Chesterton, G. K.

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THE book for the emergent world
Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy - Still Relevant Today
Awesome book!
His best work

Orthodoxy
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Waking Lion Press
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If G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

This book is meant to be a companion to "Heretics," and to put the positive side in addition to the negative. Many critics complained of the book because it merely criticised current philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy. This book is an attempt to answer the challenge. It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it. The book is therefore arranged upon the positive principle of a riddle and its answer. It deals first with all the writer’s own solitary and sincere speculations and then with all the startling style in which they were all suddenly satisfied by the Christian Theology. The writer regards it as amounting to a convincing creed. But if it is not that it is at least a repeated and surprising coincidence. Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.

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This book is meant to be a companion to "Heretics," and to put the positive side in addition to the negative. Many critics complained of the book called "Heretics" because it merely criticised current philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy. This book is an attempt to answer the challenge. It is unavoidably affirmative and therefore unavoidably autobiographical. The writer has been driven back upon somewhat the same difficulty as that which beset Newman in writing his Apologia; he has been forced to be egotistical only in order to be sincere. While everything else may be different the motive in both cases is the same. It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it. The book is therefore arranged upon the positive principle of a riddle and its answer. It deals first with all the writer's own solitary and sincere speculations and then with all the startling style in which they were all suddenly satisfied by the Christian Theology. The writer regards it as amounting to a convincing creed. But if it is not that it is at least a repeated and surprising coincidence. --G. K. Chesterton.

Customer Reviews:

THE book for the emergent world.......2007-06-22

The metaphor of the man setting sail from England only to be blown about at see and rediscover England - with all of the joy of discovering a new land, and all the comfort of returning home...simply brilliant.

This book is packed with rich, witty, ballsy content that makes me proud and happy to be a follower of Christ.

Orthodoxy.......2007-06-02

Chesterton was regarded as being a genius at seeing the obvious. Here again, I am in awe of his talent for presenting a sequence of proof, with clarity and sense, which was hiding in plain sight. His writing may be old fashioned by today's standards; but then, so is having standards in the first place. He writes precisely and with true emotion. Reading this book is an improving experience on every level; especially those levels that count.

Orthodoxy - Still Relevant Today.......2007-03-20

"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."

Awesome book!.......2007-01-10

I read this book for my honors class as an alternative option for those of us who had already read Mere Christianity. Chesterton is an entertaining as well as insightful reader. I don't agree with all of his ideas but his examples for how he reached his conclusions are fun and fairly logical from his point of view. I strongly reccomend this book to anyone exploring the ideas of Christianity from within a Christian background.

His best work.......2007-01-04

Although Chesterton humbly passes this book off as merely an answer to questions posed to him during his life, it is an incredible read. I have read some parts of it numerous times and the whole book more than once. This is one of those gems that you will read with a pen in hand, scribbling in notes and underlines like you were back in college again.

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Everlasting Man and the Question of Men's Ability to Think and Use Free Will
Wrapped in plastic--for your protection!
A Brilliant View of Humanity and History
wonderful read
An Everlasting Case

The Everlasting Man
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Regent College Publishing
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What, if anything, is it that makes the human uniquely human? This, in part, is the question that G.K. Chesterton starts with in this classic exploration of human history. Responding to the evolutionary materialism of his contemporary (and antagonist) H.G. Wells, Chesterton in this work affirms human uniqueness and the unique message of the Christian faith. Writing in a time when social Darwinism was rampant, Chesterton instead argued that the idea that society has been steadily progressing from a state of primitivism and barbarity towards civilization is simply and flatly inaccurate. "Barbarism and civilization were not successive stages in the progress of the world," he affirms, with arguments drawn from the histories of both Egypt and Babylon.

As always with Chesterton, there is in this analysis something (as he said of Blake) "very plain and emphatic." He sees in Christianity a rare blending of philosophy and mythology, or reason and story, which satisfies both the mind and the heart. On both levels it rings true. As he puts it, "in answer to the historical query of why it was accepted, and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock; because it is like life." Here, as so often in Chesterton, we sense a lived, awakened faith. All that he writes derives from a keen intellect guided by the heart's own knowledge. --Doug Thorpe

Book Description

"I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense..." -C.S. Lewis in Surprised by Joy "G. K. Chesterton routinely ignites more ideas per page than any Christian author of the twentieth century, with the possible exception of C. S. Lewis. Chesterton sometimes overstates, often maddens, and invariably provokes a new and better way of seeing things." - John G. Stackhouse, Jr. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English journalist and author, perhaps best known today for his Father Brown mystery novels and his sense of humour, which has helped make him one of the most quoted twentieth-century writers.

