Bluffing Your Way Through Intrigue

Intrigue. Mystery. Parable.

All are somehow connected to G.K. Chesterton's book, The Man Who Was Thursday. Written over a century ago, it's been called everything from a psychological romance to a spy novel with traces of the parable.

To set up this scene for this blog post, we must know the following: The main character is Gabriel Syme, who finds himself witness to a meeting of anarchists involved in a conspiracy to assassinate two key political figures. But, Syme isn't just any man. He's at the meeting in an undercover capacity. In short, he's a police detective.

During the meeting, the leader of the anarchists -- a mysterious man by the name of Sunday -- refuses to reveal all the details of the assassination plan because he knows there's a spy in their midst. The meeting comes to an abrupt end. Syme leaves, but soon realizes that he is being shadowed by one of the anarchists, Professor de Worms. A chase through London ensues.

Finally, Syme decides to confront the Professor...

Before Syme could ask the first diplomatic question, the old anarchist had asked suddenly, without any sort of preparation--

"Are you a policeman?"

Whatever else Syme had expected, he had never expected anything so brutal and actual as this. Even his great presence of mind could only manage a reply with an air of rather blundering jocularity.

"A policeman?" he said, laughing vaguely. "Whatever made you think of a policeman in connection to me?"

"The process was simple enough," answered the Professor patiently. "I thought you looked like a policeman. I think so now."

"Did I take a policeman's hat by mistake out of the restaurant?" asked Syme, smiling wildly. "Have I by any chance got a number stuck on to me somewhere? Have my boots got that watchful look? Why must I be a policeman? Do, do let me be a postman."

The old Professor shook his head with a gravity that gave no hope, but Syme ran on with feverish irony.

Chesterton continues the conversation (which I am omitting). And with every word Syme says to refute the accusation, we feel a sense of approaching doom. Will Syme's true identity be found out by this anarchist? What is the Professor's purpose?

We pick up the conversation a few paragraphs later...

"Did you hear me ask a plain question, you paltering spy?" he shrieked in a high, crazy voice. "Are you, or are you not, a police detective?"

"No!" answered Syme, like a man standing on the hangman's drop.

"You swear it," said the old man, leaning across to him, his dead face becoming as it were loathsomely alive. "You swear it! ... Will there really be no mistake? You are an anarchist, you are a dynamiter! Above all, you are not in any sense a detective? You are not in the British police?"

He leant his angular elbow far across the table, and put up his large loose hand like a flap to his ear.

"I am not in the British police," said Syme with insane calm.

Professor de Worms fell back in his chair with a curious air of kindly collapse.

"That's a pity," he said, "because I am."

Taken from:
Chesterton, G.K. The Man Who Was Thursday (1908), p. 84-86.

How did I rate this book? 3 stars (kind of a strange book)

The Chatter of Lots of Characters

So, you've written twelve books in a popular series. You're entitled to have a little fun with your readers.

And that is exactly what happens in this final book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series.

This following excerpt is delightful. Especially after we've read every book in the series and we've come to know the characters as if they were good friends. The Swallows, Amazons, and D's are sailing (of course) with Captain Flint. As they stand on deck, looking through the spyglass, their distinct voices come through. (You almost don't need the narrator telling you who said what!)

There was a lot of chatter up there. People were taking turns with glasses and telescope. "Look here, it's my turn now. I spotted her first." That was Roger. "Only a motorboat, anyway." That was John. "She's going to pass us pretty close." That was Nancy. "You carry on, Nancy. We've the right of way. You've nothing to worry about. She'll pass under our stern." That was Captain Flint. "She's coming up a terrific lick." That was Roger. "Probably carrying dispatches." That was Titty. "Or taking a doctor to one of the lighthouses." That was Dorothea.

Taken from:
Ransome, Arthur. Great Northern? (1947), p. 16.

How did I rate this book? 4 stars

Showdown with a Cliffhanger

In his second book about the Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart gives us a wonderful cliffhanger about halfway through the book. It's a showdown between the secret agent, Milligan, and three of the evil Ten Men (named so due to the fact that they have ten ways of killing you.)

But this showdown isn't your straight-forward cowboy standoff. In many ways, it's a good old-fashioned spoof. The Ten Men aren't just thugs. They dress as elegant businessmen and use office supplies as their weapons of choice. And here they are up against our hero (the adult hero, anyways): Milligan.

