The Innermost Kernel
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    The Innermost Kernel
    Suzanne Gieser
    Manufacturer: Springer
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 3540208569

    Book Description

    "The Innermost Kernel" recounts the physicist and Nobel Laureate Wolfgang Pauli and his interest in Jungian psychology, philosophy and western world-view. It is also an exploration of the intellectual setting and context of Pauli's thinking, which has its starting point in the cultural and intellectual climate of fin-de-siècle Europe. As a contribution to the general history of quantum physics this study has a special focus on the psychological and philosophical issues discussed by physicists belonging to the Copenhagen school. The work is mainly based on the correspondence of the principle characters and explores some of the central issues discussed there, as for instance the subject-object relation, complementarity, the relation of conscious and unconscious, the process underlying concept-formation, the psychology of scientific discovery, the symbolic world of alchemy, the theories of archetypes and of synchronicity. Ultimately this book is about a remarkable scientist searching for a new understanding of the interrelatedness of man and world.

    The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Timeless Entertainment
    • A Modern Masterpiece
    • Nihilistic buffoonery that opens the door to truth, understanding and redemption.
    • Mind-warping and mind-expanding!
    • Thursday's Child has far to go
    The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)
    G.K. Chesterton
    Manufacturer: Modern Library
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    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0375757910
    Release Date: 2001-10-09

    Amazon.com

    In an article published the day before his death, G.K. Chesterton called The Man Who Was Thursday "a very melodramatic sort of moonshine." Set in a phantasmagoric London where policemen are poets and anarchists camouflage themselves as, well, anarchists, his 1907 novel offers up one highly colored enigma after another. If that weren't enough, the author also throws in an elephant chase and a hot-air-balloon pursuit in which the pursuers suffer from "the persistent refusal of the balloon to follow the roads, and the still more persistent refusal of the cabmen to follow the balloon."

    But Chesterton is also concerned with more serious questions of honor and truth (and less serious ones, perhaps, of duels and dualism). Our hero is Gabriel Syme, a policeman who cannot reveal that his fellow poet Lucian Gregory is an anarchist. In Chesterton's agile, antic hands, Syme is the virtual embodiment of paradox:

    He came of a family of cranks, in which all the oldest people had all the newest notions. One of his uncles always walked about without a hat, and another had made an unsuccessful attempt to walk about with a hat and nothing else. His father cultivated art and self-realization; his mother went in for simplicity and hygiene. Hence the child, during his tenderer years, was wholly unacquainted with any drink between the extremes of absinthe and cocoa, of both of which he had a healthy dislike.... Being surrounded with every conceivable kind of revolt from infancy, Gabriel had to revolt into something, so he revolted into the only thing left--sanity.
    Elected undercover into the Central European Council of anarchists, Syme must avoid discovery and save the world from any bombings in the offing. As Thursday (each anarchist takes the name of a weekday--the only quotidian thing about this fantasia) does his best to undo his new colleagues, the masks multiply. The question then becomes: Do they reveal or conceal? And who, not to mention what, can be believed? As The Man Who Was Thursday proceeds, it becomes a hilarious numbers game with a more serious undertone--what happens if most members of the council actually turn out to be on the side of right? Chesterton's tour de force is a thriller that is best read slowly, so as to savor his highly anarchic take on anarchy. --Kerry Fried

    Book Description

    G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.

    Download Description

    Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled 'A nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. Drawing on contemporary fears of anarchist conspiracies and bomb outrages, The Man Who Was Thursday is firmly rooted in its time and place - turn-of-the-century London - but it also defies temporal boundaries. Police Detective Syme finds himself drawn into a world that seems to have gone beyond humanity when he is elected 'Thursday', one of the members of the Central European Council of seven monarchs. Dreamlike, prophetic, and frequently funny, the novel attacks contemporary pessimism and, through a bizarre series of pursuits and unmaskings, returns Syme - and us - to earth more aware of its beauty, promise, and creative potential.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Timeless Entertainment.......2007-05-18

    Chesterton sure knows how to write a thriller. Its turns are anything but predictable; its twists are also anything but nonsensical.