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Men are moved in these things by something far higher and holier than policy; by hatred. When men hung on in the darkest days of the Great War, suffering either in their bodies or in their souls for those they loved, they were long past caring about details of diplomatic objects as motives for their refusal to surrender. Of myself and those I knew best I can answer for the vision that made surrender impossible. It was the vision of the German Emperor's face as he rode into Paris.

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Everlasting Man and the Question of Men's Ability to Think and Use Free Will.......2007-04-22

G.K. Chesteron's book EVERLASTING MAN is an attempt to demonstrate that the Catholic Church, Western Civilization, and Christianity provided many of the answers to historical problems. Chesterton also condemned the attempt of some Westerners whose fads and attempt at something new worked to undermine Western Civilization and the philosophical concept of free. Readers would do well to carefully read this book whether they are Catholic or not.

Chesterton refutes the notion that somehow the Catholic Church has attempted to stifle thought. For example, the pre-historic caves in Lescaux, France were first discovered by a Catholic priest. If the Catholic authorities were engaged in preventing knowledge, they would have kept this discovery secret, and they would have silenced the priest who made this discovery.

Chesteron was clear that ideas, passions, beliefs, etc. are as much realities as physical reality. In age of industrialism, mechanization of thought and culture, etc., Chesteron's comments require careful attention. The one early example Chesterton uses is the Second Punic War (218-202 BC). The Carthaginian commander, Hannibal (247-183 BC)and his men were phenominally successful when they invaded Rome. Hannibal's wealthy supporters were too impressed. These men thought that because Hannibal's men were so successful and the financial supporters spent so much, the Carthaginian financiers figured the Romans were defeated without further ado. Hannibal knew better. What the Carthaginian plutocrats did not realize was the fact that the Romans did not consider themselves defeated. The Carthaginians figured that with all the money spent and Hannibal's success, the war was over. Here Chesterton makes his case. The Carthaginians did not consider just how much Romans hated them. Chesterton correctly asscribes Roman victory to intangibles such determination to expel an alien civilization, serious concern for family and home, proud loyalty, etc. The Carthaginians thought apparent victory and wealth had won the day, and they did not consider that ideas and emotions were realities that eventually led to their defeat. In other words, the Carthaginians did not take into account what could not be tabulated on a balance sheet. As an aside, the Romans hated the Carthaginians' cruel rite of child sacrifice. The Carthaginians also underestimated the skill of the Roman commanders espeically that of Scipio Africanus (237-183 BC).

Chesteron directs readers's attention of the rise of the Catholic Church and the fevor of the monks and religious to enthusiastically embrace the Faith and exert missionary efforts to spread the Faith. This was an important phenomenon. Modern "Experts" might consider the Dark Ages as one of pessimism where men just surrendered to fate and circumstances. Surprisingly, the Catholic Church not only saved Western Civilization but enhanced. It was the Catholic Church who preserved and expanded learning. It was the Catholic Church who gave men hope. Unlike some of the religious concepts of the East, men were not resign themselves to their status and suffer cruel fate. Unlike some of the ideas of Asia, Chesteron informs readers that Westerners were taught they had free will and could make decisions. This meant that ideas, thought, decisions (good or bad)were within the capacity of men. Men who accepted the Catholic Faith could make bad decisions, but the Faith gave men the hope and chance of restoration from evil decisions. In other words, Chesteron argues that the concept of Original Sin is not that men are depraved. It means that men can do better. Men are not all they can be.

Readers would be interest in Chesteron's contrasts of the Catholic Faith and religious concepts which emerged in Asia including the Orient. Chesteron does not condemn these religions as much as he contrasts Catholic thinking with other views and indicates the logical inconsistencies of some of the non-Catholic views.

Chesteron also showed his understanding of the debate between Realists and the Nominalists which took place in the Medieval universities. The Realists argued that ideas and concepts are universals and ultimate principles from which all thought must emerge. The Nominalists, one the other hand, argued there were no such universals, and basic a priori thinking was useless. To the Nominalists, concepts, ultimate ideas, etc. were merely words that men agreed upon. Chesteron warns his readers that such thinking is destructive and leads to useless skeptcisim and empty debate. One only has to read some of the Nominalists' arguements to see how inane they were.

