G. K Chesterton

The Wisdom of Father Brown

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Produktbeschreibung

Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English novelist G. K. Chesterton.[1] Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and keen understanding of human nature. Chesterton loosely based him on the Rt Rev. Msgr. John O'Connor (1870-1952), a parish priest in Bradford, who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922. Chesterton portrays Father Brown as a short, stumpy Roman Catholic priest, with shapeless clothes, a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into human evil. In "The Head of Caesar" he is "formerly priest of Cobhole in Essex, and now working in London". He makes his first appearance in the story "The Blue Cross" published in 1910 and continues to appear throughout forty-eight short stories in five volumes, with two more stories discovered and published posthumously, often assisted in his crime-solving by the reformed criminal M. Hercule Flambeau.Father Brown also appears in a third story - making a total of fifty-one - that did not appear in the five volumes published in Chesterton's lifetime, "The Donnington Affair", which has a curious history. In the October 1914 issue of an obscure magazine, The Premier, Sir Max Pemberton published the first part of the story, then invited a number of detective story writers, including Chesterton, to use their talents to solve the mystery of the murder described. Chesterton and Father Brown's solution followed in the November issue. The story was first reprinted in the Chesterton Review (Winter), 1981, pp. 1-35 in the book Thirteen Detectives.Unlike the better-known fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown's methods tend to be intuitive rather than deductive. He explains his method in "The Secret of Father Brown": "You see, I had murdered them all myself.... I had planned out each of the crimes very carefully. I had thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done, and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was."Brown's abilities are also considerably shaped by his experience as a priest and confessor. In "The Blue Cross", when asked by Flambeau, who has been masquerading as a priest, how he knew of all sorts of criminal "horrors," Father Brown responds:

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Lulu.com
• Seitenzahl: 158
• Erscheinungstermin: 20. März 2022
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 210mm x 148mm x 9mm
• Gewicht: 214g
• ISBN-13: 9781458329479
• ISBN-10: 145832947X
• Artikelnr.: 63719119

Autorenporträt

G.K.Chesterton, in full Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874-14 June 1936), English critic and author of poetry, essays, novels, and short stories, known also for his dynamic personality and obese figure. He was an important English writer of the early twentieth century. His productive and various output included journalism, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction. He has been concerned to as the 'prince of paradox'. He devoted his extraordinary brain and creative power to the reform of English government and society. He was knowledgeable at St. Paul's, and went to art school at University College London. He wrote 100 books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. Chesterton expired on 14 June 1936 at his home in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.