    Despite Chesterton's intimation that it is simply a nightmare, I find it highly allegorical. Perhaps what's in a man's heart just comes out on the page, whether he intended it or not.

    It's interesting that Chesterton picked anarchists as symbolic of the greatest evil of Satan. The book definitely lends itself to allegory, and it seems to have a very ambitious goal: to answer why there is evil in the world. The answer is also very interesting: good people suffer so that in the end when the accuser stands, righteousness will prevail not because it is untested, but exactly because it has been tested and purified. Sunday/Sabbath is a very interesting figure: simply by his presence he exposes everything. The greatest evil and anarchy is the deception that turns brothers against each other, and that evil is nothing MORE than a great deception. It's a very interesting concept, and plays throughout the book in the theme of the rash vows the Days promised to various others--and specifically, Thursday's promise to Gregory.

    The book is to be savored like a fine wine: with good food and slowly. You definitely need a few nights to absorb it, and, plan on a rereading. Personally, I loved it. I'm kind of sad *that* dream is over!

    4 out of 5 stars A Modern Masterpiece.......2007-04-18

    Chesterton, the master of paradox, hits his stride in this dream of paranoia. For those of you who like your thrillers to pack their punches in terms of caliber, pints of blood shed, or body-count, you can all sod off. This is a thriller for the mind and the soul -- its aim is to save you from yourselves.

    If you want your English simple, straighforward, fed to you in easy subject-verb-object format, leave as well. This is more post-modern than any of those douchebags you've been fed in your graduate classes at U.C. Santa Barbara.

    If Chesterton is not the greatest modern author, then that is only because T.S. Eliot or Evelyn Waugh is slightly better.

    The chief pity is that Americans -- most direly in need of this sort of instruction -- will not read this work.

    5 out of 5 stars Nihilistic buffoonery that opens the door to truth, understanding and redemption........2007-03-26

    Because of our own doing, evil has been given a permanent place in our world, and G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, illustrates that fact perfectly.

    At the very beginning of the novel, the daylight scene of the neighborhood changes by nightfall to a reality that is mind-bending and questionable, at best: "More especially this attractive unreality fell upon it about nightfall, when the extravagant roofs were dark against the afterglow and the whole insane village seemed as separate as a drifting cloud. " Page eight. As that evolution of perception can be placed upon an environment, again by our doing, how can that affect the perception of the people who are occupied within its confines? It does, yet it does so on a deeper plain. When is the presentation of goodness real goodness versus goodness out of obligation or duty? And can the person discern kindly obligation vis-a-vis authentic Christian goodness? Or are the two so firmly meshed together that they can not be extricated, for past events have indeed raised that question mark. It is a slippery slope, and one must always be on guard when goodness is used in order to obtain something compared to when something is offered freely without expectations or obligations, and we are speaking about the philosophical, and especially the theological here. Who can be trusted, and who can not be? Even though the act of proving oneself is cyclical, who is more credible, the one or the other, and what if the two are a part of the same circle and there is a divide, as say in religion? Who will predominate? Who is truer to God? And are facades used to mislead people? It has happened before.

    What I enjoyed very much about The Man Who Was Thursday was that it raised an assortment of these types of questions upon my reading it, and they too were applicable in regards to faith and the Catholic Church, whose exposed duplicity (and I say that without spite) also raised a vast array of questions. As human beings are inherently fallible, religious or otherwise, it is faith (choose your denomination) that is the stabilizer for the unsteady human condition: "'You were,' said Syme seriously, and hung the heavy lantern over the front. There was a certain allegory of their whole position in the contrast between the modern automobile and its strange, ecclesiastical lamp." P. 137. The strange, ecclesiastical lamp was doubtlessly symbolic of the light of Christ, the light of God, who is Truth in times of duplicity and doubt, where people, the anarchists, who appear to be anything what they really are. And when you can not even trust those who are close to you, which happens quite frequently to the characters in The Man Who Was Thursday, via fumbling idiocy and gnawing black doubt, you can only trust the light and blood of Christ as the last vestage of hope, for that love is life changing, and pages 163 through 167 are vital to the minute comprehension of that unknown gloriousness, for Sunday, towards the latter end of the novel, for escape purposes, rises via the aid of a balloon in a bumbling form of resurrection that is humanly endearing, pleasing and desirious in its own right.

