My Pal Thursday

Okay, so it's a little early to determine if Thursday and I will be pals, but I couldn't resist the title. It hearkens back to the film His Girl Friday, staring the incomparable Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, and  My Gal Sunday a book by Mary Higgins Clark that was made into a television movie of which we will not speak. While His Girl Friday is a romantic comedy (one of the rare films that is both romantic and comedic), and My Gal Sunday is a collection of four mysteries solved by an ex-president and his congresswoman bride, The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton is not at all romantic, and while it is comedic, it is a witty humor rather than a silly humor. I'll be honest and say that it is a more difficult read than the other books I've blogged about. It was written in 1907 and has a style that reminds me of Kate Chopin or Robert Louis Stevenson.

      "Then may I ask you to swear by whatever gods or saints your religion involves that you will not reveal what I am now going to tell you to any son of Adam, and especially not to the police? Will you swear that! If you will take upon yourself this awful abnegation, if you will consent to burden your soul with a vow that you should never make and a knowledge you should never dream about, I will promise you in return... "

     "You will promise me in return?" inquired Syme, as the other had paused.

     "I will promise you a very entertaining evening." Syme suddenly took off his hat.

     "Your offer," he said, "is far too idiotic to be declined."

 Like Chopin and Stevenson, Chesterton's novel is one with both entertainment value and social commentary, although the message is not quite the same. While Chopin spoke eloquently of the humanity of women and the black population, and Stevenson spoke about the duality of mankind and respect for differences, Chesterton's novel comments on the battle between good and evil and the failure of mankind to truly understand the universe.

The story surrounds Gabriel Syme, a man recruited by Scotland Yard's secret unit to undo the anarchists headquartered in London. Through a series of coincidences (or are they?), he manages to get himself elected as one of the seven member High Counsel of Anarchists who are known as the seven days of the week. As you may have guessed, Syme is referred to as Thursday.

When I first began my journey with Thursday, his story felt old-fashioned and irrelevant, even though it was well-written and entertaining. The deeper I get into the plot, however, the more relevant it seems. It is perhaps more relevant now than it was when it was written more than a hundred years ago. Instead of fighting anarchists, now our police force (and our military, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, etc.) are fighting terrorists. While the philosophies of the rebels may have changed, their methods have not. Both anarchists and terrorists use death and mass destruction to make their point, and there are many brave men and women who work every day to bring the plots of the destructors to naught.

I hope I will be able to count Syme as a friend. He may talk a little funny, and may even look a little strange with his pointed beard, but he seems like a really great character. He manages to be intelligent, funny, and wants to make the world a better place. That sounds like a good friend to have.

I'll keep you posted.