The Queer Feet by G. K. Chesterton - another Father Brown detective story.

Here is another Father Brown tale called The Queer Feet that appears in The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton.
It is read by me, Greg Wagland for Magpie Audio.

[@dmonvisigoth1651]

Here I was looking for non-binary foot fetish erotica and I stumble upon this gem.

[@MsMtheory]

🤣

[@tottiemae2258]

"Mr. Lever, the proprietor, had disappeared in convulsions of propriety..." 😉😄

[@blackswan1900]

I would listen to anything as long as it is narrated by Greg Wagland!

[@jtbasener8740]

You really brought this one to life. I particularly like the various voices for the 12 Fishermen representing a group of upperclassmen whose social stature is derived from their apathy. Brilliantly done, my good man! Thank you so much once again.

[@tottiemae2258]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to my ears that there is a noticeable difference in the pace of your reading lately. My one complaint about the Sherlock Holmes stories was that the reading seemed fast and aggressively staccato. Whereas these are much slower and mellower. That is, no doubt, due to the difference in the personalities of Holmes and Fr. Brown which are at opposite ends of the spectrum.. Holmes attacks problems. Brown seems to quietly maneuver his way into solving a mystery. I get that. But these are definitely easier for me to follow and savor the beautiful language. Either way, the acting is always topnotch. And I didn't miss much with Holmes because I listened to them repeatedly. 😉

[@martavdz4972]

Wow, I had no idea a native speaker could perceive it like that. It might explain why I like Greg's Sherlock Holmes narrations so much. My native Czech has been described as "ringing staccato" 🙂

[@helenamcginty4920]

​​@@martavdz4972 I am from Lancashire in England and am working class. I found when, in my youth, I studied in the South that people couldnt keep up with the speed of my speech. As a teacher of English as a foreign language in my old age I initially struggled to slow my speech when teaching. I find the narration here to be a decent balance between the needs of native speakers and those for whom English is a 2nd or even 3rd language.

[@jasonlamour4787]

These stories unfold at a slower lope.

[@frugtaylor648]

Allow me to "break it down for ya'... 🙄 1).Greg Wagland's Sherlock Holmes narration = ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. 2).Greg Wagland's Father Brown narration =THE BEST EVER. Conclusion)-Greg Wagland= the BEST THERE IS! Plenty of other folk have recorded these stories, if your looking for something average to listen to, go checkout some other narrator. But for cryin' out loud, don't come into the kitchen and tell the master chef how to do his job...(ecspecially if your a frycook😁)

[@douglasladowski6342]

The quality of reading is just amazing. Your work is truly art. Thank you for making my week ..

[@TheNeilo-Audiosound]

Got to love Notifications for Greg’s Latest🙏🙏🙏 I’m all over it Greg and This is how to spend a late Sunday afternoon with some Dulcet Tones and another Superb upload. Thank you Sir as Always👍

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Have a great Sunday!

[@crownofcreationsmith1975]

Oh my gosh. Thank you for introducing me to this book. Definitely my favourite narrator!!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks COC Smith

[@Lander02]

I love father brown series .

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Me too Bint Muhammad!

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Hello. I am not sure if you are open to suggestions for future narrations. I hope I am not seeming presumptuous by making requests here. I however, would be very interested in hearing you tackle a Ray Bradbury story. I'm not sure how high the interest would be for such things, but there is the advantage of trying out a short story of his, and using that to gauge interest before doing (or not doing) a longer story of his. I believe with the age of his stories, that there might be some stories available in the public domain. I hope so at least. Thanks Greg.

[@sierraseven3680]

New Magpie Audios, huzzah!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Indeed!

[@satanlucifer6099]

Thanks for the new story, Uncle Greg!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

My pleasure, young Satan.

[@DreamscapesMusicCinema]

Fantastic presentation! Thank you so much for your awesome video 📹. Very well done! We love the current PBS Father Brown series here in North America. I hope all is well in Your world 🌎. Mark Bensette Aux Bois 🇨🇦.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thank you DreamScapes/Mark. All well! And all the best!

[@DreamscapesMusicCinema]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Absolutely my pleasure to watch your wonderful videos!

[@YvonneWilson312]

Another wonderful offering (perfect for a Sunday, haha!) - thank you so much Greg, these stories are such a delight!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks Yvonne. Glad you're enjoying them.

