The Man Who Was Thursday cover art

The Man Who Was Thursday

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The Man Who Was Thursday

By: G. K. Chesterton
Narrated by: Toby Longworth
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Chesterton's allegorical masterpiece is a surreal, psychologically thrilling audiobook that centres on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London, who call themselves by the names of days of the week.

The story begins when poet Gabriel Syme is recruited as a detective to a secret anarchist division of Scotland Yard by a shrouded, nameless person. Syme infiltrates a secret meeting of anarchists who are intent on destroying the world and becomes known as 'Thursday', one of the seven members of the Central Anarchist Council.

Narrator Biography

Formerly half a double-act with Bill Bailey, actor Toby Longworth left in order to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now a specialist in voiceover, his prominent work includes roles in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). He has appeared in audiobooks such as The Wolf Trial and The Lubetkin Legacy. He has also narrated documentaries for the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who DVD range; several of Games Workshop's Black Library audiobooks; and voiced the main character in the video game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. His television work has included roles in BBC's Extras (2006) and Not Going Out (2013-2014), as well as Channel 4's The IT Crowd (2006).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Modern Detectives Mystery Fiction Funny Exciting Mind-bending Witty Feel-Good Suspense British Mysteries British Classics

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Critic reviews

" The Man Who Was Thursday is not quite a political bad dream, nor a metaphysical thriller, nor a cosmic joke in the form of a spy novel, but it has something of all three...it remains the most thrilling book I have ever read." (Kingsley Amis)
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Witty, funny, and with a lot of profundity under the fun. You think you know where it's going but you're probably quite wrong, and several times. I'm still not quite sure I know what to make of it, but I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

A strange, delightful book

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If 6 out 5 exists, this would be the rating of this book 😅
Reads like Alice’s adventures in the Wonderland but for adults and Monty Python stories…

“You've got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all. Aristocrats were always anarchists, as you can see from the barons' wars."

Amazing

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I started out loving this while it was proceeding in a noirish fashion. The sense of humour and surreal stuff is perfectly balanced.

However, around half way through it spills over into something silly with elephants and motor cars chasing each other. That's when I tapped out.

Wasted potential.

Wasted potential

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This is excellent and one of my favourite books. Subtitled A Nightmare, it follows that dream logic in which the rational world is twisted kink by kink until you are running for your life. Surely too some seeds of The Goon Show and Monty Python spring from here. Toby Longworth's reading is a joy, clearly revelling in the comic absurdity, witty lines, and giving terrifying voice to the Man who is Sunday.

I need hardly say there was a collision.

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A fun and enjoyable book I'm not sure I get the point, but it's an interesting book nonetheless.

Good audio quality and good narration.

Overly intellectual but interesting, a good read.

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