''The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare'' is a 1908 novel by G. K. Chesterton. The book has been described as a

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

thriller.

Plot summary

Chesterton prefixed the novel with a poem written to Edmund Clerihew Bentley, revisiting the pair's early history and the challenges presented to their early faith by the times. In Victorian-era London, Gabriel Syme is recruited at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

to a secret anti-

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

police corps. Lucian Gregory, an anarchistic poet, lives in the suburb of Saffron Park. Syme meets him at a party and they debate the meaning of poetry. Gregory argues that revolt is the basis of poetry. Syme demurs, insisting the essence of poetry is not revolution but law. He antagonises Gregory by asserting that the most poetical of human creations is the timetable for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. He suggests Gregory is not really serious about anarchism, which so irritates Gregory that he takes Syme to an underground anarchist meeting place, under oath not to disclose its existence to anyone, revealing his public endorsement of anarchy is a ruse to make him seem harmless, when in fact he is an influential member of the local chapter of the European anarchist council. The central council consists of seven men, each using the name of a day of the week as a cover; the position of Thursday is about to be elected by Gregory's local chapter. Gregory expects to win the election but just before, Syme reveals to Gregory after an oath of secrecy that he is a secret policeman. In order to make Syme think that the anarchists are harmless after all, Gregory speaks very unconvincingly to the local chapter, so that they feel that he is not zealous enough for the job. Syme makes a rousing anarchist speech in which he denounces everything that Gregory has said and wins the vote. He is sent immediately as the chapter's delegate to the central council. In his efforts to thwart the council, Syme eventually discovers that five of the other six members are also undercover detectives; each was employed just as mysteriously and assigned to defeat the Council. They soon find out they were fighting each other and not real anarchists; such was the mastermind plan of their president, Sunday. In a surreal conclusion, Sunday is unmasked as only seeming to be an anarchist; in fact, he is a proponent of state power like the detectives. Sunday is unable to give an answer to the question of why he caused so much trouble and pain for the detectives. Gregory, the only real anarchist, seems to challenge the false council. His accusation is that they, as rulers, have never suffered like Gregory and their other subjects and so their power is illegitimate. Syme refutes the accusation immediately, because of the terrors inflicted by Sunday on the rest of the council. The dream ends when Sunday is asked if he has ever suffered. His last words, "can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?", is the question Jesus asks St. James and St. John in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

, chapter 10, vs 38–39, a rhetorical question intended to demonstrate that the disciples are wrong to covet his glory because they are unable to bear the suffering for the sins of the world for which he is destined.

Annotations and details

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...

edited ''The Annotated Thursday'', which provides a great deal of biographical and contextual information in the form of footnotes, along with the text of the book, original reviews from the time of the book's first publication and comments made by Chesterton on the book. The literary critic Ian Fletcher notes that Chesterton's "Saffron Park", with which the novel begins, is a parody of the garden suburb of Bedford Park in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, with its red brick buildings, "the outburst of a speculative builder" (Jonathan Carr), "faintly tinged with art" (the suburb was considered aesthetic, and was home to many artists), and its Queen Anne architecture. Fletcher comments that Chesterton met his future wife in the suburb, and that the description was somewhat inaccurate, as Chesterton liked to dramatise. The costumes the detectives don towards the end of the book represent what was created on their respective day. Sunday, "the

sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

" and "the peace of God," sits upon a throne in front of them. The name of the girl Syme likes, Rosamond, is derived from "Rosa Mundi," meaning "Rose of the World" in Latin.

Influence and critical assessments

Many have noted the influence of ''The Man Who Was Thursday'' on surrealism and spy thrillers. Chesterton's book allegedly inspired the

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

Michael Collins with the idea "if you didn't seem to be hiding nobody hunted you out". The novelist

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

describes his reading of the novel as "thrilling", comparing Chesterton to "first-rate action-writer like

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winn ...

" for suspense, but also "persuading you that something wonderful is afoot, that the events described have a mysterious and momentous significance you hardly dare guess at". Amis calls it "the most thrilling book I have ever read", admiring the twists and turns of the plot: In his final essay,

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...

wrote: "As to the durability or importance of GKC as a fictionist: the late Sir Kingsley Amis once told me that he reread ''The Man Who Was Thursday'' every year, and on one of his annual visitations wrote a tribute. That novel, with its evocation of eeriness and solitude, and its fascination with anonymity, has been credited by some with a share of influence on

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

." Critic

Adam Gopnik Adam Gopnik (born August 24, 1956) is an American writer and essayist, who was raised in Montreal, Canada. He is best known as a staff writer for ''The New Yorker,'' to which he has contributed nonfiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism since 19 ...

concurs: "''The Man Who Was Thursday'' is one of the hidden hinges of twentieth-century writing, the place where, before our eyes, the nonsense-fantastical tradition of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

and

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

pivots and becomes the nightmare-fantastical tradition of Kafka and Borges. It is also, along with Chesterton's '' The Napoleon of Notting Hill'', the nearest thing that this masterly writer wrote to a masterpiece."

