The Invisible Man

Father Brown

by G.K. Chesterton

== Special Edition for Low Vision Readers ==
No body, no clues, no suspects – no problem! Father Brown is on the case again. And even an invisible man can’t escape his detection.

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Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Detective

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

This was ok, but not worth reviewing.

For the moment at least.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1920] [15p] [Fiction] [Not Recommendable]
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Meh.

Estuvo bien, pero no vale la pena reseñarlo.

Al menos por ahora.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1920] [15p] [Ficción] [No Recomendable]
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[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

A Father Brown Mystery:
John Turnbull Angus, a disinherited artist finds himself in a whimsical conversation with Laura Hope, a young woman working in a confectionery shop. Their lively banter escalates when Angus unexpectedly proposes to Laura while ordering a halfpenny bun and coffee. This playful yet serious interaction serves as a prelude to Laura's harrowing past, which she hesitantly shares. Her tale involves two unusual suitors from her past life in Ludbury: Isidore Smythe, a clever but diminutive man who has succeeded as a magician, and James Welkin, a tall man with an alarming squint who has not been heard from since they both pursued fortunes after Laura turned them down.

The mood shifts as Laura explains her fears surrounding Welkin, who seems to haunt her thoughts. This existential unease is further complicated when a threatening message appears on the confectionery’s window, indicating danger for Smythe if he marries Laura. The sense of impending threat is amplified when Smythe arrives, bringing with him a mystery that centers around the elusive Welkin. As Angus seeks help from a detective friend, Flambeau, the intrigue deepens when they discover that Smythe appears to have been murdered without a trace of the culprit—hinting at the supernatural forces at play in a seemingly rational world.

Following the discovery of Smythe’s bloodstained apartment and the chilling reality that his body has been found in a nearby canal, Father Brown’s keen sense of observation leads him to unravel the truth.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening lines:
In the cool blue twilight of two steep streets in Camden Town, the shop at the corner, a confectioner's glowed like the butt of a cigar. One should rather say, perhaps, like the butt of a firework, for the light was of many colors and some complexity, broken up by many mirrors and dancing on many gilt and gaily-coloured cakes and sweetmeats.

[Julie Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short, nice introduction to GK Chesterton and Father Brown.

[delete · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Invisible Man, is a short story from book five of the 'The Innocence of Father Brown' saga. The Sherlock Holmesean plot sees the hero of the piece, Angus, on the hunt for a criminal who commits a murder of ma man under the guard of 4 men, none of whom see him and such dub him “The Invisible Man. Angus enlists the help of Flambeau, a thief turned detective and a Roman catholic priest Father Brown to assist in solving the case.

It is essentially a locked room mystery which seeming picks up out of nowhere and is interesting to read. It is easy to see that G.K. Chesterton was greatly inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes however Father Brown is in complete contrast of Sherlock Holmes. This is my first experience of the Edwardian detective stories of Father Brown and I enjoyed the journey and quality of the writing and will have to pick up the others in the series.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Great plot, but the writing lacked wow-factor for me. However, I am intrigued in reading other Father Brown mysteries as this one showed a glimpse of his brilliance, and I really enjoy the television show based on these stories.

[Yazmin Taliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5🌟

[Anakin · Rating 3 out of 5]

it turns out scanning things for hours on end and starting to get bored of the same 20 songs on repeat brings forth me trying an audiobook for the first time and...

it was alright yazzz

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Father Brown story I’ve read which didn’t actually leave me frothing at the mouth with rage.

[Sapphire Detective · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will we ever escape from Flambeau showing up in these stories???? At least he wasn't the perpetrator this time. In fact, the solution of this one is one of the cleverer ones I've come across, at least of the stories I read before, and it's a solution I was aware of going into this--it tends to be cited as a good example of Father Brown's kind of deductive abilities via knowing human nature. It's a shame though that the actual mystery shows up within the final pages of the stories, and then is solved just as quickly. Instead we're taken on quite a journey with a tale about a short man with miraculous inventions, and though it's entertaining, certainly, it runs long for a mystery that only shows up at the tale's end. But like I said, the solution's so good as it is I'm rounding it up instead of down.

My rating: 3.5/5 (rounded up)
Would I own/re-read?: Probably not.
TW: Period-Appropriate Terminology
Does the animal die?: No animals are harmed in the tale of the Invisible Man.

