tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post5024572788268774388..comments2024-03-21T22:22:59.425-07:00Comments on Vintage Pop Fictions: G.K. Chesterton’s The Incredulity of Father Browndfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-74675033416912539722017-01-05T00:38:10.966-08:002017-01-05T00:38:10.966-08:00Ha - the recent series does take, er, liberties, d...Ha - the recent series does take, er, liberties, doesn't it? I seem to remember them doing The Hammer of God early on and it being moderately faithful, but then episodes like The Wrong Shape changed every single thing (even making an entirely different thing the 'wrong' shape) and you sort f wonder how they get away with using the titles and chaning everything else.<br /><br />Well, I suppose the Suchet Poirots did it for years, so everyone is quite happy to simply let it happen...<br /><br />Maybe the 1974 series is a good place to start. I think my main difficulty with him is that you wade through absurdly dense prose and lousy philosophising and only about a fifth of the time is it actually worth the effort. If everything was as good as 'The Hammer of God' or 'The Queer Feet' it'd be fine and I could put up with it, but then you get crap like 'The Eye of Apollo' or 'The Invisible Man' and it just becomes difficult to want to continue persevering!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-88819552417085718202017-01-04T16:26:20.587-08:002017-01-04T16:26:20.587-08:00I used to hate Chesterton as well, when I was youn...I used to hate Chesterton as well, when I was young. To appreciate him you have to have a tolerance for the fact that he has other agendas going as well. There are great impossible crime plots in there but often they're buried beneath the philosophical and religious musings.<br /><br />That's true of all his work, not just the Father Brown stories. The Man Who Knew Too Much stories are the same - often very clever plots but so much other stuff going on.<br /><br />I suggest you try the 1974 Father Brown TV series - the plots are very faithful to the originals and they make the stories a bit more palatable. That's how I originally got into the Father Brown stories. Needless to say the more recent TV series should be avoided at all costs!dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-59082486723605695072017-01-04T13:06:00.674-08:002017-01-04T13:06:00.674-08:00I have maintained that Chesterton is an author I&#...I have maintained that Chesterton is an author I'm going to get into in my later life, mainly because I cannot bloody stand him now. But they're classics! The Arrow of Heaven! Moon Crescent! The Dagger with Wings! The Oracle of the Dog! I know, I know, I just...don't see the quality that others claim these stories possess.<br /><br />It's undoubtedly me, and I'll just have to givie it 30 years and then come back an older, wiser, more patient man. So expect some feedback then...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984067990467963645.post-82149946349555838672017-01-04T05:11:57.526-08:002017-01-04T05:11:57.526-08:00What a coincidence! I mentioned this very same col...What a coincidence! I mentioned this very same collection and one of its stories, "The Dagger with Wings," in my last review. <br /><br />Anyway, I agree with your overall assessment of the collection, which is a small treasure trove for fans of locked room mysteries. <br /><br />One of my personal favorites was "The Miracle of Moon Crescent." A horribly underrated and often overlooked story, but then again, it has to share the stage with such classics/fan favorites as "The Oracle of the Dog" and "The Arrow of Heaven." TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.com