Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and detective fiction. Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox." He wrote in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. He is one of the few Christian thinkers who are equally admired and quoted by both liberal and conservative Christians, and indeed by many non-Christians. And in his own words he cast aspersions on the labels saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." Chesterton wrote many books among which are: All Things Considered (1908), Alarms and Discursions (1910), The Ballad of the White Horse (1911), The Appetite of Tyranny (1915), The Everlasting Man (1925), The Secret of Father Brown (1927) and The Scandal of Father Brown (1935).

Utopie Des Usurierset Autres Essais

THE consulting-rooms of Dr Orion Hood, the eminent criminologist and specialist in certain moral disorders, lay along the sea-front 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 such a place the sea had something of the monotony of a blue-green dado: for the chambers themselves were ruled throughout by a terrible tidiness not unlike the terrible tidiness of the sea. It must not be supposed that Dr Hood's apartments excluded luxury, or even poetry. These things were there, in their place; but one felt that they were never allowed out of their place. Luxury was there: there stood upon a special table eight or ten boxes of the best cigars; but they were built upon a plan so that the strongest were always nearest the wall and the mildest nearest the window.

The Wisdom of Father Brown

La Croix Bleue est le premier récit que Chesterton consacra à son grand personnage, le père Brown, dont la condition de prêtre catholique, rompu aux confessions du tout-venant, lui assure les meilleures dispositions pour la résolution des affaires criminelles. A la différence d'un Sherlock Holmes, aux méthodes fièrement scientifiques, le père Brown fait preuve d'humilité et d'un raisonnement davantage intuitif, qui lui permet de se glisser "dans la peau" du criminel. Par l'empathie et l'amour du prochain dont son héros fait preuve, Chesterton sait muer les enquêtes du père Brown en de véritables essais sur la nature humaine. A ce titre, Le Secret du père Brown renferme une thèse essentielle : "Nul homme n'est véritablement bon tant qu'il n'a pas compris combien il est mauvais, ou combien il pourrait l'être."

The Blue Cross and The Secret of Father Brown / La Croix Bleue et Le Secret du père Brown

L'assassin modéré : Lord Tallboys, nouveau gouverneur de la Polybie, province d'Egypte, échappe de peu à un assassinat. L'homme au renard : David East, pasteur puritain d'une petite bourgade du Wessex, mène une croisade pour interdire les pubs et réformer les moeurs. Il est assassiné par le dernier représentant d'une Angleterre mythique, farouche opposant de la chasse au renard.

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