[@stevenverhaegen8729]

😂 I forgot the humour in the description of the social atmosphere...

[@kmericson15]

I love the Father Brown mysteries. Thank you for reading these!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

My pleasure, Katelyn. I'm enjoying them.

[@sandraelder1101]

But hadn’t Fr. Brown and Flambeau already met in The Blue Cross? And I thought he was arrested.

[@nicolawallace7255]

I would listen to you read the yellow pages 😂 can't wait to listen to the Queer feet 💜 when I'm listening to father brown stories I just see that wee guy who was in Happy Days as I'm sure he played him on TV 💜

[@thehangingparsiple5692]

Enjoyed this, thank you. You're so versatile with your voice, but then I might just be trying to butter you up.... Would you consider recording any Saki? His short stories as well as When William Came and Unbearable Bassington. Also the Brothers Kaminsky? ❤🙏

[@gabaleo2568]

Wonderful, thanks. ❤

[@superdragons111andwolfgame7]

I'm beginning to like father brown as much as sherlock

[@99thpercentile99]

BRAVO!

[@hild4937]

Thanks again Mr Wagland. Bravo

[@rjfpac]

Lovely Thank you, again.

[@TelenTerror]

I'm conflicted! I love the performance, I just wish I loved Father Brown better. So often the solution to the mystery is "oh they were secretly depressed/atheist and snapped because they didn't have the true comfort of the religion or church" which is definitely the product of a mind that can't imagine other people's beliefs having their own validity. GK Chesterton was wildly Catholic, after all. There's some incisive social commentary, especially in this one though, though. I remember reading this one and thinking about what I know: There's a rather good local restaurant that's only open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and I'm probably in there every few months. If I've having lunch to catch up with a friend and it's a Thursday, that's where we're going. So, Mr. Chesterton, you got me bang to rights there.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Your second paragraph doesn't really match my thoughts about the four stories I've just uploaded. The solutions to the mysteries are all derived from reason. Is Flambeau depressed? Don't think so. Is he an atheist? Don't think so. Is the 'villain' in the Hammer of God an atheist or depressed? Neither, arguably. As for Chesterton being a man who can't imagine other people's beliefs having their own validity... Perhaps that's an issue you have? Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism a decade after he wrote this, didn't he?

[@jtbasener8740]

Interesting thoughts. If you would like to find more depth or validity behind Chesterton's beliefs, I might suggest taking a read (or even a re-read) of some of Chesterton's non-fiction works. I read Orthodoxy and I cannot get enough of it. They are always a very deep read, though, so it takes a lot of thought to grasp his point through the layers of analogy. But they are humorous and, I find, rather insightful. Although I do not agree with him all the time (I am not Catholic, for instance) I always find a lot in his Orthadoxy that I can take away. Best wishes.

[@TelenTerror]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Oh, it doesn't show up every story, especially not the early ones--Although 'Secret Garden' has Valentin commit the murder to stop Brayne from donating a substantial chunk of change to religious causes. I commented on this video because it's the most recent and I've been chewing over the thought, not because I think Flambeau is depressed in this one. So maybe my argument should be: The mystery is solved by reason but the *motivation* commonly runs to some sort of pithy statement of the lack of good ol' religion. And I mean, Father Brown's a priest, of course he's going to see someone go bad and shake his head sadly over the lack of the right sort of religion. But when I can think of three (Incidentally, any story with Flambeau in it is pretty good--My favorite line was the one about the things Flambeau brought with him on a boating trip, among which was Father Brown, who was there in case Flambeau died.) I contend the stories might have started before Chesterton converted, but he was leaning towards that way well before before. Was it ten years before? Who knows? But the underlying ideology smacks of the sort of assumptions I see a certain kind of evangelicals make about What People Must Be Like Without Religion. F'rinstance, I had to look the exact title up because it's been a few years since I read Father Brown, but the Three Tools of Death is the one that bugged me. The summation about the victim, in particular. To quote: ------ "It is a cruel religion," said the priest, looking out of the window. "Why couldn't they let him weep a little, like his fathers before him? His plans stiffened, his views grew cold; behind that merry mask was the empty mind of the atheist" ---- I appreciate your response here, but I'm still gonna be conflicted on the substance of the stories. I've read them and, rightly or wrongly, spotted a thread of thought and assumption that sticks out to me and doesn't sit well to me. Good performance on your end, though. You do a good reading.