Chesterton's EVERLASTING MAN is not an easy book to read. This reviewer found that this book requires time and careful attention. Yet, this book is well worth the effort. Readers are not only exposed to concise,thoughtful reading, they can also learn again to appreciate Western Civiliztion.

Wrapped in plastic--for your protection!.......2007-02-14

I don't think anyone, even the most enthusiastic disciple of Chesterton, can deny that this book dated badly.

Then again, the task it undertook--justifying all of human history from a Christian perspective--was colossal, and Chesterton himself admits the discrepancy between it and this fairly short, often comic tract. It serves best as a refutation of certain other standpoints, many of which are so silly no even remembers them today (from Malthus to H.G. Wells, Chesterton's truth has certainly outlived that of many of his "opponents"--and while we still revere Shaw as a dramatist, we hardly revere him as a social critic), and many of the arguments it uses are ingenious, considered on their own. But the work as a whole is flawed.

At the end of the Brothers Karamazov, in a heated court case, two criminal lawyers both accuse each other of weaving "romances" that, however appealing and sympathetic to human reason they may be, fail to confront the actual facts of the case--and I'm afraid that very often Chesterton veers from the territory of "good common sense" into outright romance. As evidence, there are few passages in Chesterton more brilliant, more evocative, more poetically stirring than his description of Rome at war with Carthage--and few passages with less connection to historical reality. The Carthaginians may or may not have practiced human sacrifice, but to portray them as a despotic, demoniacal power, Satan's headquarters in North Africa, is surely taking some liberty.

Finally, I think that Chesterton's aim may have been somewhat flawed to begin with. A well-grounded Christian belief by no means requires that creation has been ordered, in every particular, in a certain way throughout history, or that all historic events (which are after all contingent on human will) fit in with a certain heavenly plan. People love nothing more than to sketch such plans, but imaginary "plans" is all they are--and Chesterton's, in the end, stands beside those of Marx and others as mere hypothesis, with no end of defects. What Chesterton says is often very plausible, and could be right--but other, conflicting accounts ring equally true. His view of the relations between paganism and Christianity, the "west" and the "orient," civilization and barbarism, all deserve consideration; but they have no real authority. This leads his very clever apologetics somewhat astray, creating arguments that fail to resolve in the same organic way that they do in the much superior Orthodoxy. Chesterton's religious apologetics, merely as such, stand the test of time much better than his historical speculation.

But finally--why is this book always wrapped in plastic whenever I see it on the shelf? Are they afraid it will injure customers? It's the only book I ever see that gets this treatment.

A Brilliant View of Humanity and History.......2007-01-22

I do indeed believe that it may be impossible for G.K. Chesterton to disappoint his readers. In his clear, quick-witted brilliance, Chesterton reflects in this text on the utter brilliance of humanity and the Church with respect to the rest of the world. The text, while marked by the major philosophical conversations of the time, remains highly applicable to the world today.

His anthropological vision is centered on a polemic against (and dialogue with) biological / cultural evolutionism. While not refuting these claims, he does temper their arguments to a degree. With respect to biological evolution, he posits the fact that man stands starkly out against the background of every other creature. He does not refute the fact that an evolution of growing complexity has occurred the entire way to and including humanity. What he refutes is the notion that humanity is just an "ape." Indeed, he is profoundly with Teillhard de Chardin's conviction that the crossing of the threshold of reflection gives the world its soul, for humanity is able to reflect upon perceptions and the self and thus love and sub-create. Culturally, he reflects on the evolutionary understanding of despotism and democracy as well as nomadism and settled life and their interrelationships and development (/non-development).

His historic view is one which is wholly Christocentric, seeing the strivings of man in light of Christ. In many ways, Chesterton's reflections are oracular, for he sees the current trembling of Western Civilization far before the present day. Through the light of past mythological and philosophical musings of humanity, he outlines the foibles and follies which were ultimately answered in Christ. By means of this, he fulfills his desire to proclaim how Christianity is truly sane when viewed objectively (not with a hateful bias) from the outside as well as the inside. Additionally, he rails against those who would place Christ and the Church in the same categories as other religious/philosophical founders and their institutions.