Debate on the novel's pessimism

Like most of Chesterton's fiction, the story is full of Christian allegory. Chesterton, a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

at this time (he joined the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

about 15 years later), suffered from a brief bout of depression during his college days. He insisted: "The book ... was not intended to describe the real world as it was, or as I thought it was, even when my thoughts were considerably less settled than they are now. It was intended to describe the world of wild doubt and despair which the pessimists were generally describing at that date; with just a gleam of hope in some double meaning of the doubt, which even the pessimists felt in some fitful fashion". Chesterton later said that he had written this book to affirm that goodness and right were at the heart of every aspect of the world. However, the philosopher John Gray argues the story is more pessimistic than Christian:

Adaptations

Mercury Theatre adaptation

On 5 September 1938 ''

The Mercury Theatre on the Air ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' is a radio series of live radio dramas created and hosted by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with mus ...

'' presented an abridged radio-play adaptation, written by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

, who was a great admirer of Chesterton. He omitted most of ''Chapter 14: The Six Philosophers'', which contains most of the metaphysical speculation. This was almost two months before the infamous '' War of the Worlds'' broadcast.

APJAC Productions musical adaptation

It was reported in January 1967 that Jerome Hellman and Arthur P. Jacobs' APJAC Productions were preparing movie projects including a musical adaptation of Chesterton's novel by

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' D ...

. The film was not made.

BBC radio adaptations

There have been at least three adaptations broadcast by BBC radio over the years. On Sunday 13 July 1947, the BBC broadcast a live theatrical adaptation by Cecil Chesterton and Ralph Neale, which was produced by Jan Bussell and starred Harold Scott as Thursday, Peter Bull as Sunday, Stringer Davis as Comrade Witherspoon, Arnold Diamond as Colonel du Croix, Richard Goolden as Friday, and Campbell Singer as Wednesday. A 90-minute adaptation was broadcast in 1975, dramatised by Ronald Barton and with John Samson as Thursday and Trevor Martin as Sunday. This adaptation was preserved in an off-air recording that was later discovered by the Radio Circle and re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2024 as part of a strand called "Hidden Treasures". In 1986 the BBC broadcast a four-part series dramatised by Peter Buckman and directed by Glyn Dearman. It featured Michael Hadley as Thursday/Gabriel Syme, Natasha Pyne as Rosamond and Edward de Souza as Wednesday/The Marquis de St. Eustache. In 2005 the BBC broadcast the novel as read by Geoffrey Palmer, as thirteen half-hour parts. It has been re-broadcast several times since then, including in 2008 (one hundred years after first publication) 2016 and 2020.

2016 film

Hungarian filmmaker wrote and directed a film inspired by the novel, starring François Arnaud, Ana Ularu, and Jordi Mollà, which premiered on 21 June 2016 at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Juszt's inspiration was his mentor,

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungary, Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian language, Hungarian- ...

Popular culture

The 2000 video game '' Deus Ex'' features several excerpts from the book and lists Gabriel Syme as a current resident of the "Ton Hotel". In Kim Newman's '' Anno Dracula: 1895'', the Council of Days, led by Sunday, exists and is plotting to overthrow

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

during the tenth anniversary of his rule over Britain. The Council includes Gabriel Syme, Peter the Painter (Friday), and Newman's recurring character Kate Reed. In Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'', ''The Man Who Was October''—an unwritten sequel to ''The Man Who Was Thursday''—appears in the Library of Dreams. '' Season of Mists'' ends with a quote from the fictional novel. In '' The Doll's House'', the character Gilbert physically resembles G. K. Chesterton. The novel heavily influenced the game '' Fallen London,'' in which the Revolutionary faction is led by the "Calendar Council."

References

External links

A radio play based on the book by the Mercury Theatre on Air
(MP3, 54.8 MB, 1 hour) *
The Indiana Bloomington University webpage for this episode
which hosts a different copy of the same recording. The University of Indiana copies of Orson Welles' radio shows are usually the best, but this particular episode is very poor-quality.
Sonja West's C.S. Lewis Institute lecture on ''Thursday''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who Was Thursday, The 1907 British novels 1907 science fiction novels 1907 fantasy novels British science fiction novels British fantasy novels British speculative fiction novels British adventure novels British philosophical novels British thriller novels Metaphysical fiction novels Science fantasy novels Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels Fantasy adventure Christian allegory Novels set in London Novels about religion Novels about terrorism Books about anarchism British novels adapted for radio British novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Fantasy novels adapted into films Adventure novels adapted into films Novels by G. K. Chesterton J. W. Arrowsmith books Religion in fantasy fiction