The Man who was Thursday: a Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1958 (first published in Penguin 1937, first published 1908)
I'm almost ashamed to admit that until this book I've never read any G.K. Chesterton. I've had the Father Brown stories recommended to me by many people but never got around to them, although I've seen the TV show a few times. And so to The Man who was Thursday.
What a rollicking read this is! I think Conrad's Secret Agent came out about the same time as this book, and both books make the most of the anarchist scare that was extant at the time (as we have had a spate of books about Islamic Fascism in our generation). Whereas Conrad's book was a serious tale, Chesterton has written an action-packed thriller/mystery that, while of it's time in many ways, is still an enjoyable read more than a century after it first appeared.
The basic plot-line is that we meet the main protagonist, Syme, as he argues about anarchy versus society with the poet Gregory. He manages to get Gregory so annoyed that he takes Syme to an anarchist headquarters, which is about to elect their representative onto the Central Anarchist Council. Syme manages to get himself elected as "Thursday" (each member of the Council is named after a day of the week). This was Syme's plan, as he is actually an undercover policeman.
He goes to his first Council meeting - run by the huge and terrifying Sunday, the President - where they discuss their planned bombing of the French President and Russian Czar in Paris. During the meeting Sunday unmasks one of the seven, Gogol, as a police spy. Syme leaves the meeting shocked and relieved, only to realise that he is being followed by another of the seven. After a long and fruitless pursuit, Syme eventually confronts his pursuer only to find that he to is an undercover agent. They both agree to confront Bull, one of the masterminds of the bombing plot. They discover that he is also a policeman!
The three of them then travel to France to stop the Marquis, another of the seven, from planting the bomb. Syme challenges the Marquis to a duel, to ensure that he will miss the train to Paris from Calais. As they fight with swords, the train arrives at the platform and disgorges a squad of men, led by the Secretary of the Council. The Marquis then reveals that he is also a police agent, and they flee from the oncoming mass. When they get to the nearest town, they find that the townsmen are up in arms against them, and they fear that Sunday has called for the anarchist revolution to begin. They are about to make a final stand, when the Secretary of the Council reveals that he too is a police agent, and was attacking them because he thought that they were true anarchists!
Bewildered, the group decide to confront Sunday at the next meeting. Sunday escapes their clutches and lead them on a merry chase involving Hansom Cabs, Elephants, and Balloons. During the chase the group reflect on what Sunday has meant to them, and they all describe different facets of his character, which reflect more of their own makeup than Sunday's. They eventually track him down only to be led to a castle where they are all dressed in robes that reflect which day of the week they are, according to the Genesis story. Thursday is dressed in a robe that separates night from day. They are then seated around a central chair, on which Sunday comes to sit. He reveals himself as the Almighty, and was the man that initially recruited them all as policemen, as well as being Sunday. It becomes clear that what the men have gone through is a test, and that as they have stayed true to good, they have come through to the other side.
It is then that Syme finds himself walking again with Gregory, on the way back to Gregory's house, and to Gregory's sister, whom Syme is falling for.
One thing I do know about Chesterton is his strong Catholic faith, and there are obvious pointers to that in this book, as well as his faith in the ordinary man and suspicion of intellectuals and the wealthy. This book does come with a short afterword by Chesterton admonishing the reader (and reviewer) to carefully note the subtitle, and so we shouldn't try for too much subtext in what was probably meant as a light-hearted take on a serious subject.
While I enjoyed this as a pleasant diversion, I'm not going to recommend it.
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