GK Chesterton is going on my list of favorite authors. His works were first brought to my attention while perusing "100 best" lists, and I was further intrigued to see him mentioned as a large influence in CS Lewis' life (in fact, Lewis' conversion back to Christianity has been attributed, in part, to Chesterton's writings). That said, I was very much looking forward to The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, and I was not disappointed.
The story deals with themes of anarchy and order, chaos and design. Thursday is a detective who manages to infiltrate the anarchist's council, a group of seven who champion the demise of structure in government/society. Each of the seven are given a title that corresponds to a day. As Thursday looks to bring down anarchy from the inside, he's confronted with a number of surprises and ideas that leave him reeling. I'll say no more- this is a thriller best enjoyed with no foreknowledge.
The novel is a quick read, at ~150 pages, and while the beginning is a bit slow, it picks up steam quickly, to the extent that I didn't want to put it down over the last 100 pages. Upon finishing, I immediately wanted to go back and start over- there's a lot there. It's deep, it presents several ideas for further contemplation, and it leaves you wanting more. I'm sure I missed some (or most) of the meat in the book on my first go-round, but I'm looking forward to seconds, as well as more writings by Chesterton.
Rating: A+
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