie or listened to a song and walked away suspecting the author was on something. I recall joking about the books from high school that there was something in the author's water.

Reading Chesterton, though, gives me the opposite impression. That maybe he had the only clean water source on the planet and I'm the one drugged.

Now, if you're anything like me, you've reread that sentence three times and agreed that I am drugged but remain agnostic on Chesterton's water source. But I always walk away from Chesterton certain that he has a great point to make and that I've missed all but a glimpse.

That's not to say that it's an overly grim, dark and serious novel. The book is actually quite fun and delights in paradox. It's truly a pleasure to read but I still walk away thinking that I've missed the treasure Chesterton buried in there.

sarahetc's review against another edition

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4.0

Be careful to whom you entrust your civilization. Man is smart and capable of reason. Men are fools and, in mobs, capable of great and meaningless acts of violence. Exempli gratia from this novel about radical anarchists: “Thieves respect property; they merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.”

An interesting read and fast if you can catch Chesterton's flow. I never quite got it but liked the story, nonetheless. Many twists, plenty of action. As my Goodreads buddy Dan says, "The Man Who Was Thursday reads like P.G. Wodehouse writing from a Phillip K. Dick plot while on a Nyquil bender. "