    Another element that makes The Man Who Was Thursday so appealing is that it has such an in-your-face truth offering in respects to people of power and authority and those who abuse that authority that is anything but faith-oriented: "The only crime of the Government is that it governs. The unpardonable sin of the supreme power is that it is supreme. I do not curse you for being cruel. I do not curse you (though I might) for being kind. I curse you for being safe! You sit in your chairs of stone, and have never come down from them..." Page 180. For someone in any capacity of religious or poiltical authority, who abuse their power and overlook their fallibility, to be privy to an act of evil (you choose what evil) and yet stay stoned silent, that is where that Light needs to seep into. Let not pride or the haughty veneer of what one is or desires to be prevent that.

    In order to accept faith, one must know fully what he or she is, and that is what makes the novel so uplifting and jolly; it is an optimistic novel, because it mocks the bleakness of nihilism. Chesterton even has the happy-go-lucky audacity of inserting himself in the novel, but he does so with the full knowledge of where he came from, and where, in the end of life, he is fortunately going towards. "Chesterton is so thrilled by his acrobatic stroll along the razor's edge of nihilism that he earns hus sunniness a new on every page."--xvi. It is because he was never alone. We do seem to forget that every now and then.

    5 out of 5 stars Mind-warping and mind-expanding!.......2007-03-22

    The Man Who Was Thursday is a Christian allegory, but it is not a simple allegory of the Christian faith, ala The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This book is an allegory by a Christian thinker, for Christians. The Anarchists of this book are not the real-life bomb-throwers, but represent free will - the freedom to do evil. The policemen represent the Christian's desires to reign in the evil, and Sunday represents the Universe, the ultimate giver of good and evil.

    Is this a great philosophical work, a key to understanding the ultimate nature of God? Well, you'll have to read that and decide for yourself. As for me, I found it to be a fascinating and at time unsettling work. It's easy to see why this book is considered a Christian classic, and its also easy to see why so many people read it and declare that they had no idea what it was about.

    This is another one of those mind-warping book that is difficult to understand, but mind-expanding as you begin to grasp what the author is saying. I highly recommend this book!

    3 out of 5 stars Thursday's Child has far to go.......2007-01-30

    The plot of this book is crafted with mechanical precision. Start to read and you've pulled the switch and it all gets rolling. Each word, sentence and paragraph accumulates into a picturesque ride moving initially at a cruising pace. Then the story continues to develop page-by-page gaining momentum and the reader at warp speed is drawn completely into Chesterton's improbable world. It is a not so subtle allegory of broadly drawn characters and events informed by what I interpret as the author's deeply held religious convictions. Here is planet Earth and the jolly, impish God overseeing every little thing of his creation. It's rough out there all right but hard work and great fortitude will see us mortals through. This is just what Thursday and the other bogus "anarchists" find through all their trials and lunacy. The Man Who was Thursday is not a great book (there are many people that think it is) but it is entertaining; clever through rather sophmoric. It occurred to me that the old Monty Python gang could have made it into a great movie that would have done justice to its zaniness. Maybe Tim Burton?
    The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare

      Manufacturer: Barnes and Noble Books
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Chesterton, G.K.Chesterton, G.K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
      Chesterton, G. K.Chesterton, G. K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
      ASIN: B000IHVFNQ

