The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is a novel by G. K. Chesterton. The book is sometimes referred to as a metaphysical thriller. In Edwardian era London, Gabriel Syme is recruited at Scotland Yard to a secret anti-anarchist police corps. Lucian Gregory, an anarchistic poet, lives in the suburb of Saffron Park. Syme meets him at a party and they debate the meaning of poetry. Gregory argues revolt is the basis of poetry. Syme demurs, insisting the essence of poetry is not revolution, but rather law. He antagonizes Gregory by asserting the most poetical of human creations is the timetable for the London Underground. He suggests Gregory isn't really serious about his anarchism. This so irritates Gregory that he takes Syme to an underground anarchist meeting place, revealing his public endorsement of anarchy is a ruse to make him seem harmless, when in fact he is an influential member of the local chapter of the European anarchist council. The central council consists of seven men, each using the name of a day of the week as a code name, and the position of Thursday is about to be elected by Gregory's local chapter. Gregory expects to win the election, but just before the election Syme reveals to Gregory after an oath of secrecy that he is a secret policeman. Fearful Syme may use his speech in evidence of a prosecution, Gregory's weakened words fail to convince the local chapter he is sufficiently dangerous for the job. Syme makes a rousing anarchist speech and wins the vote. He is sent immediately as the chapter's delegate to the central council. In his efforts to thwart the council's intentions, however, Syme discovers five of the other six members are also undercover detectives; each was employed just as mysteriously and assigned to defeat the Council. They all soon find out they were fighting each other and not real anarchists; such was the mastermind plan of their president Sunday. In a surreal conclusion, Sunday himself is unmasked as only seeming to be terrible; in fact, he is a force of good like the detectives. However, he is unable to give an answer to the question of why he caused so much trouble and pain for the detectives. Gregory, the only real anarchist, seems to challenge the good council. His accusation is they, as rulers, have never suffered like Gregory and their other subjects, and so their power is illegitimate. However, Syme is able to refute this accusation immediately because of the terrors inflicted by Sunday on the rest of the council.

In a surreal turn-of-the century London, Gabriel Syme is recruited to a secret anti-anarchist task force at Scotland Yard. The central anarchist council consists of seven men, each named for a day of the week. Syme maneuvers to be elected to the council, and becomes Thursday.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Man Who Was Thursday’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of G. K. Chesterton’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Chesterton includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘The Man Who Was Thursday’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Chesterton’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Known primarily for his non-fiction, G. K. Chesterton also wrote fiction. The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who was Thursday are two of his best-loved novels. The Napoleon of Notting Hill In Chesterton’s first novel, he conjures up a London neighborhood that has become an independent city, fond of pageantry and traditional ways, isolated by high walls from the rest of the world. When its rights and autonomy are threatened by modernizing neighbors, war breaks out. It is a war fought not with astounding new weapons, but with swords and battle-axes, and it is waged for a cause in which the author deeply believed. The Man Who was Thursday In Chesterton’s most famous novel, Detective Syme is determined to discover everything about a club of anarchists, so he decides to infiltrate the resistance group and then he unwittingly, and unwillingly, gets caught up suddenly and finds himself elected to their council!

Sometimes described as thrilling, sometimes as comic, and sometimes as metaphysical or spiritual, The Man Who Was Thursday is perhaps a little of each. The tale begins when an undercover policeman infiltrates a mysterious Anarchist group. As the novel progresses, things become more comic and improbable, and eventually evolve in to a sort of abstract, dreamlike state. Filled with Christian allegory, Thursday is a glittering, fascinating exploration of good versus evil and theology through the lens of adventure, wit, and the surreal. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled `A Nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. This critical edition includes several short related pieces, `A Picture of Tuesday', `The Book of Job', and `The Diabolist', as well as a map of Edwardian London and detailed explanatory notes. - ;Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled `A Nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. Drawing on contemporary fears of anarchist conspiracies and bomb outrages, The Man Who Was Thursday is firmly rooted in its time and place - turn of the century London - but it also defies temporal boundaries. Police detective Syme finds himself drawn into a world that seems to have gone beyond humanity when he is elected `Thursday', one of the members of the Central European Council of seven anarchs. Dreamlike, prophetic, and frequently funny, the novel attacks fin-de-si--egrave--;cle pessimism and, through a surreal series of pursuits and unmaskings, returns Syme - and us - to earth more aware of its beauty, promise, and creative potential. This critical edition includes several short related pieces, `A Picture of Tuesday', `Introduction to the Book of Job', and `The Diabolist', as well as a map of contemporary London and detailed explanatory notes. -

The Man Who Was Thursday is a gripping adventure story of murderous criminals and brilliant policemen. It is to be expected that the author of the Father Brown stories should tell a detective story like no one else. On this level, The Man Who Was Thursday succeeds superbly. If nothing else, it is a magnificent tour-de-force of suspense writing. Carried along on the boisterous rush of the narrative by Chesterton's wonderful high-spirited style, readers will soon see themselves being carried into much deeper waters.

Гилберт Кит Честертон – один из классиков английской литературы XX века, известный своими яркими персонажами, тонким юмором и необычными сюжетами. "Человек, который был Четвергом" – это сатирическая притча о вечном противостоянии анархистов и сторонников порядка, двух половинок человеческой сущности. Роман содержит в себе философскую составляющую, облачённую в сюрреалистическую обложку абсурда, а читатель до самого конца не подозревает, к чему же приведёт сюжет... Читайте зарубежную литературу в оригинале!