Rating: 
Summary: What on earth can you label this book as?
Review: This book seems to defy description. Some say metaphysical thriller, others say philosophy lightly diguised as a spy novel. Chesterton himself said it was best called a nightmare; as in the ones we wake up from. I can only call it a parable.
The first ten chapters certainly feel like a spy novel; you spend them wondering how the hero, Gabriel Syme, will prevent himself from being unmasked amongst an anarchist conspiracy while in turn unmasking the conspirators themselves. But after Syme finds himself chasing one of the conspirators,(don't worry, I'm not giving anything away)the book quickly becomes very philosophical and you begin to feel that every single character in it represents something or someone in real life. One also sees paralels to the book of Job in the last chapter.
So what is it? I really can't say. One thing is apparent, however; Chesterton is telling us something very important in the form of a story like every other parable or fable. Most certainly one of Chesterton's greatest books.
Rating:
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: This book, whos primary theme appears to be dealing with the freedom of men to committ evil is profound, thought provoking, insightful, funny, other worldly. It is also philosophically and theologically challenging. This is the kind of book you can read again and again. I have now read it three times and will surely read it again.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting and good
Review: Of the three famous British-authored political fantasies (the other two being 1984 and Brave New World), this work is least appreciated but, in my opinion, most accomplished. Orwell and Huxley are popular because they tried to make a point which the man on the street can understand. But what makes them popular also makes them unsophisticated. In TMWWT, the resolution of the conflict is ambiguous, or that the problem is man himself, his inner conflicts are the maker of his dread. The most admirable aspect is the ability of Chesterton to depict mood, the dread, doubt, fear, angst, as the story unfolds. The three chase scenes (Professor of Syme, Secretary-led mob of the exposed Council members, and the detectives of the President), the duel, and other action scenes are drawn with dynamism, irony, and interesting musings. Although the work may not be as deep as, say, some of Kafka's best works, it nonetheless sets the tone and opens a literary avenue to explore the dark human psyche and its outward, schizophrenic expression. The one complaint I have is the predictability. I knew fairly early on who Sunday was, and that all those other members were police detectives. This took some joy out of the reading. I don't agree with the popular interpretation that this is a reflective work on the question of good and evil. I believe GKC had a sophisticated underline, and that sophistication makes the book more savoring than the straight-bull anti-totalitarianism, or anti-science thrusts of Orwell and Huxley.
Rating:
Summary: God reconciled with chaos and evil
Review: The Man Who Was Thursday is an extraordinary work of fiction. It's a comedy, a spy novel, an adventure story and a work of Christian apologetics all at once. It begins with a party in a London garden and ends with the face of God - with a nightmare of chase, horror and keystone cops in between. G. K. Chesterton is always good, but here he outdoes himself. Set in Edwardian England about 1905, the plot ostensibly revolves around a cabal of anarchists (a turn of the 20th century movement of men who believed that chaos was better than order and used dynamite as their markup language). Our hero, the poet and police inspector Gabriel Syme, penetrates the ruling council of this anarchist ring whose members go by the names of the days of the week. Syme wins a place as Thursday and sets himself against the unholy evil of Sunday. Soon, however, he finds that nothing is what it seems to be and that he himself is the one pursued. The real novel, beneath all the fun and horror, is a look into a basic mystery of existence: how can a benevolent God be reconciled with the chaos of uncaring nature and monstrous evil? Chesterton handles these interesting themes with a light, but sure touch. Chesterton believes in good and evil. He's by no means a modern moral relativist. At the same time, however, he's showing us that good and evil are parts of the same dance, part of the same chaotic fervor of nature and that it's not for us to see their clear nature; only God sees through the veil of chaos. You don't have to be religious to enjoy the book, it's OK even for an atheist to ponder the nature of God (in fact, it's required). Chesterton takes us right to the heart of his.