      Product Description

      The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (1908)is the most renowned and critically acclaimed novel by the prolific G. K. Chesterton. Equal parts mystery, suspense story, allegory, and farce, it is considered a classic of the spy genre while at the same time almost constitutes a genre of its own. Each rereading of The Man Who Was Thursday reveals new meanings and nuances, while its jokes never become stale. The hero, Gabriel Syme, is Chesterton's ideal of the virtuous Common Man. He must infiltrate and try to twart as anarchist cell, at whose heart is the mysterious and ambiguous Sunday, a man whose powers seem almost godlike. Syme's mission leads him through the back ways of Victorian London and on a wild chase through the French countryside, an adventure at once madcap, surreal, and cosmically important. More than just a charming tale full of Dickensian characters and a mysterious man who was supposed to be "Thursday," The Man Who Was Thursday asks the dark question: Will the human race survive? It is a question as relevant at the start of the twenty-first century as it was at the beginning of the twentieth. --- from book's back cover
      The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • On Thursday...
      The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
      G. K. Chesterton
      Manufacturer: Idylls Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      1. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics) The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)
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      ASIN: 1595970010

      Product Description

      Originally published in 1908, G.K. Chesterton’s classic nightmare-mystery-fantasy of Police vs. Dynamiters, Law vs. Anarchy and Religion vs. Nihilism has influenced writers as diverse as Franz Kafka and C.S. Lewis, and remains as exuberant and imaginative, as original and prophetic as when if first appeared.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars On Thursday..........2006-05-09

      For a book that's as short as this one is, "The Man Who Was Thursday" is pretty packed.

      G.K. Chesterton's classic novella tackles anarchy, social order, God, peace, war, religion, human nature, and a few dozen other weight concepts. And somehow he manages to mash it all together into a delightful satire, full of tongue-in-cheek commentary that is still relevant today.

      As the book opens, Gabriel Symes is debating with a soapbox anarchist. The two men impress each other enough that the anarchist introduces Symes to a seven-man council of anarchists, all named after days of the week. In short order, they elect Symes their newest member -- Thursday.

      But they don't know that he's also been recruited by an anti-anarchy organization. And soon Symes finds out that he's not the only person on the council who is not what he seems. There are other spies and double-agents, working for the same cause. But who -- and what -- is the jovial, powerful Mr. Sunday, the head of the organization?

      Hot air balloons, elaborate disguises, duels and police chases -- Chesterton certainly knew how to keep this novel interesting. Though written almost a century ago, "The Man Who Was Thursday" still feels very fresh. That's partly because of Chesterton's cheery writing... and partly because it's such an intelligent book.

      He doesn't avoid some timeless topics that make some people squirm. Humanity (good and bad), anarchy, religion and its place in human nature, and creation versus destruction all get tackled here -- disguised as a comic police investigation. And unlike most satires, it isn't dated; the topics are reflections of humanity and religion, so they're as relevant now as they were in 1908.

      But the story isn't pedantic or boring; Chesterton keeps things lively by having his characters act like real people, rather than mouthpieces. From Symes to the Colonel to the mysterious Sunday himself, they all have a sort of friendly, energetic quality. "We're all spies! Come and have a drink!" one of the characters announces cheerfully near the end.

      And of course, once the madcap police investigations are finished, there's still a mystery. Who is Sunday? What are his goals? And for that matter, WHAT is Sunday -- genius, force of nature, villain or god? The answer is a bit of a surprise, and as a reflection of Chesterton's beliefs, it's a delicate, intelligent piece of work.

