I missed a clever deduction like Holmes'. I missed serene country backdrop like Christie portrays. The climax of stories are revealed in a bit unhappening way for detective stories. Why I kept going on was the writing. Loved it! I think the modern mystery novels are technically advanced and we expect the detective to be clever, unorthodox hero who twirls magic wand of sudden revelations ( like that of Patrick Jane) so it's not easy to like the Horne Fisher. Plus the stories are too short and less to develop a proper character. Yet I believe back then, he was loved. Thanks or rather blame the time few good books are becoming obsolete for it. But the writing stands still like 24 k gold. 156 Abandono a mitad de libro. Esto del detective que descubre al asesino con el aletear de una mosca en la primera página de la novela y percibe indicios que ningún mortal ve (sin darle pistas suficientes a los mortales lectores), ya lo tengo leído hace muchos muchos años.
Le pongo 2* porque aún así le reconozco cierta innovación a Chesterton en cuanto a esa naturaleza singular de ese tipo de protagonista que se interesa por hobbies raros, perfila un personaje singular de gran inteligencia que luego se ha copiado mucho en cine y literatura; también los capítulos como aparentemente sueltos los liga bien y arma bien el libro. 156 Languid, prematurely balding Horne Fisher is the man who knows too much: whether it’s about plankton or guns, the history of old houses and place names, or the sordid pasts of Britain’s most illustrious. Legends, mathematics, weapons, literature, science—Fisher knows it all like the back of his hand. And this is what makes him a fine detective: because, in the barest of crime scenes, he sees clues that escape others.
I must admit I wanted to read this book because I have a particular fondness for GK Chesterton’s immensely likeable Father Brown series—the little Catholic priest is one of my favourite detectives, and one of the stories which feature him (The Queer Feet) I rate as the cleverest, most ingenious detective short story I've ever read. I had great hopes of The Man Who Knew Too Much.
This is a collection of short stories, nearly all of them set in the countryside, often in large manor houses, amidst a motley crowd of house guests. Fisher’s nearness to the major politicians of the country (and his own long-ago stint as an aspiring politician) mean that a lot of the stories revolve around politics—national and international—as a motive. This also means that several of the stories are similar in tone and motive, tending to blur at times. Chesterton often does not go deep into detail, so more than once I ended a story feeling somewhat cheated: I'd have liked more explanation, a longer unfolding of the truth, a deeper insight into the motive.
There are some exceptions, notable ones being The Bottomless Well and The Hole in the Wall, where the author does justice to the story, not just explaining the unraveling of the clue, but also setting up the scene well. And, importantly, letting something other than Fisher’s all-encompassing knowledge help him solve a case.
On the whole, this was a pleasant enough one-time read, but I'm unlikely to be going back to this book. A couple of the mysteries are not especially intriguing, and through most of the stories, whenever I tried to figure out who the culprit was, I ended up finding I was barking up the wrong tree—because some piece of arcane knowledge possessed only by the criminal and the inimitable Horne Fisher formed the clue that solved the mystery.
Not, as most aficionados of detective fiction will tell you, a good way to keep a reader hooked.
Read if you want more Chesterton, but don't expect stories of the intricacy, the deep knowledge of human nature, and the sheer memorability of the Father Brown series. 156 Who knew these were short mystery stories instead of a long, possibly lame novel that was made into an exciting early movie in 1934 with Peter Lorre or a definitely lame 1956 movie with Doris Day singing all the time?
Not me, at least until listening to B.J. Harrison's excellent narration on The Classic Tales podcast.
