Chesterton, G.K. : Innocence of FR Brown Vol 1

This book contains the first G. K. Chesterton piece I ever read. I was 14 years old, attending high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and my language teacher assigned “The Invisible Man.” I thought the story was clever and entertaining, and for some reason the fact that it began with a strange conversation in a restaurant intrigued me. I didn’t forget the name of Chesterton. Six long years passed until I read him again, this time in the US, while attending a theology class at a Catholic university.While I enjoy mysteries immensely, I am not a connoisseur of the genre. In a sense, I am not even “trained” to read whodunits: I do not try to figure out who in fact did it as I read, I simply let the story lead me to the conclusion. I like the Sherlock Holmes stories, of which I’ve read a handful, and Poe’s detective fiction (especially “The Gold Bug”), but for the most part I go for noir: James M. Cain, Horace McCoy, and above all, Raymond Chandler’s novels (no Hammett for me, thank you). I like authors who employ elements of mystery for their own purposes, such as Camus or Modiano. I love Borges, and thought his (and Bioy Casares’) idea of a detective who solves crimes from a prison cell was brilliant, but the actual stories failed to move me.My positive response to the Father Brown stories came as no surprise to me. It seems to me that both enthusiasts of mystery and readers who are new to the genre can enjoy Chesterton’s detective fiction. These stories also transcend religious affiliation. Sharing Chesterton’s faith and worldview may give you a fuller appreciation of the stories’ implications, but these tales are meant to be enjoyed by readers of all faiths or no faith. Fr. Brown does take advantage of the opportunity to preach, but he is such an agreeable character: it is impossible for him to offend. Here is a detective with a philosophy, and his strength is that, thanks to the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation, he has learned quite a bit about human beings, the things they do, and the motives that drive them. He has come not only to a knowledge, but also to an understanding of human nature. His method (as the Wikipedia article points out) is not deductive, but intuitive.Most of the stories included in this volume feature Fr. Brown’s sidekick, because all detectives must have one: Flambeau. He is a thief who eventually repents, embraces Catholicism, and becomes an amateur detective. The priest’s enigmatic observations often exasperate him.I will comment on the 12 stories included in this Fr. Brown collection, the first of five, which appeared in book form in 1911. I also include, at the end of each commentary, my personal judgment (**** = Excellent, *** = Very Good, ** = Good, * = Poor). The symbol # indicates Borges included the story in the Chesterton volume for his “biblioteca personal,” the best books he ever read.* The Blue Cross: the story that introduced Fr. Brown, and Flambeau, to the world. The priest carries a valuable silver cross with blue sapphires, which Flambeau hopes to steal. A French detective, Aristide Valentin, is trying to catch Flambeau in London. A great beginning, especially when one considers the final talk between Fr. Brown and Flambeau. The priest’s comments help the reader to understand why he is so good at solving crimes. It is here that Fr. Brown says: “Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men’s real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?” **** #* The Secret Garden: During a gathering, the body of an unknown man is found in a closed garden with its head severed. The chief of police, the atheist Aristide, is present, and the first suspect is an American skeptic, who leaves the premises when everyone was ordered to stay at the place. It has been said that one way to read the Fr. Brown stories is as apologias. This tale is a very good example. *** #* The Queer Feet: the story begins with a description of a select group of gentlemen who dine at a specific hotel. Fr. Brown’s profession takes him to the place right before the silverware disappears. Like “The Invisible Man,” this story contains direct social commentary. Perhaps most interestingly, meta-mystery is involved, as the conventions of the genre are discussed within the story. Listen to this description of death: “a very aged rioter and demagogue who breaks into the most refined retreats with the dreadful information that all men are brothers.” Look out also for the “unseen hook” and “invisible line” of Catholicism, which can bring back those who have been “caught" no matter how far away they are. **** #* The Flying Stars: three diamonds (the “stars” of the title) are stolen during a Christmas pantomime. One of the characters is a socialist, which gives Chesterton the opportunity to criticize this political view. My least favorite of the stories in the collection. ** The Invisible Man: as I mentioned, this was the first text I read by GKC. Perhaps I am biased, but I still think it is one of his best stories. If someone asked me where to start with Fr. Brown, “The Invisible Man” would be my reply, without hesitation. This is simply an amazing tale involving robots, letters, marriage proposals, and the things we do not notice because they are too evident. **** #* The Honour of Israel Gow: set in Scotland. The man of the title is a methodic servant whose master has just died. As they investigate the master’s death, Flambeau and Fr. Brown find a series of apparently random objects. There is a parody of deduction (the Holmes method) when Fr. Brown “interprets” the possible connections between the items. As in “The Secret Garden” and, in a sense, “The Invisible Man,” there is a missing head here too. I’m reminded of an observation from _Orthodoxy_: “It is easy to be a madman: it is easy to be a heretic. It is always easy to let the age have its head; the difficult thing is to keep one’s own” (107, in the Ignatius edition). ** #* The Wrong Shape: A poet with a taste for things oriental dies leaving a message: “I die by my own hand, but I am murdered.” The wrong shape refers to a Chinese dagger and to pieces of paper with their corners cut, which the poet liked to use. At one point, Fr. Brown calls Flambeau his only friend. *** The Sins of Prince Saradine: Fr. Brown and Flambeau visit a prince who lives on a “fairy-tale” island. The prince has invited Flambeau because he admires the criminal he used to be, especially his trick of getting one detective to arrest another. Fr. Brown knows that fairyland is a wonderful place where terrible things can also happen. Another favorite story of mine, this one involves a duel, look-alikes, and tricks with mirrors. I loved the image of the tapestry, which can be used as metaphor for our earthly life: “We here are on the wrong side of the tapestry. […] The things that happen here do not seem to mean anything; they mean something somewhere else.” ***** The Hammer of God: the story concerns two brothers, one of whom is a pastor, and the other a drunkard. The latter wants to seduce the blacksmith’s wife, but he is soon found dead, his head destroyed by the blow of a small hammer. The blacksmith is an obvious suspect, but he was out of town when the murder happened. The village idiot is another possibility. A great story with great philosophy. “Humility is the mother of giants,” says Fr. Brown. **** #* The Eye of Apollo: Flambeau is moving to his new office. Among his new neighbors are two typists who are sisters and the leader of a new religion who describes himself as a priest of Apollo. Chesterton comments on cults based on human “self-liberation” and (more subtly) on feminism and/or the modern “working woman” (I use quotation marks because this common phrase seems to imply that there was a time when women did not work). *** #* The Sign of the Broken Sword: Fr. Brown and Flambeau see the statue of a local hero who holds a broken sword. The priest proceeds to tell the story behind the statue as he and his friend walk around the area. I had trouble following this one. There were too many details for my taste, and Fr. Brown is not directly involved in the events but goes back in history. Here’s a good observation, at any rate: “It is useless for a man to read his Bible unless he also reads everybody else’s Bible.” Also, look out for Fr. Brown’s thought-provoking decision at the end. *** The Three Tools of Death: a lecturing teetotaler is found dead. The weapon may have been a rope, a gun, or a dagger. As Fr. Brown knows, things are not what they seem. Teetotalism, it is well known, was another favorite target of GKC’s, and one of the many areas in which he disagreed with his friend George Bernard Shaw. As someone who does not drink, I side with GBS on this one, but I still love this story. Like the previous one, it ends with a interesting decision on Fr. Brown’s part. ***I once had a non-Catholic coworker who had Chesterton’s complete works in his office. His favorite books were Chesterton’s famous collections of brief essays on anything and everything. “His Catholicism I can take or leave,” my coworker said. I didn’t say anything, but thought to myself, “You can definitely take it, but you can’t leave it.” If you “leave” GKC’s Catholicism, what is left? Chesterton once said, and I am paraphrasing, that it was impossible for a Catholic to write (or to do anything) without showing that he/she was a Catholic. Chesterton is a great writer largely because (not in spite) of his Catholicism. I have enjoyed the work of authors who disagree with and sometimes even hate or attack my faith. I hope you will enjoy these stories whether you agree with Chesterton or not.My next book by GKC will be either _All Things Considered_ or _Tremendous Trifles_.Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!