      "The Man Who Was Thursday" is a wacky little satire that will both amuse and educate you. Not bad for a book often subtitled "A Nightmare."
      The Man Who was Thursday
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Man Who was Thursday
        Gilbert Chesterton
        Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        GeneralGeneral | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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        ASIN: 0543903389
        Release Date: 2000-11-01
        The Man Who Was Thursday (Large Print Edition): A Nightmare
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The Man Who Was Thursday (Large Print Edition): A Nightmare
          Gilbert Keith Chesterton
          Manufacturer: BiblioBazaar
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 1434616118
          Release Date: 2007-06-11
          The Man Who Was Thursday - A Nightmare
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            The Man Who Was Thursday - A Nightmare
            G.K., Chesterton
            Manufacturer: Pomona Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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            ASIN: 1406789194

            Book Description

            Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pomona Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
            The Man Who Was Thursday, A Nightmare
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • From Sunday on...
            • Franz Kafka meets joy,Kafka is shocked by ulitmate evil
            The Man Who Was Thursday, A Nightmare
            G. K. Chesterton
            Manufacturer: Wildside Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            Chesterton, G. K.Chesterton, G. K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 080959255X

            Book Description

            A WILD, MAD, HILARIOUS AND PROFOUNDLY MOVING TALE: It is very difficult to classify _The Man Who was Thursday._ It is possible to say that it is a gripping adventure story of murderous criminals and brilliant policemen; but it was to be expected that the author of the Father Brown stories should tell a detective story like no one else. On this level, therefore, _The Man Who was Thursday_ succeeds superbly; if nothing else, it is a magnificent tour-de-force of suspense-writing. However, the reader will soon discover that it is much more than that. Carried along on the boisterous rush of the narrative by Chesterton's wonderful high-spirited style, he will soon see that he is being carried into much deeper waters than he had planned on; and the totally unforeseeable denouement will prove for the modern reader, as it has for thousands of others since 1908 when the book was first published, an inevitable and moving experience, as the investigators finally discover who Sunday is.

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars From Sunday on..........2006-07-15

            For a book that's only about a hundred pages long, "The Man Who Was Thursday" is pretty packed.

            G.K. Chesterton's classic novella tackles anarchy, social order, God, peace, war, religion, human nature, and a few dozen other weight concepts. And somehow he manages to mash it all together into a delightful satire, full of tongue-in-cheek commentary that is still relevant today.

            As the book opens, Gabriel Symes is debating with a soapbox anarchist. The two men impress each other enough that the anarchist introduces Symes to a seven-man council of anarchists, all named after days of the week. In short order, they elect Symes their newest member -- Thursday.

            But they don't know that he's also been recruited by an anti-anarchy organization. And soon Symes finds out that he's not the only person on the council who is not what he seems. There are other spies and double-agents, working for the same cause. But who -- and what -- is the jovial, powerful Mr. Sunday, the head of the organization?

            Hot air balloons, elaborate disguises, duels and police chases -- Chesterton certainly knew how to keep this novel interesting. Though written almost a century ago, "The Man Who Was Thursday" still feels very fresh. That's partly because of Chesterton's cheery writing... and partly because it's such an intelligent book.

            He doesn't avoid some timeless topics that make some people squirm. Humanity (good and bad), anarchy, religion and its place in human nature, and creation versus destruction all get tackled here -- disguised as a comic police investigation. And unlike most satires, it isn't dated; the topics are reflections of humanity and religion, so they're as relevant now as they were in 1908.

            But the story isn't pedantic or boring; Chesterton keeps things lively by having his characters act like real people, rather than mouthpieces. From Symes to the Colonel to the mysterious Sunday himself, they all have a sort of friendly, energetic quality. "We're all spies! Come and have a drink!" one of the characters announces cheerfully near the end.

            And of course, once the madcap police investigations are finished, there's still a mystery. Who is Sunday? What are his goals? And for that matter, WHAT is Sunday -- genius, force of nature, villain or god? The answer is a bit of a surprise, and as a reflection of Chesterton's beliefs, it's a delicate, intelligent piece of work.

            "The Man Who Was Thursday" is a wacky little satire that will both amuse and educate you. Not bad for a book often subtitled "A Nightmare."