[R.H. Naranjo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro magnífico cuento de Chesterton, en el que el padre Brown se une a la historia como un simple accidente y acaba siendo la llave para descubrir el misterio. Cuando dos señores le piden matrimonio a la hija del dueño del bar, pero sólo uno de ellos regresa años después tras haber cumplido la misión que ella les encomendó, la sospecha de que algo anda mal recae sobre todos. Esta sospecha incrementa dramáticamente cuando el señor Smythe, quien sí regresó, comienza a recibir amenazas de muerte anónimas de un aparente "hombre invisible".

Este misterio, que termina por tornarse en un complot sangriento, recae en las manos de un extraño aliado de la ley: Flambeau, resultando en una conexión impresionante con los cuentos anteriores. Nadie se espera que el pequeño sacerdote católico que acompaña al gran detective, aquél que "puede ser confundido con un mueble", sea quien encontrará el modo de resolver el misterio antes de que alguien más salga lastimado.

[Scott Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Invisible Man, is a short story from book five of the 'The Innocence of Father Brown' saga.The Sherlock Holmesean plot sees the hero of the piece, Angus, on the hunt for a criminal who commits a murder of ma man under the guard of 4 men, none of whom see him and such dub him “The Invisible Man. Angus enlists the help of Flambeau, a thief turned detective and a roman catholic priest Father Brown to assist in solving the case.
It is essentially a locked room mystery which seeming picks up out of nowhere and is interesting to read. It is easy to see that G.K. Chesterton was greatly inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes however Father Brown is in complete contrast of Sherlock Holmes. This is my first experience of the Edwardian detective stories of Father Brown and I enjoyed the journey and quality of the writing and will have to pick up the others in the series.

[Verba Non Res · Rating 2 out of 5]

Otra instancia de un giro clásico en el género policial, que ya fuera inaugurado (¿cuándo no?) por Edgar Allan Poe, en “La carta robada”: aquello que no estamos preparados para ver nos resulta, a los efectos prácticos, invisible. Solo que aquí ocurre lo mismo que en otros cuentos del Padre Brown: la resolución parece enteramente dependiente del contexto social, y este contexto es el de Inglaterra en vísperas de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Solo en esa sociedad abrumadoramente clasista parece verosímil que un cartero fuese invisible.

Cuento #3 de El candor del padre Brown

Anterior: “The Flying Stars”

Siguiente: "The Honour of Israel Gow"

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nope. Not Ralph Ellison nor H.G. Wells. Let's just say the villain went postal.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father Brown provides that people can be mentally invisible as he discovers the murderer in this short story.

[William Vaudin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is yet another one I didn’t hate, just didn’t get. I liked the premise and enjoyed it for four pages out of twenty-one, but that’s about it. Plus, this was the first time we got to see Flambeau as a good guy after he just disappeared at the end of the last story. And I liked how we followed two other characters going to see Flambeau, rather that Flambeau and Father Brown themselves. But like a lot of the other stories in this collection, it feels kind of messy in places. Not in a “took meany cook spoil the brothel” sense, but rather in a “what’s going on” kind of sense. It did see like they was a clear throughline from start to finish, but I just didn’t follow everything around it.

As I said before, I liked the premise to this one. A woman who being stalked by her former lover who is leaving threatening notes all around the place. But while they can find his footprints in the snow, they can’t find any evidence of anyone being there, making them dub him the Invisible Man. It remined me a bit of the Agatha Christie novel Murder in Mesopotamia, although I don’t think this was an influence on that. And I liked how we followed two other characters as they try and seek the newly reformed Flambeau for help, but are constantly being stalk by the Invisible Man. It also makes you want to see if Flambeau has truly reformed after his last three appearances. Its dose feel like we’ve followed him on an arc and also feels like there’s been a through line throughout these first five stories, which is impressive considering when these were written.

