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The Man Who Was Thursday


Ancilla Domini

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Ancilla Domini

Have any of you read this book? I just finished reading it, and I thought it would be nice if we could have a discussion on what in the name of sanity this book means! :hehe:

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Ancilla Domini

Wasn't that the one about a guy who was Thursday instead of Friday?

​Oh my goodness yes! How did I not get that?!

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PhuturePriest

The question is, rather, why was he not Sunday, the Lord's day? He is rather named after the day of Christ's suffering in Gethsamane, clearly meaning he suffers from great emotional affliction and internal strife.

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I have a friend named Sunday. I used to see her about once a week, usually on a Saturday, so I saw Sunday on Saturday.

 

True business.

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Not The Philosopher

The Man Who Was Thursday is one of my favorite books.

I think one good way to see it is to look at it in terms of the problem of evil, and God's providence (read the last chapter carefully!).

On a more narrow level, it works as a good, "take that!" to all trendy philosophies that disparage reason and civilization.

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HopefulHeart

This is such a great book. When I read it last summer, I jotted down some initial impressions about the book's idea of anarchy and chaos:

For me, one of the overarching themes is the apparent disorder, yet ultimate harmony, that is intrinsic to the human condition and to the universe itself. The idea of anarchy reminded me of an activity I did in a physics lab last year, using a computer program that plotted dots on a grid according to a sort of algorithm. At first the dots seemed like a chaotic mass, but they eventually formed intricate patterns. This "chaos game" was supposed to show that order sometimes results from seeming chaos. Similarly, I think Chesterton is showing that apparent disorder (such as in the crazy plot twists) is actually ordered when we consider it from an eternal, divine perspective. From God's point of view, everything is order, even what appears to us as chaotic. 

I think the book shows that chaos in the universe becomes wondrously and divinely ordered when it is considered from the Christian perspective.

Edited by HopefulHeart
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Nihil Obstat

Ya'll are smart. I couldn't get past the first chapter. :sleep2: 

​The book is so short! :P Take three hours to yourself, get a snack, and just power through. It is very funny, and very clever.

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 I managed to read it a few years ago... the ending really tripped me out.  It became a real page turner for me as the days were revealed to me for who they really were…

Somebody competent should make a movie-- or is there a movie that I don't know about?

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Nihil Obstat

Sounds like it has been adapted as stage and radio plays, but never on screen. You are right, I think it could make an amazing movie.

Definitely cast Robert Downey Jr. as Sunday.

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Not The Philosopher

Sounds like it has been adapted as stage and radio plays, but never on screen. You are right, I think it could make an amazing movie.

Definitely cast Robert Downey Jr. as Sunday.

​Sunday is supposed to be rather hefty, though, no? It'd be an ideal role for Orson Welles if he were still alive; he even already did one of the radio plays.

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Nihil Obstat

​Sunday is supposed to be rather hefty, though, no? It'd be an ideal role for Orson Welles if he were still alive; he even already did one of the radio plays.

​True. Perhaps a convincing fat suit... I just feel like he has the right personality for that. :hehe:

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