            5 out of 5 stars Franz Kafka meets joy,Kafka is shocked by ulitmate evil.......2004-05-26

            A hundred thousand years could go by until the human race finally wakes up the fact that Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of the great est writers of the sad and bad twentieth century along side of James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Samuel Beckett, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jorge Luis Borges, Mervyn Peake, and, of course, Franz Kafka. His psychedelic quest-romance "The Man Who Was Thursday" will shock you - if you have nerves left to be shocked. If you don't have nerves Chesterton will wave his aesthete's magic wand and create you a new pair of nerves. The book is not a roller coaster ride through phantasmgoric visions of evil and beauty. It is a quest of one man to get to that most dreadful of topics - The Bottom Of Things. The "anarchists" are everywhere, and like blasphemous termites from a world beyond they are attempting to eat away at the roots of human civilization until it crumbles in flames. I am often reminded of the sublime fictions of Thomas Pynchon while I contemplate "The Man Who Was Thursday". Chesterton, out of magic bag, throws out plenty of paranoia and devilry and fine poetical prose to keep us feeling like we are living in a grade-b version of film noir crossed with a Monty Python movie where all of the actors have sipped their daily quanta of holy water and have sworn comical oaths to the Divinity. I often wonder if Mr. Chesterton's little psychedelic surprize played any role in influencing Patrick McGoohan ( the world's most under utilized actor) when he created the monstrous television series "The Prisoner". There is the same unconventional idea that morality is a form of rebellion in both works. And Chesterton prizes human freedom at least as much as Mr. McGoohan does, though Mr. McGoohan is grim and even savage while Mr. Chesterton is almost always "gay" and humorous even at his darkest. Speaking of gay I am reminded of Franz Kafka for a number of reasons. Franz Kafka, apparently, loved the writings of Mr. Chesterton. Kafka once remarked that Chesterton was so "gay" it was almost as if he had discovered God. "The Man Who Was Thursday" should be regarded as Kafka's Rescue. Mr. Chesterton sees all of the things Mr. Kafka does but he sees both more and less. Mr. Chesterton was, of course, an aesthete. That is to say he was a man who subscribed to Theophile Gautier's idea : art for art's sake. This was a stance that Mr. Chesterton carefully concealed from himself but we can see it in his endless poetical discriptions of landscape, the physical features of characters, the psychological revelation ( "analysis" is a cold word) of characters. The Great King Chesterton was a complicated man and he gave us a subtly complicated tale. Five Stars. I would prefer seven
            The Man Who Was Thursday, a nightmare
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • Nightmare... or not
            The Man Who Was Thursday, a nightmare
            G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
            Manufacturer: Hard Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback
            ASIN: 1406947245
            Release Date: 2006-11-03

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars Nightmare... or not.......2006-12-12

            For a book that's only about a hundred pages long, "The Man Who Was Thursday" is pretty packed.

            G.K. Chesterton's classic novella tackles anarchy, social order, God, peace, war, religion, human nature, and a few dozen other weight concepts. And somehow he manages to mash it all together into a delightful satire, full of tongue-in-cheek commentary that is still relevant today.

            As the book opens, Gabriel Symes is debating with a soapbox anarchist. The two men impress each other enough that the anarchist introduces Symes to a seven-man council of anarchists, all named after days of the week. In short order, they elect Symes their newest member -- Thursday.

            But they don't know that he's also been recruited by an anti-anarchy organization. And soon Symes finds out that he's not the only person on the council who is not what he seems. There are other spies and double-agents, working for the same cause. But who -- and what -- is the jovial, powerful Mr. Sunday, the head of the organization?

            Hot air balloons, elaborate disguises, duels and police chases -- Chesterton certainly knew how to keep this novel interesting. Though written almost a century ago, "The Man Who Was Thursday" still feels very fresh. That's partly because of Chesterton's cheery writing... and partly because it's such an intelligent book.

