Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Father Brown
    Father Brown
    Father Brown
    Audiobook3 hours

    Father Brown

    Written by G. K. Chesterton

    Narrated by Bart Wolffe

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    This collection of short stories will delight fans of the lovable Norfolk priest as he uses his, at times, eccentric insights to solve the seemingly unsolvable. Hugely entertaining.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSaland Publishing
    Release dateMay 1, 2013
    ISBN9781908650733
    Father Brown
    Author

    G. K. Chesterton

    G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was a prolific English journalist and author best known for his mystery series featuring the priest-detective Father Brown and for the metaphysical thriller The Man Who Was Thursday. Baptized into the Church of England, Chesterton underwent a crisis of faith as a young man and became fascinated with the occult. He eventually converted to Roman Catholicism and published some of Christianity’s most influential apologetics, including Heretics and Orthodoxy. 

    More audiobooks from G. K. Chesterton

    Related to Father Brown

    Related audiobooks

    Short Stories For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Death On The Nile

      Jan 8, 2021

      Death On The Nile
      1 min read

    • Article

      All TV Old And New

      Nov 8, 2020

      All TV Old And New
      2 min read

    • Article

      LIFE & STYLE

      Mar 19, 2023

      FIRST HOME I OWNED A two-storey apartment in inner-Sydney’s Darlinghurst. MY BEST HOME DECORATING FIND EVER A Spanish side table from Edward Clarke Antiques, bought 10 years ago. I knew that Ed had a new shipment, so I flew down to Melbourne speciall

      1 min read

    • Article

      Heirloom

      Apr 24, 2021

      Heirloom
      1 min read

    • Article

      Behind The Photograph Autumn Edit

      Sep 20, 2019

      In the autumn, visitors flock to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to see the world’s finest display of autumn colour. But it is impossible to predict precisely when the maple trees will be on fire. A local landscape photographer told us that, one yea

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Father Brown

    4/5

    362 ratings12 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved this series of unforgettable characters and events.
    • 4/5
      These are all clever tales. Usually the plot concerns an event in which some terrible crime has been committed, but Fr Brown finds a simpler and less violent thing had actually happened.
    • 2/5
      I decided to read this because I love the TV show. I was greatly disappointed. The stories were not very engaging, and unlike Sherlock Holmes stories did not leave the reader in suspense, dangling clues. They were short and undeveloped. Great potential, solid writing, poor execution.

