The Wisdom of Father Brown (Arcturus Classics, 167)

G.K. Chesterton is a humorous writer, and he writes sterling prose; these two enviable qualities distinguish him as superior to Arthur Conan Doyle as a mystery writer, not to mention superior to most writers in any genre. This Penguin omnibus of nearly fifty stories featuring his clerical sleuth Father Brown is an excellent introduction to the man's classic English style of understated wit, taste for the exotic and the mythical, unbounded imagination, and worldly philosophy, helpfully reduced to easily digestible epigrams by the discursive priest. Chesterton doesn't cloister his protagonist in a strictly ecclesiastical environment; Father Brown's social realm lies far outside the church and well within the material world of theatrically colorful disguises, melodramatic villains and their not entirely innocent victims, big business, and fabulous wealth. If Chesterton has anything in common with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, it is the way he incorporates his strong religious convictions into his fiction. Two of the Commandments--the ones forbidding stealing and killing--are the most typically transgressed in these stories, the committers of these sins betrayed by moral weakness detected by Father Brown, a scholar of motives and the human tendency to do wrong in the absence of a solid spiritual anchor. Like Sherlock Holmes, he solves crimes by noticing small details that everybody else misses and applying the most rigid logic, but he is more human and animated than the stolid Holmes. He even has a professional cohort, a French private detective who goes by the name of Flambeau and who bedeviled the world as a master thief before the solicitous Father Brown showed him the error of his wicked ways. Aside from his short, stout stature, mildly clumsy behavior, and the benevolent patience with which he tolerates atheists, socialists, skeptics, mystics, pagans, etc., Father Brown's greatest distinction as a character is his representation of the supreme logic and rationale Chesterton considers inherent in Roman Catholic theology; he is less a visual figure than an embodiment of a set of ideas, a projection of his author's conscience and intellect, clothed in black. Although Chesterton undoubtedly hopes to enlighten the heathens among his readers, he doesn't insult their intelligence with simplistic morality tales; he knows that we don't need Father Brown to remind us, however eloquently, that stealing and killing are wrong. Chesterton rather uses the conflict between good and evil as the context within which he can expound his philosophical opinions through a priestly voice.

This book compiles some short detective stories, with an unlikely protagonist, a priest. Father Brown is a rather quiet main character, unpretentious but remarkably assured. He uses logic in order to solve his cases, and he makes abundant use of good judgment and sound sense. Father Brown has an unique "worldly shrewdness", that probably stems from the fact that he spends many hours each day listening to the sins of other people. As a result, he is more or less acquainted with the bad side of human beings.Father Brown is considered by many "the second most famous mystery-solver in English literature", the first being Sherlock Holmes. To tell the truth, I prefer Father Brown to Sherlock Holmes: he might not be as showy as Conan Doyle's character, but he is far more likeable, and his stories seem more likely to be real. Moreover, Chesterton's Father Brown doesn't just chase criminals, he allows the reader to learn about some interesting themes that were important when these stories were first published, but that also are important now, for example the relationship between faith and reason. He manages to that because he doesn't merely want to "catch the criminal", he also endeavors to understand human nature, and the reasons why a criminal becomes one.The author of these mystery stories was Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), a renowned English writer who wrote them between 1911 and 1936. His stories are as popular now as they were then, mainly to to the fact that Chesterton's style is compelling and refreshing, eminently readable and witty. Thus, these stories appeal not only to those who want to read a good book written in an exceptionally good english, but also to those who want to do exactly that without having to exhert themselves. On the whole, I think this collection of short stories is worth buying and reading, not only once but many times. I highly enjoyed it, and I strongly recommend it to you :)Belen Alcat

In the genre of the finely crafted English detective story, Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories are wholesome and stimulating detective tales surpassed by few others, except perhaps Doyle's legendary Sherlock Holmes. In contrast to the arrogant Holmes, however, Chesterton's protagonist is rather quiet, unassuming and modest, and makes an unlikely hero - a catholic priest. Father Brown's simple manner makes you quick to underestimate him, but the startling flashes of brilliance that spill from beneath his humble exterior soon make you realize that he has a firm grasp on the truth of a situation when you are as yet frustratingly distant from it. His perceptive one-liners make it evident that he has a clear insight into something that you see only as an apparently insoluble paradox. Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox", and the Father Brown stories are a clear testimony of his fondness for paradox. Ultimately it is not just crimes that Brown must solve, but the paradox underlying them. In fact, not all stories are crime stories - among them are mysterious situations that do not involve criminals, and it is the perceptive insight of Father Brown that is needed make apparent contradictions comprehensible by his ruthless logic. Father Brown is not so much concerned with preserving life or bringing a criminal to justice as he is with unravelling the strands of an impossible paradox. In fact, Chesterton's conception of Father Brown is itself a paradox - both a cleric and a crime-fighter, a priest and a policeman, a representative of God's mercy and an instrument of God's justice, a proclaimer of forgiveness and a seeker of guilt, a listener in the confessional and a questioner in the interrogation.How a priest could possibly play the role of a detective is explained in the first story, "The Blue Cross". Brown apprehends the confounded criminal Flambeau and explains that his knowledge of the criminal mind is due in part to what he's heard at the confessional booth "We can't help being priests. People come and tell us these things." When Flambeau retorts "How in blazes do you know all these horrors?" Chesterton allows his humble priest to attribute his insight into human depravity to his experience as a priest: "Oh, by being a celibate simpleton, I suppose, he said. Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil."But both Chesterton and Father Brown have insight into much more than just human depravity - they are both champions of Catholic orthodoxy. This gives the Father Brown stories a depth not found in Brown's compatriot Holmes. In the course of Chesterton's stories, we are treated to philosophical discussions about catholic theology, such as the relationship between faith and reason. We do not merely meet an assortment of cobblers, blacksmiths, magistrates and generals, but atheists, legalists, secularists, pagans, Presbyterians, Puritans

Father Brown is an intriguing and refreshing fictional detective. In addition to providing short glimpses into criminal puzzles, this book includes fascinating looks at the time period in which it was written (Father Brown meets the Futurists). Much more intelligent than many of the other entries into this genre, it also wasn't as dogmatically religious as I'd been lead to believe. I really enjoyed this book.

I'm a teen in Boston and I love reading the Father Brown Omnibus, which is the same thing (it has all the stories) but was published in the 50s. I would have to give this 5 stars because Father Brown is almost as good as Sherlock Holmes, whom I gave 6 stars. 3 thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!