Rating:
Summary: For an idle afternoon
Review: This is a nice little piece of fiction spaced out in a short amount of pages. Some of the passages are quite picturesque. The plot is full of odd turns that will keep you interested. By no means is this a serious mystery story. If you are looking for vivid characters and insight into Chesterton's philosophy of Christianity I would probably advise you to turn elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange
Review: This is a very strange book, gripping at times, but in the end isn't worth a whole lot. As a Christian, I was intrigued by what many have said about Chesterton. He has been compared to the likes of Francis Schaeffer and C.S. Lewis, but if this book is any indication of what went on in Chesterton's mind (and most say it is), Chesterton is a dime store version of Lewis at best. The book begins by setting up a strange world and an even stranger mystery. It evolves through multiple twists that will interest the reader and keep them turning pages. However, the climax is extremely disappointing and I felt cheated. Although Chesterton builds a good amount of suspense throughout most of the book, the loose ends wrap up so quickly, and so strangely, that I was left scratching my head, asking myself what I missed. I know that this book is more than a simple mystery. It is a conservative commentary on society and religion. But in my opinion, the book falls far short in that regard too. Whatever deeply insightful message the book may have been trying to say gets lost in a haze plot twists. And, although I understood the basic message of Chesterton's parable, I found it not very insightful, and far from being the best work on the subject. I recommend anything by C.S. Lewis before this book. Even the childrens books (The Chronicles of Narnia) are more enjoyable and have more to say than this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Allegory that Makes a Satisfying Novel
Review: Thankfully, The Man Who Was Thursday is not the typical allegorical novel. Most allegorical novels tend to be so confusing to me with the weaving themes constantly forcing me to either ignore the hidden truths in the hopes of finishing the book or ignore the general idea with in the hopes of discovering all the hidden meanings. But of course, if you ignore the general idea, you lose all sight of the book in the first place and set it down, and if you ignore all the hidden meanings, you miss the point of the book. Chesterton never gives you this struggle. Rather, the novel appears to be nothing but a novel at first, and any thinking you do is related directly to the characters themselves and the plot they're following. Only in the end is the allegory revealed, and the thinking you've already done about the characters feeds directly into it. Even if the book weren't allegorical, it would make a fine short novel. I constantly felt the tension, and the rising action continued to build almost from the start. I expected a climax almost every page, but the action continued, leaving me curious and wondering what was happening throughout, making me loath to put down the book. It is, simply, a short read, though tense, intriguing, humorous, and satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: "A Question of a Sub-title"
Review: One living in an age of pessimism writes a maddening but captivating tale of pessimism raining down, but small drops of hope intersperse, providing possible double meanings eventually only to languish. Chesterton as is pointed out in his work cited at the end, claims the book to be about the sub-title: "A Nightmare." Truly an epic book of complexity and twists and turns. Captivates though as it mixes Biblical imagery with political activism of the intensest nature. An Anarchist Council surrounds the plot, with increasing characters who fill the screen and cause the thoughtful to ponder, only to find each new introduced scene shifting the whole to a new level. Is this meant to inform or entertain? You be the judge, but this reviewer thinks both.
Rating: 
Summary: I am very ambivalent about this book.
Review: I don't know that I love this book or hate it. It is weird and confusing. I usually like weird books, but in this one I don't know. I usually don't mind books that are what somepeople call confusing since usually that means it requires thought. Read it if you like Kafka or Mervyn Peake or, perhaps on the less weird side, C.S. Lewis.
Rating:
Summary: It's an allegory.
Review: I agree with the reader who called this book a fascinating cheat, and I must disagree with the reader who said, "...is not a detective story; not an allegory; especially not a work of theology." It definitely IS a religious allegory, and it is a cheat. (By the way, despite its subtitle, it is NOT a "nightmare".) The abrupt bait-and-switch transition from political thriller to religious parable makes for some gaping plot holes. And the religious message is exquisitely worded, beautifully phrased, brilliantly developed, and COMPLETELY unsatisfactory. That's Chesterton for you. He is well, well worth reading, and there's nobody that compares to him for thoughtprovoking cleverness and brilliant wordsmithing, but his message always, always reverts back to a very annoying, smug, and poorly-thought-out Anglo-Catholic neo-medievalist neo-Platonism.
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