G K Chesterton - Father Brown Short Stories

G K Chesterton - Father Brown Short Stories - Arcturus - 2018

This volume brings together two of Chestertons` Father Brown collections, The Innocence of Father Brown and The Wisdom of Father Brown.

I read one or two of the Fr Brown short stories in younger days and as I recall, enjoyed them. I`ve watched a number of screen adaptations, both recent and not-so-recent, and enjoyed those.

When I saw this book in  my local library, I borrowed it straight away, never doubting for one second that it would provide a few happy hours.

In that I was mistaken. The problem with these stories, for me at any rate, is not necessarily the plotting, but more with the great mans` storytelling style. In fairness, these stories were hugely popular in their day, so it may be that our expectations of writers has changed.

This is not helped by the way he punctuates his stories with odd, sometimes mystifying, observations on spiritual matters that must have been puzzling to  readers of any era. 

Some have found him a dogmatic, sometimes xenophobic, writer. This wounded him and he spent much time and energy attempting to answer those criticisms. I would say those elements can be found in his writing.  I suspect the root cause is not so much malice or prejudice so much as that he tended to be a rather unworldly character with little experience of the world ; a bit "off with the elves and pixies" as one of my uncles used to say.

At one time I would have persevered and finished the book, but I must admit that once I reached `The Sins of Prince Saradine`, which contains the phrase "a bittern sounded in the distance like an elf upon his dwarfish drum" my patience began to run out. I tried a couple more stories and then gave up.