INTRODUCTION
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INTRODUCTIONby Ageless Reads
Father Brown appeared in Chesterton’s short stories only and was a character based on a parish priest in Bradford who was involved in Chesterton’s conversion to Catholicism in 1922. GK Chesterton was a committed Christian long before he entered into the Catholic Church and Christian themes and symbols tend to appear periodically in his writing. His writing frequently displayed wit and a good sense of humour. Chesterton used paradox and opposites to make serious comments on the world in terms of the government, politics, theology, economics and theology.
Father Brown is described as a short and stumpy Roman Catholic priest. He wears shapeless clothes and carries a large umbrella. He also has an uncanny insight into human evil. He makes his first appearance in the story The Blue Cross and continues through five volumes of short stories. Although Chesterton wrote a vast amount of material, his character of Father Brown is arguably one of the most well known. Father Brown also makes an appearance in the story The Donnington Affair, which has an interesting history behind it. The first half the story was published in a magazine called The Premier and various detective story writers were invited to solve the mystery. Chesterton wrote a piece involving Father Brown and submitted it to the magazine where it was later published.
The stories involving Father Brown are unlike most detective stories. Unlike Sherlock Holmes and other famous mainstream detectives, Father Brown’s methods tend to be more intuitive than deductive. Instead of solving the mystery based on evidence and solid reasoning, Father Brown has an uncanny ability of just knowing the truth. This can be both inspiring or damn right infuriating for readers but is defended in The Secret of Father Brown with the words: ‘You see, I had murdered them all myself… I had planned out each of the crimes very carefully. I had thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done, and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was.’
Brown’s abilities are also meant to be shaped by his experiences as a priest and confessor. These experiences have given him an insight into the darkest parts of the human mind, allowing him to understand the minds of criminals. In The Blue Cross Father Brown states, ‘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?’ He has spent years listening to the most ghastly and shocking sins and has a new perspective because of it.
Father Brown is humble and rather quiet in personality but when he does talk it is usually something profound and interesting. He tends to handle cases with a steady and realistic approach but he believes in the supernatural as the greatest reason of all.
This collection includes all the Father Brown stories beginning with The Blue Cross. Through its various stories the reader is taken on a journey of darkness and mystery.
THE INNOCENCE OF FATHER BROWN
First Published 1911
The Blue Cross
The Secret Garden
The Queer Feet
The Flying Stars
The Invisible Man
The Honour of Israel Gow
The Wrong Shape
The Sins of Prince Saradine
The Hammer of God
The Eye of Apollo
The Sign of the Broken Sword
The Three Tools of Death
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