The Innocence of Father Brown
—Review on author—
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1894 - 1936), mostly known as G.K Chesterton, was one of the most popular English critics and writers from the early 20th century. He went to the Slade School of Art, where he became an illustrator, but he went as well to University College London, where he took literature courses.
Chesterton was characterized by using his intellect and creativity to reform the English government and society by using elements like logic, laughter, and paradox. He first started to get recognition because of his social critics columns in various newspapers like Daily News, but this was only the beginning, given that in 1902, after his first published novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill, he went on to have a glorious career in literature.
Among his most known works there are The Man Who Was Thursday, The Ballad of the White Horse and The Flying Inn, as well as the creation of the detective character “Father Brown”, of whom he wrote numerous short stories.
Recommendation
Personally, I would definitely recommend The Blue Cross, thanks to its interesting characters and intriguing storyline. At the beginning I wasn’t completely sure if I would like the story or not, since the beginning did not catch my attention, but towards the midpoint where most of the development happens, I’m completely drawn to it. I love how the author kept leaving little clues along the way that the reader can only notice once the story ends, like for example the position of the sugar and the salt; as well as the intelligence of the characters, especially that of Father Brown, who without having any idea of who Flambeau was, activated his detective mode and made everything possible so that the criminal could be discreetly captured. I would recommend The Blue Cross to anyone who loves mysteries and to interact with the elements of the story.
— The Secret garden —
Plot diagram
Recommendation
This was one of my favorites short stories and I would definitely recommend it with closed eyes. From the starting point Chesterton finds the way to hook you with his daunting garden setting and atmosphere, besides the fact that by now the reader has also met characters like Father Brown and Valentin, adding a little bit more of substance to the story, since we are more interested in what new things these characters will bring to the table in this occasion. The mystery itself was entertaining enough to keep you going all the way through, including all the steps Father Brown had to follow to finally discover the murderer. The Secret Garden is able to include all the elements of mystery and does it in a phenomenal way.
Recommendation
To be honest, this is not a story I would recommend at all. In my opinion, this one had the worst quality out of the 4 I chose, due to the lack of cohesion there was. I think some parts of it don’t make much sense, or are difficult to understand, especially the final segment of it, where the mystery is supposed to be cleverly unfold, but instead we get the complete opposite. In order for The Queer Feet to improve I would say it needs to provide a better development of the crime itself, as well as a more coherence.
—The Invisible Man—
Plot diagram
Recommendation
I really liked and enjoyed this story because of its closeness to reality, given that out of all of the ones I read, this one feels like the more genuine one, despite of course having really particular aspects. Another feature that makes me like The Invisible Man is its conclusion, since I find it interesting how Chesterton compared being a postman to be seen as invisible and unremarkable.
—Objective of the stories—
Personally, I’d say that the purpose G.K. Chesterton had while writing all of the stories above was to entertain the reader, since he’s telling us stories that we will most certainly enjoy in one way or another. He achieves this by creating well-built and interesting characters like Father Brown, Flambeau, and Valentin, who throughout the stories offer different features that allow the reader to be more drawn and interested in them, not only in one specific story, but in the rest to come. As a new reader of this author I can confirm that his objective was accomplished in an excellent and appropriate way.