These stories are great fun to listen to and occasionally solve. And even when I know whodunnit I don't know why they dunnit. Which is just as much fun to find out. 156 As always an awesome and unique story by Chesterton! 156
A prolific and popular writer, G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) is best known as the creator of detective-priest Father Brown (even though Chesterton's mystery stories constitute only a small fraction of his writings). The eight adventures in this classic British mystery trace the activities of Horne Fisher, the man who knew too much, and his trusted friend Harold March. Although Horne's keen mind and powerful deductive gifts make him a natural sleuth, his inquiries have a way of developing moral complications. Notable for their wit and sense of wonder, these tales offer an evocative portrait of upper-crust society in pre–World War I England. The Man Who Knew Too Much
Ας γίνει ξεκάθαρο από την αρχή ότι Ο άνθρωπος που ήξερε πολλά του G.K. Chesterton ουδεμία σχέση έχει με την ομώνυμη ταινία του Alfred Hitchcock. Άρα ο James Stewart (πρωταγωνιστής της αμερικανικής βερσιόν του αξέχαστου θρίλερ) δεν είναι η κινηματογραφική ενσάρκωση του ήρωα του βιβλίου του Chesterton, ο οποίος λέγεται Horne Fisher και είναι ο άνθρωπος που ήξερε πολλά, πάρα πολλά.
Ο Horne Fisher, ένας «ψηλός, αντοιχτόχρωμος άνδρας, κάτισχνος και κάπως απαθής, με βαριά βλέφαρα και μακριά μύτη» είναι ο κύριος πρωταγωνιστής (και) των οκτώ διηγημάτων που απαρτίζουν την ωραιότατη αυτή έκδοση της Αλεξάνδρειας. Πρόκειται για διηγήματα ασύνδετα μεταξύ τους, που κανένα τους δεν υπερβαίνει σε έκταση τις τριάντα σελίδες, και διαβάζονται με οποιαδήποτε σειρά (εκτός, ίσως, από την πρώτη ιστορία, Το Πρόσωπο στον Στόχο, στο οποίο ο Horne Fisher συναντάται με τον δημοσιογράφο Harold March, πρόσωπο που εμφανίζεται και στα υπόλοιπα διηγήματα του βιβλίου).
Εν τάχει, ο Horne Fisher, σαν άλλος πατέρας Μπράουν (πρόκειται για τον ήρωα πέντε τόμων αστυνομικών ιστοριών του G.K. Chesterton), μέσω της οξυδέρκειας και της φαντασίας που τον διακρίνει, αλλά και κυρίως λόγω της βαθιάς γνώσης του για τον ανθρώπινο ψυχισμό και την ανθρώπινη κοινωνία εν γένει, εξιχνιάζει τα πιο αλλόκοτα και παράξενα εγκλήματα. Εγκλήματα που συμβαίνουν μεταξύ των ανθρώπων της άρχουσας τάξης, όπου και η ίδια η οικογένεια του Horne Fisher ανήκει, η διαλεύκανση των οποίων εγκυμονεί τις περισσότερες φορές πολιτική αστάθεια ή κοινωνική αναταραχή. Γι’ αυτό και ο αριστοκράτης ντετέκτιβ του G.K. Chesterton, αφού ανακαλύψει τον θύτη, τις περισσότερες φορές τον αφήνει να διαφύγει ανενόχλητος (…όταν πιάνω κάποιο μεγάλο ψάρι, το ξαναρίχνω στο νερό).
Με σπιρτάδα και λεπτή αίσθηση του χιούμορ ο G.K. Chesterton, ενόσω ο ήρωάς του ‘αλιεύει’ την αλήθεια, σχολιάζει τα πολιτικά πράγματα του καιρού του και αποδομεί τους ευγενείς και τους αριστοκράτες, καταδεικνύοντας πόση διαφθορά και διαπλοκή μπορεί να φωλιάζει στους κύκλους τους.
«Γνωρίζω πολλά, είπε. «Αυτό είναι και το πρόβλημά μου, αυτό είναι και το πρόβλημα όλων μας∙ γνωρίζουμε πολλά. Πολλά ο ένας για τον άλλον∙ πολλά για τους εαυτούς μας. Εξ ου και αυτή τη στιγμή ενδιαφέρομαι για το μοναδικό πράγμα που δεν γνωρίζω». «Και ποιο είναι αυτό;», ρώτησε ο άλλος. «Γιατί εκείνος ο δύστυχος είναι νεκρός».156 “Modern intelligence won't accept anything on authority. But it will accept anything without authority.”