"Another bold move!" came McCracken's voice as Milligan ducked behind a beam. There was an electrical hum the air from the Ten Men's watches. "But you'd still have done better to surrender. It is three against one, you know!"

"Not for long," Milligan growled, and he jumped out from behind the beam.

So began on the fiercest and strangest battles ever fought, a battle that involved all manner of business supplies, elegant clothing and accessories, and no shortage of trickery and taunts. It was a battle that would rage for hours, and which, when at last it came to an end, would leave the abandoned village entirely in ruins and only one man standing to survey the wreckage. It was also a battle that would leave the young members of the Mysterious Benedict Society in even greater danger than before -- for alas, the one man left standing wasn't Milligan.

Taken from:
Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (2008), p. 360.

How did I rate this book? 4 1/2 stars

A Taste for Candy and Licorice

Every word is important.

And Trenton Lee Stewart demonstrates this beautifully in his book about The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In this book, he tells the story of four orphans (or near-orphans) who have been recruited by Mr. Benedict to stop the infamous Mr. Curtain and his nefarious plot to take over the world. They are to attend Mr. Curtain's "Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened" as spies.

As the foursome -- Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance -- are being prepped by Mr. Benedict on the dangers of their mission, we get a seemingly innocent (albeit delightful) exchange on, of all topics... candy.

The children nodded uneasily. All this talk of danger and emergencies, without explanation, was beginning to wear on them.

"I'm sorry to put you ill at ease," Mr. Benedict said. "And I haven't much to say to comfort you. I can finally offer some answers to your questions, however. Who wishes to begin? Yes, Constance?"

To the great exasperation of the others, Constance demanded to know why they couldn't have candy for breakfast.

Mr. Benedict smiled. "A fine question. The short answer is that there is no candy presently in the house. Beyond that, the explanation involves a consideration of candy's excellent flavor but low nutritional value -- that is to say, why it makes a wonderful treat but a poor meal -- though I suspect you aren't interested in explanations but simply wished to express your frustration. Is that correct?"

"Maybe," Constance said with a shrug. But she seemed satisfied.

Fast forward to later in the story... The Society members are making headway on their mission at the school. Kate has returned from a night of espionage. But the Executives (i.e. Mr. Curtain's henchmen) are on to her. Their one problem: They don't have any concrete proof against Kate.

But then, just when the Mysterious Benedict Society think Kate is off the hook, the Executives approach her once more. This time, they are on to something that could mean big trouble for Kate:

"Jackson forgot to mention something else," Martina said. "He just so happened to spit out a piece of licorice last night in the same place he found that marble. But when he looked for it later, it was gone."

Reynie felt Kate stiffen next to him. They were in trouble.

"Funny thing about licorice," said Jackson. "It's just the sort of thing to get stuck in the bottom of your shoe without your realizing it."

"I get it, I get it," said Kate, squirming in her seat. "So now you want to see the bottoms of my shoes."

"If you'd be so kind," Martina said with a wicked grin. She'd noticed Kate squirming and was delighted to think she'd frightened her.

"Well, sorry about the dripping, but Reynie just spilled juice all over them," Kate said.
"Oh, yes, we saw that," Jackson said. He let out an amused rattle of laughter that sounded like a sheep in pain.

While Jackson was bleating at her expense, Kate pressed something sticky, gritty, and cold into Raynie's hand beneath the table. She hadn't been squirming from nervousness -- she's been twisting her legs up to get at the licorice. As she lifted her sodden shoes now for the Executives to inspect, Reynie reached across under the table and pressed the hunk of licorice into Sticky's hand. The further away from Kate the better, he thought. Sticky had the same idea, immediately passing the licorice on to Constance.

Constance, unfortunately, did not understand what it was.

In horror the boys watched her raise the slimy, dirty, half-chewed glob of candy above the tabletop to examine it. Reynie's eyes swiveled to the Executives, who, having been disappointed in Kate's shoes, were now asking her to show her empty hands, then checking for stickiness under the edge of the table. He looked back to Constance and saw the realization hit her, her eyes widening with alarm. And then, an instant before Martina glanced up to see it, Constance popped the licorice into her mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it.

Taken from:
Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007), pp. 94-95, 392-393.

How did I rate this book? 4 1/2 stars