Resumen
Resumen de The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
Para quién es
For readers who love a puzzle with ideas inside it, comic and fast adventure, and detective stories woven with questions of order, rebellion and identity.
De qué trata este libro
What if a detective story turned out to be a bad dream that keeps changing its rules? The Man Who Was Thursday is a wild novel by G. K. Chesterton, published in 1908 and subtitled A Nightmare. Gabriel Syme, a young London poet, is also an undercover policeman. His task is to join a secret council of anarchists, seven men who each take the name of a day of the week. Their president is called Sunday. Chesterton wrote it to answer friends who played with despair, and he did it with a chase, a duel, a disguise and a joke.
En este resumen
- 1Two poets quarrel in Saffron ParkFree
- 2A policeman is recruited in the dark
- 3Syme follows Gregory underground
- 4Syme talks his way into becoming Thursday
- 5The council of days meets for breakfast
- 6Suspicion spreads and the chase begins
- 7The hunt for Sunday grows stranger
- 8What the nightmare is really about
- 9How Chesterton tells it: dreams, colors and jokes
Idea clave 1 de 9
Two poets quarrel in Saffron Park
The story opens in Saffron Park, a red brick suburb on the edge of London. Two poets meet there at sunset. Lucian Gregory calls himself an anarchist poet. Gabriel Syme says he is a poet of law.
Gregory claims that poetry is rebellion. Syme answers that order is the more poetic thing. A train that reaches the right station, he says, is a small miracle, a victory over the chance that makes things fail.
Gregory takes offense and offers to show Syme a real anarchist meeting, if Syme promises silence. Syme agrees. The whole novel grows out of this argument.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Gabriel Syme
- A young poet and undercover policeman, he joins the anarchists' council as Thursday while secretly defending order.
- Lucian Gregory
- A red haired anarchist poet, he argues with Syme in Saffron Park and seeks a council seat.
- Sunday
- The enormous, calm president of the anarchists' council, he commands the other members through mysterious authority.
- Professor de Worms
- An apparently frail professor, he belongs to the council and appears nearly helpless beside his fellow delegates.
- Dr Bull
- A cheerful council member wearing dark glasses, he conceals his thoughts behind a hearty manner.
- The Marquis de St Eustache
- An elegant member of the anarchists' council, his polished manner makes Syme suspicious of his intentions.
- Gogol
- A rough looking council member, he speaks bluntly among the delegates whom Syme must deceive.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 59,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
What is The Man Who Was Thursday about?
It tells of Gabriel Syme, a poet and undercover policeman who joins a council of anarchists, each named for a day of the week. It mixes a detective chase with a debate on order, rebellion and faith.
Why is it called A Nightmare?
Chesterton gave it that subtitle because the story behaves like a bad dream. Places and people shift, rules change without warning, and the plot grows steadily stranger, though the tone stays comic.
Who is Sunday in The Man Who Was Thursday?
Sunday is the huge, calm president of the council of seven anarchists. Everyone fears him, yet nobody knows what he wants. His identity is the central mystery that drives Syme and the others forward.
When was The Man Who Was Thursday written and is it a true story?
Chesterton published it in 1908. It is fiction, not a true story. It answers the gloom and fashionable despair he saw in the artistic circles of his youth, using an adventure plot.
Is The Man Who Was Thursday hard to read?
The language is lively and the chapters are short, so it reads quickly.