― G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Knew Too Much
A collection of Chesterton detective stories revolving around Horne Fisher and his companion, political journalist Harold March. These stories have a lot of the same late Victorian/Edwardian flavor of Sherlock Holmes and Chesterton's own Father Brown stories. The reluctant, and moral protagonist of The Man Who Knew Too Much, however, is often forced by greater-good circumstance or a need to protect the best interests of England from revealing the killer or the culprit.
The strengths of these stories revolves around the clever paradoxes that Chesterton (the dark prince of paradox) knows too well. The weakness of these stories (and the reason I gave them 3 stars and not 4 stars) is the unsubtle antisemitism that pops up in a couple of them (especially 'the Bottomless Well').
Stories include:
The Face in the Target
The Vanishing Prince
The Soul of the Schoolboy
The Bottomless Well
The Hole in the Wall
The Fad of the Fisherman
The Fool of the Family
The Vengeance of the Statue 156
G.K. Chesterton is an author who simply must be read by anyone fascinated by quality detective literature. Or literature in general for that matter. His insights into human nature, particular regarding morality, psychology and the soul or heart are profound. At the same time the mixture of wit, sarcasm, humour and paradox he weaves together is fascinatingly powerful.
To put it simply, Chesterton's writing is unique. Not unique as Mervyn Peake is unique in his word choice. Or unique in the way that Oscar Wilde is unique with his wit or Edgar Allan Poe is with his gothic horror. No, Chesterton is unique in his own particular way. He is unique in the way he blends detective fiction with the metaphysical and with a sense of the supernatural, allowing for an inquiry into deep themes. He is unique in his resolution and the process with which he carries off his plots. When you think you have Chesterton figured out as a reader you rarely do.
Add to the fact of Chesterton's unusual approach to literature the other aspect of the sheer ease of beauty of his prose and you have a master writer. Chesterton may not possess elegance of some authors with their styles (in many regards he is more an Anton Chekhov than James Joyce) but nothing he has written has ever been clumsy. He possesses a clarity of mind and ability to communicate that prevents inelegance through sheer clumsiness or overphrasing.
The Man Who Knew Too Much is not Chesterton's finest work. However it is a fine work regardless and certainly classic in every sense. It features a collection of short stories centering around Horne Fisher - the man who knew too much and too much about all the wrong things. Through eight different stories Fisher uses his knowledge to divulge the real criminals of different crimes from murder to theft. However it is not the resolutions themselves that (though clever twists they prove to be) are the main crux of the stories. The real issue is in the dilemma Chesterton throws up - that though by law the criminals in the end may be punished, morally they may have escaped (though their souls be damned). There is the sense that Chesterton contrasts legal justice with moral or spiritual justice and concludes that ultimately though spiritual justice has far greater effect.
This is certainly worth reading and if as a reader you have not spared Chesterton the time he is a priority in the near future. Perhaps any one of the collections to be found in The Complete Father Brown may suffice. For looking at the spiritual, psychological and ethical issues and ideas surrounding crimes there are few better than the prince of paradox - Chesterton. In examining crimes and criminality he examines humanity itself. 156 Amazingly cynical and subversive detective stories, of the sort I never would have expected from Chesterton!
The titular character gives himself that monicker because he is related to / friends with nearly all the important people in Britain, and therefore knows exactly how the country is REALLY run and how the legal system REALLY works. This inspires in him a sense of fatalism and resignation, as he sees the backroom deals, cover-ups and treachery which make the world go 'round, and he solves numerous crimes only to see the guilty parties escape justice due to their power, influence, wealth or even the prejudices of the local constabulary. In essence, it's Chesterton criticizing both British politics and human nature through the medium of dark-yet-beautiful detective stories. And it works. 156 My friend Emily Raible’s love for this impelled me to reread it! I did not remember it at all and it is the best story!! Horne Fisher does belong up there with Peter Wimsey! 156
