The Man Who Was Thursday: that title alone makes you want to grab the book. Since its publication in 1908, the book has gone through a series of covers, each better than the next:
How we Begin:
The book begins with a poem called the ‘Nightmare’ which seems to suggest that it’s all just a horrid old dream. The first chapter presents a psychedelic imagery of red brick houses, red sunset and a red haired man, i.e. the Saffron Park. Very dream-like indeed, till two poets begin to debate on whether Order or Chaos is the true spirit of poetry. I kid you not — one of these poets is an underclothes policeman name Gabriel Syme and the other poet is an anarchist named Gregory.
It seems that the Anarchists in the early 1900s regularly shot people and Presidents and caused ‘reigns of terror’ (read for yourself). In that sense, every secessionist movement and every terrorist outfit is essentially a manifestation of anarchism?
Anyway, to cut a long story short: the debate gets really heated. Our genius and poetic hero, Syme, finally outwits Gregory into exposing some unsavory secrets. Using those secrets, he then manages to infiltrate a band of anarchists called the Council. Each member of this Council is named after a day of the week (here lies a hint), and Syme gets appointed as “Thursday”. Syme’s real goal is to flout the plans of the Council, save the world, and expose the notorious head of the gang, the man everybody calls “Bloody Sunday”. Will Syme succeed?
Stop here, if you don’t want me to ruin the book for you with my spoilers.