But as for the problems, like I said, there was a lot I couldn’t follows like the first seven pages and the explanation. After this one ended, I don’t know if I got everything or not. I think they were implying that the Ex-Lover was pretending to be a Postman but I’m not sure. And again, there was a lot of guff at the beginning that I just didn’t care for as it just slowed the story down for me. Also, there was a whole sub plot about clockwork robots one of the characters was selling which I thought might work its way into the solution, but then just never factored into anything. And if you couldn’t tell by this point, I haven’t really talked about Father Brown yet. That’s because he just sort of shows up in this story and tells the audience everything they need to know. At least with a lot a Poirot stories, Poirot is actually doing something, here, Father Brown just tags along with the other three and then tells us something that he could have possible known about. And plus, even though the female character is supposed to be the Invisible Man’s main target and the reason this story exists, she just disappeared after the first seven pages and doesn’t factor into the rest of the plot at all in the last two thirds.

Overall, this was just another mixed bag made up of some fun moments and ideas, along with some random nonsense and talking. It just didn’t feel like there was a main focus for the plot and was just bouncing all over the place. And I still can get why this story had anything to do with robots if they didn’t factor into plot in the end. I still had a lot of good things to say about this one and I did enjoy in when the four leads started going around looking for clues, but again, it was four pages out of twenty-one. The Mark Williams series did adapt this one so maybe that one is better, but I haven’t watched it yet. If you want a fun and short mystery adventure, then you might like this more than I did, but you want something more consistent and less skater brained, then you might want to skip this.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

بعد أن قرأت القصة عرفت أنها جزء من سلسلة عن محقق نوعًا ما يدعى الأب براون، السلسلة تبدو مثيرة ولكن الترجمة تبدو باهتة بعض الشيء.
شاب يطلب من نادلة في محل للحلويات الزواج به، فيكتشف أن ورائها قصة تنتهي بجثة مقتولة.

رأيت الكثير من الإمكانيات والتفاصيل المثيرة للاهتمام في القصة، ولكن لم تستخدم بشكل جيد، أسلوب القصة مشابه لقصص شرلوك هولمز للكاتب آرثر كونان دويل، شخصية تحكي القصة التي تتضمن لغز أو يتبعها حدوث اللغز ثم الاستنتاج والنهاية دون كتابة درامية والتي تجعل القصة مثيرة للاهتمام في الأساس.

تلك النوعية من القصص تشبه الملخصات أكثر مما تشبه القصص.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cloak of Mystery, Lightly Worn
Chesterton’s The Invisible Man plays with the idea of presence and absence, crafting a mystery that hinges on perception. The concept is ingenious, but the execution feels rushed. Suspense is underdeveloped, and characters are sketched too lightly to leave a lasting impression.

Father Brown’s solution demonstrates Chesterton’s inventiveness, but the brevity of the tale undermines its potential impact. It’s a clever conceit, but one that doesn’t linger in the memory. Its 3/5 rating reflects its charm but also its limitations.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story is a murder mystery that is solved by a Roman Catholic priest. I've read a few of these stories. They are usually short and clever. Occasionally some point of religious doctrine creeps into the story but it always seems like common sense. In this story, I don't recall anything religious except that Father Brown shows up, makes a few cryptic remarks and finds the murderer by logic alone.

It is a good mystery, lacking only in the issue that it is too short.

[Abhishek Naik · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars for the story: too short a murder mystery to be very interesting to me. Maybe because I had an idea of the mystery despite listening to it as a bedtime story.
3 stars for the writing. Good, but not too remarkable.

P.S.: I accidentally finished this audiobook thinking it was H.G. Wells's book of the same name and G.K. Chesterton was the narrator :P

[#AskMissPatience · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heard a lot about GK Chesterton. Wanted to dip my toe into the pool of his writing. Choose this short fun listen on Audible. While working on a publishing project. It was a short listen of a little over an hour. Mystery and intrigue followed. I thoroughly enjoyed this style of writing and would recommend this story for a fun side trip off the serious reading picks.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Listened to the audio book version and it was very interesting and suspenseful. The end was very Holmes-ean.

[JP Camarena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not that invisible man book, but it's interesting nonetheless

[Victoria Dudek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completely went over my head hahahahha

[Jlnpeacock Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Father Brown stories are always delightful to me. I have even used the story of "The Invisible Man" in a science class to show the power of deductive reason. Wonderful and entertaining!

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The alliteration was distractingly dodgy; elegant elbows indeed...

[Blaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting building ended by a dissapointing finale.

[Kássia Alany · Rating 3 out of 5]

bom pra ler à tardezinha pensando em questões filosóficas sobre o ser humano através de relatos de assassinatos.

[Asif Turza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward, good detective story.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little mystery