Saturday 30 August 2014

#275 The Secret Garden (1911)

Author: G.K. Chesterton
Title: The Secret Garden
Genre: Short Story
Year: 1911
Pages: 20
Origin: read on the iPhone
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

 
Until relatively recently, the Worm lived on a road named Chesterton Crescent. Other surrounding streets were named Carroll Road and Shakespeare Road, the reasoning here being of honouring writers (of no specific connection with the local area), and of the local city having run out of ideas for new street names.

No matter this, it remains a tribute to the writer G.K. Chesterton. A writer of which the Worm had little knowledge until deciding to read a piece of work in his honour. Not a long read, you understand, but rather a taster of his capability as a writer. Therefore, the rather useful app – Short Stories – came in handy by providing the Worm with The Secret Garden.

This short story is chiefly concerned with the character of Father Brown, a reoccurring person in a lot of Chesterton’s fiction. It is a murder mystery, displaying Chesterton’s ability in creating a well crafted story that did not fail to engage. Rather than discuss plot points, the Worm recommends the link below to be hurriedly clicked and the story consumed.

The Worm has decided on obtaining a few more reads of Chesterton’s hand. Not directly related to The Secret Garden, but more with Chesterton’s biography and great wealth of quotes. Many of these relate to religion and society, but the one that took the Worm’s fancy had a distinctly ordinary and humorous feel to it: ‘Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer’s day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented.’ The Worm has since moved from Chesterton’s tribute of a street, but he is glad to have a reflected glory of association with the once world famous writer.

Read it here