The Man Who Knew Too Much

By: G. K. Chesterton

Narrated by: Harold Wiederman

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English literary and social critic, historian, playwright, poet, Catholic theologian, debater, mystery writer, and foremost, a novelist. Among the primary achievements of Chesterton's extensive writing career are the wide range of subjects written about, the large number of genres employed, and the sheer volume of publications produced. He wrote several plays, around 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories and 4,000 essays. Chesterton's writings without fail displayed wit and a sense of humor by incorporating paradox, yet still making serious comments on the world, government, politics, economics, theology, philosophy and many other topics. His talent as a mystery writer is displayed in his collection of detective stories, The Man Who Knew Too Much. In each story, the star detective, Horne Fisher, deals with another strange mystery: the vanishing of a priceless coin, the framing of an Irish "prince" freedom fighter, an eccentric rich man dies during an obsessive fishing trip, another vanishing during an ice skate, a statue crushing his own uncle, and a few more.

Includes "The Face in the Targe", "The Vanishing Prince", "The Soul of the Schoolboy", "The Bottomless Well", "The Fad of the Fisherman", "The Hole in the Wall", "The Temple of Silence", and "The Vengeance of the Statue".

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Mysterious

There are eight short stories that can be read independently. In all stories the villain gets away. The protagonist Horne Fisher, likes to speak in riddles which can be confusing to the reader. Some of the endings were confusing to me. I liked the style of writing and the characterizations. There is a bit of anti-Semitism in one of the stories.

Old but good.

If you’ve listened to books by G. K. Chesterton before, how does this one compare?

Never listened to any of G K Chesterton before, this was my first.

Which character – as performed by Harold Wiederman – was your favorite?

The title character was most interesting.

Harold Wiederman is a fantastic narrator!

What made the experience of listening to The Man Who Knew Too Much the most enjoyable?

Harold Wiederman's narration, and Horne Fischer's languid and comical apparent exasperation of his own knowledge and observation skills.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Each story Horne Fischer relates to his friend have wonderfully crafted twists and unexpected conclusions. This has been my favorite GK Chesterton book so far.

What about Harold Wiederman’s performance did you like?

Harold Wiederman brings Fischer alive - as if Fischer himself was sitting with me, whilst relating his extraordinary knowledge and stories.I really hope that Mr Wiederman will be narrating more books. He made this book come alive for me, as I am sure will of other author's characters.

Entertaining

I enjoyed the intrigue and the twisting plot. I also like reading various fiction & non-fiction books from the same time period together to get a better feel for the people who lived then and there.

In that sense, this book fit in well with those of CS Lewis that I had just finished.

Like Holmes with a sprinkle of Antisemitism

The eight stories in this Chesterton work are entertaining enough, but the bits of xenophobia and antisemitism took me by surprise. The protagonist Horne Fisher has a deeply warped conscience, which by itself might not be a problem, except that the author seems to agree with Fisher’s attitudes and opinions.

Interesting.

I wish I knew more about the politics and social climate of the time period. I think that would have enhanced my enjoyment. As it was, I got lost some and bored some, but overall I was intrigued by Horne Fisher and the stories told in this book. The performance of the narrator was quite good, too.

Such an irritating narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Wow, this reader is horrible. He has a pedantic, fussy way of speaking that makes him so irritating to listen to. Most of the characters sound the same. The book itself is a little old-fashioned. The stories are not very compelling, but I did want to see how they ended. It was the characters I didn't like. And there was quite a bit of racism there too. Just skip this one. At least it was free!

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

An enjoyable listen well worth your time!

A well narrated version of this classic tale. The protagonist being an overly intelligent and knowledgeable man who solves crimes but analyzation and deduction. If you like this kind of mystery and a good who done it, you'll enjoy this book. Written in a form as was common before our time but narrated in such a way as to make it easily understandable.

I was given a free review copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.

Creative but hard to follow

Well-read but the text was disengaging. I use that word to illustrate. Too many awkwardly placed adjectives made following the story diffucult. I am a William Faulkner fan but would not try in an audio book. Chesterton was only slightly less difficult.

Keeps your excitement

Enjoyed the audible version. Listened while doing my daily walks. Enjoyed the mini stories that linked the characters.