            He doesn't avoid some timeless topics that make some people squirm. Humanity (good and bad), anarchy, religion and its place in human nature, and creation versus destruction all get tackled here -- disguised as a comic police investigation. And unlike most satires, it isn't dated; the topics are reflections of humanity and religion, so they're as relevant now as they were in 1908.

            But the story isn't pedantic or boring; Chesterton keeps things lively by having his characters act like real people, rather than mouthpieces. From Symes to the Colonel to the mysterious Sunday himself, they all have a sort of friendly, energetic quality. "We're all spies! Come and have a drink!" one of the characters announces cheerfully near the end.

            And of course, once the madcap police investigations are finished, there's still a mystery. Who is Sunday? What are his goals? And for that matter, WHAT is Sunday -- genius, force of nature, villain or god? The answer is a bit of a surprise, and as a reflection of Chesterton's beliefs, it's a delicate, intelligent piece of work.

            "The Man Who Was Thursday" is a wacky little satire that will both amuse and educate you. Not bad for a book often subtitled "A Nightmare."
            The Man Who Was Thursday, A Nightmare (Dodo Press)
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • He was Thursday
            The Man Who Was Thursday, A Nightmare (Dodo Press)
            G. K. Chesterton
            Manufacturer: Dodo Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            Police ProceduralsPolice Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
            Chesterton, G.K.Chesterton, G.K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
            Chesterton, G. K.Chesterton, G. K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 1406510068

            Book Description

            A classic novel, metaphysical thriller and arguably the best-known novel by the highly influential English writer of the early 20th century.

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars He was Thursday.......2006-09-17

            For a book that's only about a hundred-fifty pages long, "The Man Who Was Thursday" is pretty packed.

            G.K. Chesterton's classic novella tackles anarchy, social order, God, peace, war, religion, human nature, and a few dozen other weight concepts. And somehow he manages to mash it all together into a delightful satire, full of tongue-in-cheek commentary that is still relevant today.

            As the book opens, Gabriel Symes is debating with a soapbox anarchist. The two men impress each other enough that the anarchist introduces Symes to a seven-man council of anarchists, all named after days of the week. In short order, they elect Symes their newest member -- Thursday.

            But they don't know that he's also been recruited by an anti-anarchy organization. And soon Symes finds out that he's not the only person on the council who is not what he seems. There are other spies and double-agents, working for the same cause. But who -- and what -- is the jovial, powerful Mr. Sunday, the head of the organization?

            Hot air balloons, elaborate disguises, duels and police chases -- Chesterton certainly knew how to keep this novel interesting. Though written almost a century ago, "The Man Who Was Thursday" still feels very fresh. That's partly because of Chesterton's cheery writing... and partly because it's such an intelligent book.

            He doesn't avoid some timeless topics that make some people squirm. Humanity (good and bad), anarchy, religion and its place in human nature, and creation versus destruction all get tackled here -- disguised as a comic police investigation. And unlike most satires, it isn't dated; the topics are reflections of humanity and religion, so they're as relevant now as they were in 1908.

            But the story isn't pedantic or boring; Chesterton keeps things lively by having his characters act like real people, rather than mouthpieces. From Symes to the Colonel to the mysterious Sunday himself, they all have a sort of friendly, energetic quality. "We're all spies! Come and have a drink!" one of the characters announces cheerfully near the end.

            And of course, once the madcap police investigations are finished, there's still a mystery. Who is Sunday? What are his goals? And for that matter, WHAT is Sunday -- genius, force of nature, villain or god? The answer is a bit of a surprise, and as a reflection of Chesterton's beliefs, it's a delicate, intelligent piece of work.

            "The Man Who Was Thursday" is a wacky little satire that will both amuse and educate you. Not bad for a book often subtitled "A Nightmare."
            The Man Who Was Thursday. A Nightmare
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              The Man Who Was Thursday. A Nightmare
              G.K. Chesterton
              Manufacturer: Dodd, Mead & Co.
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              Chesterton, G. K.Chesterton, G. K. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: B000JN3N3O

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