The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

'What the devil are you talking about?' said the doctor with a loud laugh.įlambeau spoke quietly to him in answer. 'The lines go wrong on purpose-like serpents doubling to escape.' 'They are letters and symbols in a language I don't know but I know they stand for evil words,' went on the priest, his voice growing lower and lower.

I have seen wicked things in a Turkey carpet.' Don't you ever feel that about Eastern art? The colours are intoxicatingly lovely but the shapes are mean and bad-deliberately mean and bad.

'It's very beautiful,' said the priest in a low, dreaming voice 'the colours are very beautiful. In 'The Wrong Shape', Chesterton treats us to Father Brown discussing an Asian dagger:

'The Wrong Shape' was the story that killed my interest in the rest of the series stone dead, though I did listen to the next story while weighing whether I wanted to give up on the whole thing. I didn't bother finishing the book, but I think 2/3rds is all the hearing this work deserves. I subsequently confirmed my suspicions by reading up on him, and found that he was supportive of Mussolini, Franco and Portugal's Getúlio Vargas. Merely from the text, I was able to infer his fascist sympathies simply by listening to these stories. I much prefer his novels such as 'The Man Who Was Thursday', 'Manalive' and 'The Ball and the Cross'.Įven when not at his best, though, Chesterton is definitely worth reading.īut if I had my choice, I'd give this thing one star at best simply because of Chesterton's writing. Having said all that I must admit that the Father Brown stories are not my favorite Chesterton fiction. Read 'Orthodoxy', 'Eugenics And Other Evils' and 'What's Wrong With This World' and there can be no doubt about where he is coming from. Also remember that Chesterton was among the earlier writers to warn about Hitler. He was making a point about his own government, which affirmed liberty, yet did not always act in the interest of the common man. Having read a considerable amount of Chesterton, I feel confident that the Mussolini comments were yet another use of paradox. When reading absolutely anything written by Chesterton it may be helpful to keep five things in mind:Ĭhesterton is always affirming his Catholic faith.Ĭhesterton relentlessly defends liberty and the right for as many people as possible to own the means of making a living (Distributism)Ĭhesterton consistently defends marriage and family.Ĭhesterton is not above exaggerating a point, to make a point.

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton