G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory.The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at ...
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G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory.The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.
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I finally bought this book after years of hearing about it. I found it slightly dated, but still a good,comical read. Basically, an undercover detective unwittingly befriends a real anarchist, who introduces him into his "underground" anarchy group/ club. The detective, having further outwitted the "real" anarchist, takes over a position the anarchist was meant for. What follows is a right-side up turn of the world the detective thought he knew. The book has a little bit of a Wonderland feel to it, but for adults. It's short, only about 150, 160 pages, so it's a quick read as well. Chersterton artfully unfolds the story and I reccommend this book to anyone wanting a quick, clever detective tale.
