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The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)
by G.K. Chesterton

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184419.The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday_A_Nightmare?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172522672m/184419.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184419.The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday_A_Nightmare?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/27973.G_K_Chesterton">G.K. Chesterton</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15890607?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>When I first started reading this book I found the plot rather predictable, at least for the first 3/4 of the story. It was witty and short enough that I kept reading. The character development was timed exquisitely to continue evenly throughout the entire book. The language of the characters and the author was intelligent and in tune with the era. Initially, my only complaint was I had thought this was going to be an extended allegory for some Christian/Atheist battle of intellect and will, and it didn't seem to be. Not that I was disappointed by the quaint British thriller. And then, when I got to the last couple chapters, the illusion jumped out and kicked me in the teeth. In fact the big twist of the book is not in the plot, but in the subtext and genre. The extended metaphor was so well ingrained in the story that I read right over it for the vast majority of the pages. The book certainly deserves its "Classic" rank, and I would recommend this book for everyone. However, if you finish it thinking that that was an interesting "quaint British thriller" with a weird metaphysical ending, I suggest you read some of the more extensive reviews and interpretations of the book. There's a lot more there. Only four stars, as the book was having trouble keeping me interested at first.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/368678?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Alex's review
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bookshelves: books-i-liked

When I first started reading this book I found the plot rather predictable, at least for the first 3/4 of the story. It was witty and short enough that I kept reading. The character development was timed exquisitely to continue evenly throughout the entire book. The language of the characters and the author was intelligent and in tune with the era. Initially, my only complaint was I had thought this was going to be an extended allegory for some Christian/Atheist battle of intellect and will, and it didn't seem to be. Not that I was disappointed by the quaint British thriller. And then, when I got to the last couple chapters, the illusion jumped out and kicked me in the teeth. In fact the big twist of the book is not in the plot, but in the subtext and genre. The extended metaphor was so well ingrained in the story that I read right over it for the vast majority of the pages. The book certainly deserves its "Classic" rank, and I would recommend this book for everyone. However,...more

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