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The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)

by G. K. Chesterton

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Father Brown (1)

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1,914598,597 (3.57)139
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.… (more)
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» See also 139 mentions

English (50)  Spanish (5)  Esperanto (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (57)
Showing 1-5 of 50 (next | show all)
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. ( )
  rosiezbanks | Mar 23, 2023 |
So-so -- mostly puzzles. The best bit was Chesterson's snipes at various classes. ( )
  Castinet | Dec 11, 2022 |
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. ( )
  JimDR | Dec 7, 2022 |
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  archivomorero | Jun 25, 2022 |
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  archivomorero | Jun 22, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 50 (next | show all)
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.
added by JamesMcArdle | editFather Brown at 100.(Book review). National Review, 62(18), 48., James E. Person (Dec 22, 2018)
 

» Add other authors (46 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Chesterton, G. K.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Amlie, AxelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brioschi, LuigiForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Costanzi, RemoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Edwardsen, Per ThTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kukkola, LeaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kukkola, TimoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Larsstuvold, RunePrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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A waiter came swiftly along the room, and then stopped dead. His stoppage was as silent as his tread; but all those vague and kindly gentlemen were so used to the utter smoothness of the unseen machinery which surrounded and supported their lives, that a waiter doing anything unexpected was a start and a jar. They felt as you and I would feel if the inanimate world disobeyed-- if a chair ran away from us.
Men may keep a sort of level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. That road goes down and down.
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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.

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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
The Three Tools of Death
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