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The Secret of Father Brown (1927)

by G. K. Chesterton

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Father Brown (4)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
458754,888 (3.58)16
Easily the darkest of Chesterton's Father Brown collections, The Secret of Father Brown is nonetheless a masterwork of perception of the human condition, explored through the usual impossible crimes and a parade of rogues and saints--a corpse in shining armor, a thieving mystic, insouciant British aristocrats, and a Canadian journalist. We are asked to solve death by duel and pistol shot, and thefts of jewels large and small. The stories in this collection are worth reading over and over--to see how the plot unfolds, and to enjoy Chesterton's gorgeous and well-informed prose. Includes the title story, The Mirror of the Magistrate, The Man with Two Beards, The Song of the Flying Fish, The Actor and the Alibi, The Vanishing of Vaudrey, The Worst Crime in the World, The Red Moon of Meru, and The Chief Mourner of Marne. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.… (more)
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» See also 16 mentions

English (3)  Spanish (2)  Danish (1)  Swedish (1)  All languages (7)
Showing 3 of 3
As usual with short story collections, some stories are better than others. On the whole, this collection was an improvement over the previous one, [b:The Incredulity of Father Brown|184594|The Incredulity of Father Brown (Father Brown, #3)|G.K. Chesterton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348200503l/184594._SY75_.jpg|6160738]. ( )
  leslie.98 | Jun 27, 2023 |
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Secret of Father Brown
Series: Father Brown #4
Author: G.K. Chesterton
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 218
Words: 63K

Synopsis:

Table of Contents

"The Secret of Father Brown" (framing story)

"The Mirror of the Magistrate"

"The Man with Two Beards"

"The Song of the Flying Fish"

"The Actor and the Alibi"

"The Vanishing of Vaudrey"

"The Worst Crime in the World"

"The Red Moon of Meru"

"The Chief Mourner of Marne"

"The Secret of Flambeau" (framing story)

My Thoughts:

Wikipedia totally let me down for this book. While it has had synopses for the previous book collections of short stories, there was no entry for this compilation. Makes me wonder how the people there can sleep easy at night, knowing they abandoned me in my hour of need. Not only that, they also let down every single one of you who is reading this. You expected a snapshot of the stories contained in this book and what do you get? Just a lousy TOC. My goodness, I hope you are properly outraged at this disturbing display of laziness and lack of hard work. I know I am!

Shame, shame, shame.

As I noted in my “CR&Q: The Secret of Father Brown” post, this book felt like it encapsulated the essence of Father Brown and what Chesterton was trying to convey through him. While Chesterton and I disagree on some things, maybe even big things (he was a staunch Roman Catholic and I'm a 7th Day Adventist), our views on God certainly do align. And not just on God the Father but the entire Trinity, which is how it should be.

Therefore as I was reading these stories, instead of viewing them as a mystery story, or a story about Justice Here and Now (which is one of the issues Chesterton and I differ on), I viewed them through the lense of knowing people as individuals and not as a class or type. As is written in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Once someone realizes their proper place before God and what Christ's sacrifice has truly done, how they interact and view the rest of humanity is going to change. But the significance of Christ's sacrifice is absolutely essential. If I just take the first part, that we are all sinners and cannot live up to the perfect standard that God has requires (it's not an arbitrary line He drew in the sand, it is part of His very character), then chances are that I'll either start enslaving other humans, because why not, they're scum destined for hell so why not start hell a little early for them, OR I'll become an arrogant asshat thinking how much better I am than them (ie, the Pharisee who prayed and thanked God that he wasn't like “that” tax collector next to him). But once I realize the universe shattering revelation of Christ's sacrifice, every person I meet has to be treated like the object of God's love and sacrifice, because they are.

Christians can spend their entire lives learning this lesson and letting the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) imprint it on their hearts and minds. Some of us do better than others. But this collection of stories reminded me, again, that Christ didn't die just for me, but for every single individual person in the entire world, past, present and future. It is humbling and encouraging all at the same time.

The fact that this book got me thinking along these lines is why it got 4stars. It was better than some of the so-called devotionals I've read in the past.

★★★★☆ ( )
  BookstoogeLT | Dec 24, 2021 |
G.K. Chesterton
  efeulner | May 2, 2014 |
Showing 3 of 3
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Chesterton, G. K.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Greek, CarlTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jonason, OlovTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Matthews, GeoffreyNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Dedication
TO FATHER JOHN O'CONNOR
OF ST. CUTHBERT'S BRADFORD
WHOSE TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION
WITH A GRATITUDE GREATER THAN THE WORLD
First words
Flambeau, once the most famous criminal in France and later a very private detective in England, had long retired from both professions. ("The Secret of Father Brown")
Quotations
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
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Wikipedia in English

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Easily the darkest of Chesterton's Father Brown collections, The Secret of Father Brown is nonetheless a masterwork of perception of the human condition, explored through the usual impossible crimes and a parade of rogues and saints--a corpse in shining armor, a thieving mystic, insouciant British aristocrats, and a Canadian journalist. We are asked to solve death by duel and pistol shot, and thefts of jewels large and small. The stories in this collection are worth reading over and over--to see how the plot unfolds, and to enjoy Chesterton's gorgeous and well-informed prose. Includes the title story, The Mirror of the Magistrate, The Man with Two Beards, The Song of the Flying Fish, The Actor and the Alibi, The Vanishing of Vaudrey, The Worst Crime in the World, The Red Moon of Meru, and The Chief Mourner of Marne. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
This short story collection contains:

  • "The Secret of Father Brown" - a prologue, taking place during a long-awaited visit by Father Brown to Flambeau, now retired and living in a castle in Spain.

  • "The Mirror of the Magistrate"

  • "The Man with Two Beards"

  • "The Song of the Flying Fish"

  • "The Actor and the Alibi"

  • "The Vanishing of Vaudrey"

  • "The Worst Crime in the World"

  • "The Red Moon of Meru"

  • "The Chief Mourner of Marne"

  • "The Secret of Flambeau" - epilogue, concluding the scene begun in the prologue. Now that Father Brown has told the stories of his latest adventures to Flambeau and his fellow guest, Flambeau follows it up with a short summary of his own career in order to make a point to his other guest.

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