The Man Who Was Thursday
A Nightmare
by Gilbert Keith Chesterton · first published 1908
56% recommend42% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, funny allegorical spy thriller about a secret society of undercover detectives, with an absurd plot and a twist best read cold. Suits readers who like philosophical, genre-bending fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Can you trust yourself when you don't know who you are? In a park in London, secret policeman Gabriel Syme strikes up a conversation with an anarchist. Sworn to do his duty, Syme uses his new acquaintance to go undercover in Europe's Central Anarchist Council and infiltrate their deadly mission, even managing to have himself voted to the position of 'Thursday'. When Syme discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, however, he starts to question his role in their operations. And as a desperate chase across Europe begins, his confusion grows, as well as his confidence in his ability t
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…biographies and Open, Andre Agassi's biography, was a very intriguing, enjoyable, and surprisingly well-written book. The only other book I read this past year that stood out to me was GK Chesterton's The Man Who was Thursday. I thought this was a very well written allegorical spy novel that had some very quippy dialogue. Next on my reading list I would like to read some Vladimir Nabokov since I've never read any of his work.…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗If we're going to talk Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday is tremendous fun, though I can't recommend it without an ethical dilemma nor say what the dilemma is without spoiling the whole thing. What's the best Father Brown mystery? I've been meaning to try…
on “Taking a Fence Down” ↗…jointly dedicated Good Omens to him, "a man who knew what was going on.". He's also Fiddler's Green, from Sandman -- down to the sword-cane, rotundity, paradoxes, and booming laugh. I greatly enjoy The Man Who Was Thursday (I find that the denouement still works, if you've never read it), Orthodoxy, and some others, and he was my first exposure to distributism. Oddly, I've always felt that he shared with Pratchett the…
on “A Convivial Chap Led Easily Astray: On G. K. Chesterton” ↗This is approximately the question G.K. Chesterton's "The Man who was Thursday" addresses. I won't spoil it and probably couldn't do it justice if I tried, but it's a compelling story.
on “Ask HN: Why is it so hard to create and so easy to destroy?” ↗…idea that "non-authentic" mysteries can't convey truth. > now enjoy MCU and Star Wars movies in their place, even reading and writing fan fiction about it. Well, I don't. I do enjoy, for example, The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton. Is the mystery of Sunday illusory? I care not one whit.
on “Where’s _why? (2012)” ↗I can narrow it down to a top 4, if that's permissible. * The Man Who Was Thursday, by GK Chesterton * The Oresteia, by Aeschylus * Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand * The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020?” ↗See "The Man Who Was Thursday" by G. K. Chesterton.
on “An Illustrated Guide to Post-Orwellian Censorship” ↗The Man Who was Thursday by GK Chesterton....very well written allegorical spy novel. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas... I'm a sucker for a good plot and this has always been a favorite of mine since I first read…
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗I sympathize wholeheartedly. Few things are more maddening than finding out the ending to a plot you would otherwise have enjoyed. I recently read The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton – a thriller that I ran across a spoiler to years and years ago and was hoping I would forget. Eventually I had to admit I never would and read the book. I enjoyed it anyway. The Kids…
on “The Cabin in the Woods” ↗'The Man Who Was Thursday' by GK Chesterton. A short novel about which any description would tend to spoil the effect of reading it cold.
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗Anna Karenina, 3x in two translations Skunk Works Intelligent Investor Man Who Was Thursday
on “Ask HN: Which books have you read more than once?” ↗…indication he was on-target. Writing about De Selby and dark sucker theory, totally in the footnotes, which at times become larger than the page of main text.. If you enjoy the third policeman, then "The man who was Thursday" by GK Chesterton might also amuse, although its not as good in my view. Or, "the exploits of Englebrechy the surrealist boxer" by Maurice Richardson, or perhaps "Fuzz against Junk" and "The Hero Maker"…
You might enjoy G. K. Chesterton's 1908 novel The Man Who Was Thursday.[1] Spoiler from the Wikipedia plot synopsis: "In his efforts to thwart the council, Syme eventually discovers that five of the other six members are also undercover detectives; each was employed just…
on “Private Spies Hired by FBI and Corporations Infiltrate Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp” ↗…Christianity's reformist elements that made it good. Its universalism. Its New Covenant. Anyway. I do appreciate your CK Chesterton references. Some of those are also among my favorites. I very much enjoyed The Man Who was Thursday, one of his works of fiction, a sort of novel -- which, I will only say, subverts expectations, and turns out to be more than a bit philosophical!
on “List of books that will induce a mindfuck” ↗Tastes differ, certainly. Have you read any of Chesterton’s novels, e.g. The Man Who Was Thursday?
on “Thomas Aquinas' skull reveals appearance and cause of death” ↗