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Loading... The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)by G. K. Chesterton
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Enjoyable stories involving a likable character. Definitely of their time with occasional unfortunate racism and stereotypes but I hesitate to judge too much as we are all influenced by our current situation. Great, readable stories. ( ) I turned to this collection out of a search for comforting cozy mysteries. The BBC series was so pleasant (mostly) that I thought I'd give the side stories a try. I am, on the whole, glad I did. The tales recognizable from the tv series have been substantially changed, especially the characters of Valentine and Flambeau, but Father Brown is still as sweet and clever. However, since points have not aged well at all. There is, frankly, a strand of bigotry that runs through some of these stories that stains Father Brown most deeply. It's all well and good to consider the cultural milieu of a story's writing, but there is an overt nastiness here that seems particularly strong. Read with care, I think.
This rumpled, clumsy detective-priest appeared in 52 short stories, 48 of them collected in five volumes during Chesterton's lifetime. The strongest of the stories are the earliest--"The Blue Cross," "The Secret Garden," "The Wrong Shape," "The Sins of Prince Saradine," "The Honour of Israel Gow," and seven others that all appeared in the first collection, The Innocence of Father Brown (1911), a work the prominent pseudonymous American mystery writer Ellery Queen called "the miracle-book of 1911" and "one of the finest volumes of short stories ever conceived and written." These tales were written when inspiration was strong upon Chesterton, and the key concept of Father Brown and his potential were fresh and exciting to the author. Each of these early stories is a tightly plotted gem, with fresh dialogue, surprising twists, gorgeous scene-painting, and--most important--a main character who solves and thwarts crimes not by CSI-style clue-chasing or Sherlockian inductive reasoning but by his knowledge of the passions that motivate men. The key to Father Brown's powers of insight lies in the fact that among his daily duties is hearing the confessions of his flock. "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?" he asks one astonished would-be robber--his greatest antagonist (and in time his best friend), Hercule Flambeau. Is contained inThe Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, Vol. 12: Father Brown Stories, Part 1: The Innocence of Father Brown, The Wisdom of Father Brown, The Donnington Affair by G.K. Chesterton (indirect) The Father Brown Omnibus: Including The Innocence of Father Brown; The Wisdom of Father Brown; The Incredulity of Father Brown; The Secret of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton Club del misterio. Volumen I: Prólogo de J. J. BORGES. "El cuento policial, IX" . Dashiell HAMMETT: "Cosecha roja". Arthur CONAN DOYLE: "Las aventuras de Shrlock Holmes". Hellery QUEEN: "Cara a cara". Raymond CHANDLER: "El sueño eterno". Patricia IHGSMITH: Erle STANLEY GARDNER: "El cuchillo". "El caso del juguete mortífero". James HADLEY CHASE: "Impulso creador". "El secuestro de Miss Blandish". Nicholas BLAKE: "La bestia debe morir". Volumen 2: Prólogo de R. CHANDLER: " El simpl by AA.VV (indirect) ContainsDistinctionsNotable Lists
The star of these stories is Father Brown, a character created by writer G. K. Chesterton. Based on a parish priest who was partially responsible for Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922, Brown is a stubby Catholic priest equipped with a large umbrella, a formless outfit and a sharp insight into the human nature. The stories included here are The Blue Cross, The Secret Garden, The Queer Feet, The Flying Stars, The Invisible Man, The Honour of Israel Gow, The Wrong Shape, The Sins of Prince Saradine, The Hammer of God, The Eye of Apollo, The Sign of the Broken Sword, and The Three Tools of Death. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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