The Club of Queer Trades

by G.K. Chesterton

Book Overview

Improbable plots, marvelously funny episodes, evocative descriptions of late Victorian London distinguish delightful tales focusing on a club devoted to completely original and unusual professions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486255344
• ISBN13: 9780486255347
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Unique Chestertonian Gem

There's not another book out there like The Club of Queer Trades. It's a short collection of mysteries, all of which center around people who have unique jobs. Each story is original and clever and funny, totally unlike other mysteries you may have read. I particularly enjoyed the way in which the stories play as a counterpoint to the Sherlock Holmes stories. The incomparable Basil Grant solves these cases with his own otherworldly wisdom. I couldn't escape the notion, either, that these stories weren't simply entertainments. There are brief moments of pure poetry where it seems that Chesterton is more concerned with writing a parable than with writing a mystery. Or, perhaps, he's just suggesting another sort of mystery. Anyway, this was a great read for so many reasons. It's a can't miss for Chesterton fans.

This is the Chesterton we all know and love

"The discovery of this strange society was a curiously refreshing thing; to realise that there were ten new trades in the world was like looking at the first ship or the first plough. It made a man feel what he should feel, that he was still in the childhood of the world. That I should have come at last upon so singular a body was, I may say without vanity, not altogether singular, for I have a mania for belonging to as many societies as possible: I may be said to collect clubs, and I have accumulated a vast and fantastic variety of specimens ever since, in my audacious youth, I collected the Athenaeum. At some future day, perhaps, I may tell tales of some of the other bodies to which I have belonged. I will recount the doing's of the Dead Man's Shoes Society (that superficially immoral, but darkly justifiable communion); I will explain the curious origin of the Cat and Christian, the name of which has been so shamefully misinterpreted; and the world shall know at last why the Institute of Typewriters coalesced with the Red Tulip League. Of the Ten Teacups, of course I dare not say a word." (p. 2) Reading a G. K. Chesterton book is the literary equivalent of staying at a homey English bed and breakfast in an adorably quaint little village at the end of a two-lane road fenced by hedge rows on either side. It gives you this warm, fuzzy feeling of stepping back a few generations to a simpler but no less entertaining time. In Chesterton's world the policemen are always stern, the sun is (almost) always setting, and gentlemen always have time for a philosophical tete-a-tete, even when there's a damsel waiting for rescue in the basement. (Or is there?) Which isn't to say that Chesterton viewed his society through rose-colored glasses; he didn't. He may well be the only author capable of being charming and acerbic simultaneously. But the point is in Chesterton's world, having fun always came first. It's a world where, to co-opt a phrase from Terry Pratchett, anything can happen and it usually does. And once it's done happening there's yet more amusement to be had by rereading the story and unraveling the first half of the story all over again. The Club of Queer Trades is open to any gentleman who can invent an entirely new job and make a steady living doing it. This, of course, opens up marvelous vistas for stories, if the author's imagination is fertile enough. And this is G. K. Chesterton that we're talking about, so questioning the author's qualifications falls mere inches short of blasphemy. Consider tale number three, "The Awful Reason of the Vicar's Visit". Narrator Swineburne is about to leave for a dinner party when a disheveled vicar appears on his doorstep, begging for help. He has just escaped after being abducted by a band of ruffians disguised as old ladies, who where marching him off to take part in some unknown heinous crime. The poor clergyman escaped only by feigning drunkenness to attract the attention of a policem

Victorian, Singularly Chestertonian, Whimsical Characters

This early work (1905) by G. K. Chesterton defies classification. These six successive stories initially appear to be mysteries, possibly whimsical mysteries, except that the apparent crimes and misdeeds may not be criminal upon closer inspection. The highly eccentric, zany characters add a frenzied element that baffles any effort at a calm and reasoned deduction. We not only wonder who committed a crime, but we are unsure of the crime itself. The motivation for the misdeeds is as murky as the crime.We have all encountered tales of eccentric Victorian English clubs. The Club of Queer Trades is a secretive and selective gathering of individuals that have each created an exceedingly original profession. Each one must practice and earn a satisfactory living from his unique profession. Most are preposterous undertakings.The Club of Queer Trades was not well-received by some literary critics. Nonetheless, I would be rather surprised if the fans of G. K. Chesterton's better known works like the Father Brown mysteries, The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond, and The Napoleon of Notting Hill do not find this curious collection to be superbly enjoyable. This Dover edition is substantially enhanced by the addition of 32 rare, full-page, humorous drawings by G. K. Chesterton himself.

A Nice Diversion for Fans of Sherlock Holmes

'The Club of Queer Trades' is a very clever collection of stories all dealing with an exclusive club. Anyone can join the club...that is, if you can invent a completely new and different form of employment...oh, and be able to sustain a living by it also. This is a very entertaining book that will be a nice diversion for mystery fans, especially those who enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories.

A clever droll piece

These are six, separate, stand-alone little mysteries that together contain a larger book-length plot. The book is full of cunning though largely innocent deception, and each story backflips into a droll surprise ending. The characters -- the practioners of queer, and quaint, trades -- are likewise other than they seem. For all the philosphical and theological depth of Chesterton, these stories are light and deft and thoroughly entertaining. This is a small book expertly turned and burnished -- an exquisite Victorian miniature.