6 h 34 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man who breaks every rule is the only one who remembers how to live?
A wild wind brings Innocent Smith to Beacon House, where tired guests have settled into familiar habits and gloomy opinions. He climbs trees, fires a pistol, and shakes the household awake. Michael Moon finds his cheer both stirring and annoying; Rosamund Hunt begins to question her settled view of life.
Then stories of Smith's past turn delight into suspicion. Dr. Warner sees sickness in his strange behaviour and wants him confined. The guests hold a trial in the garden, weighing grave accusations against this joyful stranger. In Manalive, G. K. Chesterton turns farce into a playful argument about sanity, habit, and the courage to welcome ordinary life.
What you’ll discover
- A stranger worth watching Meet Innocent Smith, whose restless joy unsettles a house full of settled opinions.
- A garden becomes a courtroom Watch the guests become judges, lawyers, witnesses, and jury as troubling stories gather around Smith.
- Laughter with a sharp edge Enjoy a quick, playful farce that challenges gloom without leaving big questions behind.
- The surprise of ordinary life Explore the thought that habit can hide the wonder of simply being alive.
- Paradox that makes you pause Follow ideas that sound absurd at first, then invite you to look again.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy comic fiction full of paradox and fast talk, or stories where a madcap stranger wakes a household and makes you see ordinary things again.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A great wind brings a stranger over the wall
- The new lodger turns the house into a playground
- A joke court and a day of glittering games
- Cruel words and quick proposals in the garden
- Two doctors arrive and a revolver goes off
- Mary stays calm and Moon will not move
- The trial begins with a charge of attempted murder
- The burglary charge and the Santa Claus argument
- A round road, a lamp-post, and the word home
- What the laughter is arguing and how it is told
Who’s who
- Innocent SmithA huge, cheerful stranger who leaps walls and fires pistols to remind people they are alive, and who seeks a house with a green lamp-post.
- Michael MoonA gloomy, witty Irish journalist who drinks too much of the same whisky and who rushes to defend Smith before the High Court of Beacon.
- Arthur InglewoodA shy photographer and cyclist, Smith's old school friend, who finds unexpected courage and helps to defend him.
- Diana DukeThe sharp, capable niece who runs the boardinghouse and hides her longing for romance beneath constant work.
- Rosamund HuntA cheerful heiress in a huge white hat who fears men are after her money and who loves charades, singing and the mandolin.
- Mary GrayRosamund's quiet companion, with copper hair and a silver cross, who agrees to run off with Smith and stays calm when told about his past.
- Dr. Herbert WarnerA big, bland, successful doctor who thinks insanity is incurable and who becomes the target of Smith's pistol.
- Dr. Cyrus PymAn American criminologist who closes his eyes when polite and pinches the air for words, and who prosecutes Smith with solemn science.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
L’Homme vivant
by G. K. Chesterton · 1912
A gale carries a man in green over a garden wall, turning a quiet London boardinghouse upside down.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What happens when a gale throws a man in green clothes over a garden wall and into a gloomy London boardinghouse? He chases a runaway hat up a tree and crowns a startled doctor with it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A great wind brings a stranger over the wall
The book opens with weather. A good wind rises in the west and sweeps across England. It lifts a hammock like a balloon. When it strikes the north London hill where Beacon House stands, it finds five people standing about a cold garden with nothing to do.
Dr. Warner is a large, bland, famous young scientist in a silk hat. Arthur Inglewood is shy and kind and nearly invisible. Michael Moon is a lean Irish journalist with a gloomy joking manner. Rosamund Hunt is a cheerful heiress, and Diana Duke is the sharp niece who runs the house.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 4 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chesterton, G. K. Manalive. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/manalive.
Chesterton, G. K. (2026). Manalive. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/manalive (Original work published 1912)
Chesterton, G. K. Manalive. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/manalive.
@book{chesterton2026manalive,
author = {Chesterton, G. K.},
title = {Manalive},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/manalive},
note = {First published 1912}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about L’Homme vivant
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Manalive about?
A wild stranger named Innocent Smith leaps into a London boardinghouse and wakes up its tired residents. After he fires a pistol at a doctor, a mock trial is held to decide whether he is mad, wicked or something else.
Who is Innocent Smith in Manalive?
He is a giant, joyful man who is Arthur Inglewood's old school friend. He climbs trees, leaps walls and acts out parables so that people remember they are alive, and he searches for a house with a green lamp-post.
What does the title Manalive mean?
The word names a man who is fully alive, and the book hints at it through the telegram that says a man has been found alive with two legs. It is also the pet name Smith uses for his wife, written as one word.
The author
G. K. Chesterton
1874–1936 · English writer and Christian apologist
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer born in London. He wrote novels, essays, poems and plays. His books include Heretics (1905), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). He moved to Beaconsfield in 1909 and lived there until his death.
More by G. K. Chesterton
All 20 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
