The Invisible Man: Stories from the Innocence of Father Brown

Father Brown

by G.K. Chesterton

The inimitable Father Brown is called in to help in the hunt for a mysterious killer, known only as an "invisible man" to all those in the investigation, in a collection of mysteries that also includes "The Wrong Shape," "The Flying Stars," and "The Queer Feet."

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Detective

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening lines:
In the cool blue twilight of two steep streets in Camden Town, the shop at the corner, a confectioner's glowed like the butt of a cigar. One should rather say, perhaps, like the butt of a firework, for the light was of many colors and some complexity, broken up by many mirrors and dancing on many gilt and gaily-coloured cakes and sweetmeats.

[Julie Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short, nice introduction to GK Chesterton and Father Brown.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Great plot, but the writing lacked wow-factor for me. However, I am intrigued in reading other Father Brown mysteries as this one showed a glimpse of his brilliance, and I really enjoy the television show based on these stories.

[Anakin · Rating 3 out of 5]

it turns out scanning things for hours on end and starting to get bored of the same 20 songs on repeat brings forth me trying an audiobook for the first time and...

it was alright yazzz

[delete · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Invisible Man, is a short story from book five of the 'The Innocence of Father Brown' saga. The Sherlock Holmesean plot sees the hero of the piece, Angus, on the hunt for a criminal who commits a murder of ma man under the guard of 4 men, none of whom see him and such dub him “The Invisible Man. Angus enlists the help of Flambeau, a thief turned detective and a Roman catholic priest Father Brown to assist in solving the case.

It is essentially a locked room mystery which seeming picks up out of nowhere and is interesting to read. It is easy to see that G.K. Chesterton was greatly inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes however Father Brown is in complete contrast of Sherlock Holmes. This is my first experience of the Edwardian detective stories of Father Brown and I enjoyed the journey and quality of the writing and will have to pick up the others in the series.

[Scott Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Invisible Man, is a short story from book five of the 'The Innocence of Father Brown' saga.The Sherlock Holmesean plot sees the hero of the piece, Angus, on the hunt for a criminal who commits a murder of ma man under the guard of 4 men, none of whom see him and such dub him “The Invisible Man. Angus enlists the help of Flambeau, a thief turned detective and a roman catholic priest Father Brown to assist in solving the case.
It is essentially a locked room mystery which seeming picks up out of nowhere and is interesting to read. It is easy to see that G.K. Chesterton was greatly inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes however Father Brown is in complete contrast of Sherlock Holmes. This is my first experience of the Edwardian detective stories of Father Brown and I enjoyed the journey and quality of the writing and will have to pick up the others in the series.

[Verba Non Res · Rating 2 out of 5]

Otra instancia de un giro clásico en el género policial, que ya fuera inaugurado (¿cuándo no?) por Edgar Allan Poe, en “La carta robada”: aquello que no estamos preparados para ver nos resulta, a los efectos prácticos, invisible. Solo que aquí ocurre lo mismo que en otros cuentos del Padre Brown: la resolución parece enteramente dependiente del contexto social, y este contexto es el de Inglaterra en vísperas de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Solo en esa sociedad abrumadoramente clasista parece verosímil que un cartero fuese invisible.

Cuento #3 de El candor del padre Brown

Anterior: “The Flying Stars”

Siguiente: "The Honour of Israel Gow"

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nope. Not Ralph Ellison nor H.G. Wells. Let's just say the villain went postal.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father Brown provides that people can be mentally invisible as he discovers the murderer in this short story.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

بعد أن قرأت القصة عرفت أنها جزء من سلسلة عن محقق نوعًا ما يدعى الأب براون، السلسلة تبدو مثيرة ولكن الترجمة تبدو باهتة بعض الشيء.
شاب يطلب من نادلة في محل للحلويات الزواج به، فيكتشف أن ورائها قصة تنتهي بجثة مقتولة.

رأيت الكثير من الإمكانيات والتفاصيل المثيرة للاهتمام في القصة، ولكن لم تستخدم بشكل جيد، أسلوب القصة مشابه لقصص شرلوك هولمز للكاتب آرثر كونان دويل، شخصية تحكي القصة التي تتضمن لغز أو يتبعها حدوث اللغز ثم الاستنتاج والنهاية دون كتابة درامية والتي تجعل القصة مثيرة للاهتمام في الأساس.

تلك النوعية من القصص تشبه الملخصات أكثر مما تشبه القصص.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cloak of Mystery, Lightly Worn
Chesterton’s The Invisible Man plays with the idea of presence and absence, crafting a mystery that hinges on perception. The concept is ingenious, but the execution feels rushed. Suspense is underdeveloped, and characters are sketched too lightly to leave a lasting impression.

Father Brown’s solution demonstrates Chesterton’s inventiveness, but the brevity of the tale undermines its potential impact. It’s a clever conceit, but one that doesn’t linger in the memory. Its 3/5 rating reflects its charm but also its limitations.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story is a murder mystery that is solved by a Roman Catholic priest. I've read a few of these stories. They are usually short and clever. Occasionally some point of religious doctrine creeps into the story but it always seems like common sense. In this story, I don't recall anything religious except that Father Brown shows up, makes a few cryptic remarks and finds the murderer by logic alone.

It is a good mystery, lacking only in the issue that it is too short.

[Abhishek Naik · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars for the story: too short a murder mystery to be very interesting to me. Maybe because I had an idea of the mystery despite listening to it as a bedtime story.
3 stars for the writing. Good, but not too remarkable.

P.S.: I accidentally finished this audiobook thinking it was H.G. Wells's book of the same name and G.K. Chesterton was the narrator :P

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Listened to the audio book version and it was very interesting and suspenseful. The end was very Holmes-ean.

[JP Camarena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not that invisible man book, but it's interesting nonetheless

[Victoria Dudek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completely went over my head hahahahha

[Jlnpeacock Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Father Brown stories are always delightful to me. I have even used the story of "The Invisible Man" in a science class to show the power of deductive reason. Wonderful and entertaining!

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The alliteration was distractingly dodgy; elegant elbows indeed...

[Blaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting building ended by a dissapointing finale.

[Kássia Alany · Rating 3 out of 5]

bom pra ler à tardezinha pensando em questões filosóficas sobre o ser humano através de relatos de assassinatos.

[Asif Turza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward, good detective story.

[Barbara Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good mystery and this one is great.

[Kathi Sharp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fri, 25 July 2014
Episode 376, The Invisible Man- A Father Brown Mystery, by G.K. Chesterton
A spectral voice haunts a dwarfish inventor. Murderous notes are delivered in impossible ways. Finally, Father Brown aids in solving a murder that simply couldn’t have happened. G.K. Chesterton, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

http://classictales.libsyn.com/episod...

[Troy Zaher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t a fan of the prose or the beginning but the mystery was pretty interesting and I like how it ended. The thesis of this story was interesting to think about now since it’s something today’s society probably wouldn’t have much of an issue with, even if it is something important to think about (we just are more culturally aware).

[Bud Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Invisible Man” was the fifth story written by G K Chesterton about his priest/detective Father Brown. Having never before read any of his Father Brown stories, it was mildly entertaining, but probably not an series I would return to... unlike Sherlock Holmes.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

perhaps answer with what you mean not what you say.

[Apollonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This poor rating is just for this one story. Not for the whole collection.

[Kylie Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmm...It had some good points, speaking about class and appearance. But there wasn't anything particularly special about it.

[Adom · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review for all of the Father Brown stories.

[Shelby Thévenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this short read, smartly written, entertaining and mysterious until the end. Nice twist at the end.