Chesterton had a gift for laying the case, then pulling out the answer in brief conclusion.So much better than the current television dramas.

The Innocense of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterson is an asssemby of 12 short detective stories with the main character, Father Brown, as the super sluth who identifies the clues as the stories develope.The expectation is that the reader will have an idea as to who, what, where, why and how things happened. Many of the stories are quite easy to figure out ex. The Eye of Apollo, some much harder ex.The Sign of the Broken Sword, but most are fairly entertaining. (I had a problem with one The Flying Stars; it was so boring, I couldn't finish it. That was the one disappointment in the collection.) G.K. Chesterson was a prolific writer, author, philosopher, etc. in the late 19th and well into the 20th century. This collection of Father Brown stories is is a good representation of his detective works. He leaves clues which lead you to the answer of the mystery, but he doesn't develope the characters very much, partly because the stories themselves are relatively short. For the most part, this is fairly entertaining, but certainly not the best mysteries you will read. 3 stars.

This was quite an enjoyable break from what I've been reading and studying. I've read this book before. The narration was well done.

I ordered this as a birthday present for my daughter and she loves it, but in listening to the cd's, she noticed that the 8th cd contains the same story as the 10th cd even though it has a different title. Of course, by the time she discovered this, the window of opportunity for returning the set for a replacement had passed. Amazon's customer service says to contact the manufacturer for defective items, but the manufacturer says to get your replacement from Amazon since that was where the item was purchased initially. So, buy the set, just make sure you listen to it in good time to get a replacement in case it's faulty!!!!!

I've been watching the BBC show Father Brown on PBS, and picked up a previous dramatization on DVD as well. Both versions did episodes inspired by the story "The Eye of Apollo". It is particularly interesting to read one of the original Father Brown stories after seeing these incarnations that have been directly inspired by these writings.While the earlier tv show (the 1970s?) stayed closer to the details of "The Eye of Apollo" story, the 2012 BBC Father Brown show captured the characters profound care for people, and his observant nature. As I read this story there were paragraphs that felt like they matched exact scenes from the 1970s episode, and yet, as I reached the conclusion of the story I suddenly had words for an intangible understanding I had come out of the 2012 episode with. The different series, with different casts and settings, took the same basic story concept in two slightly different directions, and created two equally entertaining stories, each of which highlighted the central and significant themes of this story.I look forward to finding more of the original stories that align with episodes from the series, and watching the BBC show to enrich my enjoyment of these stories and vice versa.

A lot of these stories I recognized from the tv series. They were good short stories, well written for the time period.

Ein paar Pater Brown Geschichten kannte ich noch von früher, nicht zuletzt durch die Heinz Rühmann Verfilmungen; wenn man sie allerdings im Original liest, merkt man erst richtig, wie vielschichtig und witzig die Figur des Father Brown wirklich ist, und was für ein genialer Schriftsteller Chesterton war!Meine Empfehlung daher: wenn Sie des Englischen einigermassen mächtig sind, und Detektivgeschichten ( z,B. Sherlock Holmes, Poirot ,...) mögen, laden Sie dieses Buch auf Ihr Kindle Gerät. Es kostet Sie keinen Cent, und vielleicht reizt es Sie ja sogar, weiter zu lesen, denn "Innocence of Father Brown " ist nur die erste von - wenn ich mich recht erinnere- insgesamt 5 Geschichtensammlungen über den kleinen Pater mit dem großen Herzen....

La scrittura di Chesterton è molto fresca e coinvolgente. I personaggi sono caratterizzati molto bene e hanno dei tratti teatrali molto forti. Leggere questi racconti in lingua originale permette senza dubbio di apprezzare a fondo questo testo senza tempo.Lo consiglio a chiunque abbia voglia di esercitare il proprio inglese e al contempo leggere un buon libro.

if you like short stories then this book is one for you. unfortunately, I am not too keen on them. Give me an epic any day. I only gave the book three stars because although some stories were top notch and worth a 4 or a 5, I found that there were a few that were a real grind to get through. All in all I read the book to see how it compared with the tv show. For my money the t.v. adaptation leaves the book for dead.

英語がそれほど古くさいという印象はないが、宗教・文化的背景知識がないと、単独で読むのはむつかしそうです。私は、ちくま文庫から出ている日本語版を読んでいて、よく分からない場面に出くわし、無料のKindle版が出ていることを知り、原文ではどうなっているのだろう？という興味から、本書を「購入」しました。原文を見れば自分でも調べられると思い、実際役に立ちました。