      -library book
    • 5/5
      I've something of a weakness for British mystery/spy fiction, especially the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Can't really say where it originated, but it has been a regular part of my fiction diet for the past several years (I seem to toggle between mysteries/spy thrillers and science fiction as my go-to choices for "relaxation reading.") I've been alternating reading Chesterton's Father Brown stories, which I've never read before, with Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes' stories, which I've never read in toto before. I suppose that Sherlock Holmes is probably the more famous of the pair, but, as far as the quality of the stories themselves, the edge clearly goes to Father Brown. Chesterton is simply a witty writer, with an inerrant eye for the comical. In some ways, I suppose the character of Father Brown, with his rather stupid demeanor, was meant as a foil for the energetic Holmes, but Chesterton knows how to draw out the hilarity of the character. Clearly, the stories are meant simply as "entertainments," as novelist Graham Greene described some of his lighter works. However, I was struck throughout how seriously the idea of sin was handled (something of a shock for stories that could be so funny). The stories are light-hearted and playful but never flip when it comes to the realities of human life. Chesterton was a great Christian apologist like C.S. Lewis, writing classics such as "Orthodoxy" and "Heresy." But I dare say his Father Brown stories may do as much or even more to defend the great Christian revelations about the nature of human life and the human world. And they do it with so light a touch that you barely recognize the echoes of the catechism in each and every of Father Brown's "solutions." Which leads me to my only suggestion for those who wish to read Father Brown: those who really wish to enjoy the Father Brown stories should commit to reading them all (and preferably in published order). It has puzzled me a good bit that I can't honestly say that I have a "favorite" Father Brown story or provide a list of the "top five/ten" of the stories, something that is quite typical of other mystery authors. There are two reasons for this. First, they are all of so equal a quality, it would feel foolish to choose one above the others; each story is so carefully wrought, it is impossible to imagine any Father Brown story being written in any other way than Chesterton chose to write it. The second and more important reason, though, relates to the subtle "catechetical" nature of the stories. There's not progress here in the sense of linear plot development (Father Brown is appreciably no different in the last story than he is in the first, something that is NOT true of Sherlock Holmes) but there is a kind of satisfying completeness to the series. Fortunately, though, given the literary form chosen (the short story), reading the entirety of Father Brown is not as intimidating as it sounds. I've been at this for roughly two years with significant gaps of time (months) where I read no Father Brown story. But at no point did I ever feel like I had to "reacquaint" myself with Father Brown. It's not just that he's drawn in such unforgettable ways ("face as plain as a dumpling"), but that he, like the principles of Truth he follows, remains unchanging, certain, good, kind, and even innocent. Father Brown is the incorruptible face of Truth in a world of Lies.
    • 4/5
      A complete collection of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories.
    • 4/5
      The actual title of the Wordsworth Classics edition I have is simply Father Brown and it is 'all the favourite' Father Brown stories rather than a complete collection. For some reason the Librarything link is a misnomer. Even if this isn't an exhaustive collection, there are still plenty of stories, and very delightful they are too.Reading Father Brown is a little bit like turning up a missing volume of Sherlock Holmes - the good Father makes similar brilliant deductions (or would those be inductions?) with his keen powers of observation and logic. Analytical powers aside, though, the two detectives could hardly be more different in character. Father Brown is unprepossessing and usually underestimated by those who do not know him well: 'he had a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling; he had eyes as empty as the North Sea; he had several brown-paper parcels which he was quite incapable of collecting' (page 5). Of course his dumpy appearance is deceiving and criminals who think to take advantage of the priest soon find themselves outwitted....The most appealing characteristic of Father Brown is not his intelligence, however, but his wisdom and compassion for other people in spite of his keen awareness of the flaws in human nature. Without making excuses for criminals he nevertheless extends forgiveness to them. A good part of his powers of 'detection' comes simply from his willingness to see clearly those people whom the rest of society looks through or down on. Catholic or no, one can't help feeling that Father Brown would be a wonderful person with whom to have a long chat.What might be irritating to some (although I found it very interesting) is the way that Chesterton uses Father Brown as a mouthpiece to express his views on tradition, materialism, superstition, and so on - all in quite an orthodox Catholic fashion, of course! It blends so flawlessly with the character, though, that it hardly seems out of place. One of my favourite examples of this is in 'The Oracle of the Dog,' where Father Brown complains: 'It's part of something I've noticed more and more in the modern world... People readily swallow the untested claims of this, that, or the other. It's drowning all your old rationalism and scepticism, it's coming in like a sea; and the name of it is superstition... It's the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense and can't see things as they are.' (page 266) Intriguing stuff! I wish Father Brown had taken some time off saying Mass and solving mysteries to write out a reasoned defense of his theology. That would have been well worth reading too.
    • 5/5
      What an extraordinary group of arm chair mysteries. These stories were very unusual. The tales had a surreal quality to them. In the first story a French police detective follows two clergymen doing strange things such as changing the salt in the salt-cellar for sugar, throwing food against the restaurant wall, changing place cards at a fruit stand, and paying for a restaurant window before breaking it. In another a gold digging leader of a sun cult convinces a rich spinster she can look into the sun without going blind. In yet another story a group of vacationers are high jacked in an obviously staged scenario.Father Brown’s years of listening to confessions has taught him human nature. He uses his knowledge to understand puzzling tales. He also gives out advice and words of wisdom. If you are bored with the usual detective-uses-his-wits-to-capture-a-criminal-and-send-him-to-jail mystery stories try G. K. Chesterton.
    • 4/5
      Father Brown, if you haven't heard of him, is a portly priest who always finds himself in the middle of a mystery—usually a murder.As Chesterton's alterego, he solves crimes by understanding the fundamental makeup of the human personality. Never distracted by mystical hocus pocus, Father Brown unassumingly uncovers the details and motives deemed insignificant by others.The Complete Father Brown contains all 51 Father Brown stories written, including five different collections (The Innocence, Wisdom, Incredulity, Secret, and Scandal of Father Brown) as well as a bonus story, "The Vampire of the Village".Reading these stories is like sinking into a comfortable chair. If you try to sneak in a quick story while on break at work, you'll miss the charm of Chesterton's style. Instead, you need to take time to deliberately take in each word in his florid sentences. If you don't rush, his style is quite compelling. Take the first sentence in "The Absence of Mr. Glass" for example."The consulting-rooms of Dr. Orion Hood, the eminent criminologist and specialist in certain moral disorders, lay along the seafront at Scarborough, in a series of very large and well-lighted French windows, which showed the North Sea like one endless outer wall of blue-green marble." (in The Wisdom of Father Brown)For the Christian reader, there are occasional flashes of anthropological brilliance. I stopped to reread a particularly acute observation on more than a few occasions. Take this jewel in "The Sign of the Broken Sword" for example. Here Father Brown explains to his partner Flambeaux why Sir Arthur St. Clare's Bible reading habit doesn't make him innocent."Sir Arthur St. Clare, as I have already said, was a man who read his Bible. That was what was the matter with him. When will people understand that it is useless for a man to read his Bible unless he also reads everybody else’s Bible? A printer reads a Bible for misprints. A Mormon reads his Bible, and finds polygamy; a Christian Scientist reads his, and finds we have no arms and legs." (in The Innocence of Father Brown)I wish I knew a Christian sleuth today with the depth of Father Brown.
    • 4/5
      Some of the best mysteries ever written. Chesterton's Father Brown is a unique amateur detective who solves crimes because he understands man's sinful nature. Not only do the stories entertain, they challenge you to think as well.
    • 3/5
      An perfect bedside companion; the stories being short and rather amusing then unsettling one can put the book down when reaching drowsiness to sleep without losing the plot!
    • 5/5
      Chesterton created one of the great eccentric amateur detectives in Father Brown, spun some surreal plots, and mixed spirituality with detection, law with morality.
    • 4/5
      I love Chesterton, but the quality of his stories here varies wildly. All of the stories in the first part, "The Innocence of Father Brown", are excellent though-- especially "The Blue Cross" and the unfortunately entitled "Queer Feet".