[@GatekeeperDatuck]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Yes, Chesterton converted to Catholicism late in life. By his own account in the book Orthodoxy, Chesterton grew up reading all of the atheists and agnostics. However, their, in Chesterton's opinion, varying and often contradictory attacks on the church caused him to reconsider Christianity. Additionally, Chesterton argues against various viewpoints of leading thinkers of his day in the book Heretics (which is a strong title that Chesterton explains in the introduction). He was able to understand a lot of viewpoints. He just came to strongly hold a Christian worldview. Concerning Father Brown stories, some of them are very Christian, but I cannot really remember any which match this description: "oh they were secretly depressed/atheist and snapped because they didn't have the true comfort of the religion or church". Father Brown usually deduces what has happened based on his understanding of human thinking and morality, generally in contrast with Sherlock Holmes' deductions based on observable evidence. For most of the stories, the fact that Father Brown is a priest does not affect the detective part of the story in a meaningful way. He could have been a hansom driver with a deep understanding of humans and still solved the cases. The main difference that being a priest makes is in Father Brown's handling of the criminals after they have been caught.

[@sandraelder1101]

Chesterton had also been, prior to his conversion, an atheist, a theist, and an Anglican. He had friends who held differing beliefs, so he was well aware of those perspectives. Naturally Fr. Brown is a fully convinced Catholic who believes there’s a spiritual wound that needs healing in every criminal and that no criminal is beyond redemption. That’s what makes him such a believable character. He’s always motivated by those convictions. As a Catholic myself, I like that he never makes excuses for the criminals but believes in mercy as well as justice.

[@rustyhguitar1]

Yesss!

[@teresawilson9530]

Well done! 😊

[@abarton1978]

Yay, here we go!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Indeed!

[@sus_r0]

nice

[@Lemma01]

An old friend, this one: GKC at his delicate best - and you did it proud. Thank you, as ever.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks Lemma01. Appreciated.

[@philmartin9615]

Thank you Greg! Great work 👍🙏

[@rezmetisll1163]

Cool!

[@andrewbeale6072]

'There is in the world a very aged rioter and demagogue who breaks into the most refined retreats with the dreadful information that all men are brothers, and wherever this leveller went on his pale horse it was Father Brown's trade to follow.'

[@teresawilson9530]

If only you could read the daily news to me! 😂

[@patriciaramsey5294]

Patty again. I listened to this again, and I 'get' it now. Very good story with excellent narration. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@bthomson]

A new favourite passtime. Each tale (so well read!) has great atmospherics and sweet little plots. The cleric walks through life fully aware and in awe.

[@rab7889]

I'm enjoying these stories immensely

[@veritas6335]

Chesterton's writing is so overwrought and convoluted that it is a real job to try to follow and finally just tiresome. It's extraordinary that they managed to ferret out some real detective stories for the television shows midst all the flowery verbosity. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Disagree. Not a word is wasted. Arguably the TV series strips out everything of importance.

[@veritas6335]

Hmm. Twenty minutes describing footsteps? That is called overwriting.

[@patriciaramsey5294]

I did not like this. I hope the next story has more action.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Me too!

[@tz6414]

Really do not like Chesterton writing. The words do not flow, very hard to listen to.

[@FormerMPSGT]

I don’t care for all the ‘catholic influences’ IE ‘Father’ Brown! I will unfollow!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Farewell!

[@TheNeilo-Audiosound]

Get over yourself🙈 It’s only an Audiobook for The Love of Mike🤷‍♂️

[@sierraseven3680]

Magpie Audio has lots of content with no religious influences. The Father Brown mysteries are just good stories - they're about a priest, so of course there's religious background. But if you feel that strongly about it, as Greg said, farewell!

[@annskinner8467]

So why listen to stories about a Catholic priest in the first place?

[@SDW90808]

You're not an airplane. No need to announce your departure! 😂😂😂

[@biacampbell676]

You’re indeed the best reader of the entire internet! Mr.Wagland you’re a true legend. Thank you so much Sir, I want you to know that you are really appreciate. Cheers 🙏