The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is an adventure and philosophical novel by G. K. Chesterton. It follows Gabriel Syme, a secret agent who infiltrates an anarchist conspiracy whose members use days of the week as codenames. The story grows surreal, suspenseful, and witty, and it is worth listening to for its brisk pace and dreamlike tension.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
The Man Who Was Thursday A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton Contents A WILD, MAD, HILARIOUS AND PROFOUNDLY MOVING TALE THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY CHAPTER I. THE TWO POETS OF SAFFRON PARK CHAPTER II. THE SECRET OF GABRIEL SYME CHAPTER III. THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY CHAPTER IV. THE TALE OF A DETECTIVE CHAPTER V. THE FEAST OF FEAR CHAPTER VI. THE EXPOSURE
CHAPTER VII. THE UNACCOUNTABLE CONDUCT OF PROFESSOR DE WORMS CHAPTER VIII. THE PROFESSOR EXPLAINS CHAPTER IX. THE MAN IN SPECTACLES CHAPTER X. THE DUEL CHAPTER XI. THE CRIMINALS CHASE THE POLICE CHAPTER XII. THE EARTH IN ANARCHY CHAPTER XIII. THE PURSUIT OF THE PRESIDENT CHAPTER XIV. THE SIX PHILOSOPHERS CHAPTER XV. THE ACCUSER
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 tourde-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.
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