The Man Who Was Thursday - Revistited

Hello everyone,

Welcome to our first long termed discussion. Our book is "The Man Who Was Thursday," by G.K. Chesterton.

Ok, here is a summery of the book:

"In a surreal turn of the century London, Gabriel Syme, a poet, is recruited to a secret anti-anarchist taskforce at Scotland Yard. Lucian Gregory, an anacrchist poet, is the only poet in Saffron Park, until he loses his temper in an argument over the purpose of poetry with Gabriel Syme, who takes the opposite view. After some time, the frustrated Gregory finds Syme and leads him to a local anarchist meeting-place to prove that he is a true anarchist. Instead of the anarchist Gregory getting elected, the officer Syme uses his wits and is elected as the local representative to the worldwide Central Council of Anarchists. The Council consists of seven men, each using the name of a day of the week as a code name; Syme is given the name of Thursday. In his efforts to thwart the council's intentions, however, he discovers that five of the other six members are also undercover detectives; each was just as mysteriously employed and assigned to defeat the Council of Days. They all soon find out that they are fighting each other and not real anarchists; such was the mastermind plan of the genius Sunday. In a dizzying and surreal conclusion, the six champions of order and former anarchist ring-leaders chase down the disturbing and whimsical Sunday, the man who calls himself "The Peace of God"."

Ok, now here are some questions that we are to discuss:

1. Who was your favorite character and why?

2. What is the point of the story?

3. Who and what do the characters represent -if any?

4. What is the purpose of the "secret council" and who is Sunday?"

5. What was interesting or engaging about the book?

5. What was not interesting or boring about the book?

6. What is your general opinion of the story, style of writing, characters, themes... etc.?


I can't wait to hear from you! Thanks for participating!

Thanks a million,

The DC Board

"Don't you see we've checkmated each other? [...] I can't tell the police you are an anarchist. You can't tell the anarchists I'm a policeman." ~Gabriel Syme

The Man Who Was Thursday

Hello everyone,

Originally, I had planned to post on Sunday, but I realized that I wouldn't be able to. That being said, let's move on.

Lately, I read for the first time the book "The Man Who Was Thursday," by G.K. Chesterton. I was pretty convinced that I would like it, but I was really not sure what to expect (in the storyline). Much to my pleasure, I was not disappointed. I can honestly say that I have no definite idea why I thought the book was FANTASTIC. I shall try to explain this to the best of my abilities.

I liked this book because of the suspenseful and mystery-like storyline. (Not scary, though.) After reading a few chapters, I had already been extremely surprised at the turn of events, and I decided that this story could not possibly surprise me again. I was very wrong. It continually surprised me until the very last page. Never before have I read a book that entirely grabbed my attention and held it until the last page. This book had just the right amount of everything, from fantasy to reality. You may ask how any one book could be so real, but yet so... imaginary. Believe me, I am still baffled. I don't want to tell about the storyline, because if you knew one part, then I would have to tell you the whole story. When I finished, I could not believe that it was over... I was majorly depressed afterwards.

This book was truly enthralling, and everyone should give it a try because even suspense-haters may end up liking it... a lot. I feel like I could read it over and over again. It was not particularly difficult to understand, but it could be frustrating for younger readers. Anyway, everybody: I beg you to read this book and then tell me what you thought. Oh, and feel free to ask me questions if I did not speak/write clearly. Thanks so much!!

~Dewhurst

5/5 Recommended