Ultimately, Chesterton's fantastic text is a standing testimony to the brilliance of humanity, Christ, and the Church in light of the larger picture of the rest of history and the world. The text is astute and witty, receiving my highest lauds and recommendations!

wonderful read.......2007-01-10

This was a gift, but the recipient was thrilled with the book. Said it was one of the better christian books he has read. And he reads a lot.

An Everlasting Case.......2006-12-19

The case for Christianity is well given.

This apologetic assumes the reader has a familiarity with criticisms of Christianity. Some might find it helpful to read H.G. Wells' "Outline of History" first, as this is an indirect response to that work. Those looking for a textbook of sources will be disappointed because the "proofs" presented are those of common sense, reason and applied logic.

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"A Powerful Book"--says a non-Catholic
An example of just how wonderful humans can be
The Dumb Ox
Off the Target
The Dumb Ox

Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
G.K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Image
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Release Date: 1974-01-15

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It is known that when the great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton began his book on Saint Thomas Aquinas (who is, quite possibly, the most influential of all Christian theologians), "his research for the project consisted of a very casual perusal of a few books on his subject." To say that Chesterton was no authority is an understatement. To say further that he has written a masterpiece of elucidation may also be an understatement. Etienne Gilson, the chief scholar of Aquinas in the 20th century, said flatly "I consider it as being without possible comparison the best book ever written on St. Thomas. Nothing short of genius can account for such an achievement.... Chesterton was one of the deepest thinkers who ever existed; he was deep because he was right; and he could not help being right; but he could not either help being modest and charitable, so he left it to those who could understand him to know that he was right, and deep."

So how has he accomplished this feat? By simplifying, as his editor says, without oversimplifying. He turns his own lack of intimate knowledge to his advantage by concentrating on the core elements of Aquinas' thinking: his affirmation of the goodness of creation; his defense of common sense; and "the primacy of the doctrine of being." In this way he grasps--and helps us grasp--the importance of Aquinas for us today. As Raymond Dennehy has written, it's as if Chesterton is saying to us "the truths [Aquinas] was getting at--the basic principles of reality and reason--are in themselves really quite simple. Your basic intuitions were right all along." --Doug Thorpe

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A trade paperback edition of the classic portrait of Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest of Christian philosophers, by one of the greatest of modern religious writers.

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"A Powerful Book"--says a non-Catholic.......2007-05-24

I have no hesitation is saying that the "Dumb Ox" is one of the most powerful books I ever read. Chesterton's reasoning is relentless--dragging us back into the Middle Ages whether we want to go there or not!

Some parts are very humorous. Speaking of Luther, Chesterton says, "He destroyed Reason and substituted suggestion."

Chesterton's book is an essential read for educated people. When he called the Inquisition "a dubious experiment," however, I just couldn't go there (the Inquisition was a nightmare).

The non-Catholic who reads this book can expect to be put on the rack until he concedes something.

An example of just how wonderful humans can be.......2007-05-11

Around the Web you may encounter some lamentation that G. K. Chesterton is not as well known or well respected in colleges as he deserves to be. Indeed I came to find him long after doing my time in the classroom. The usual condemnation of this relative obscurity blames the aversion of academe for any author who is so avowedly Christian, and certainly there has been no more unapologetic Christian apologist than G. K. Chesterton. But I think there may be a yet worse reason. I think that much of the modern cadre of lightweight literary critics just does not have the skills that might allow them to comment with any erudition on one so erudite as Chesterton. It would be like third graders trying to describe quantum mechanics or a cave man trying to get a cab in New York. And he is too close on them in time. They cannot run back to the great literary critics of the past like Poe or well, Chesterton for help. It is so much easier to ignore him.

But this little book is all the worst, a literature department's horrific nightmare, a 20th century Christian intellectual writing with enormous admiration about a 13th century Christian monk who was the greatest genius of his age and who was engaged in among many other things a philosophical and theological analysis of, well of all people, Aristotle. For most professorial types reading this book would be like visiting a strange and terrible alien world where people actually believe in One True God, that morality is objective, humans have dignity, choice and preeminence, common sense is not uncommon, objects are made of substance and not vague impression conjured up in the mind, a place where the Universe is real, magnificent and dare I utter it - Good. Unbelievable! Horrifying! If such a place is just too far-far-away for you don't risk this trek. This is a small dangerous book by a huge man with a huge mind about a huge man with a huge mind.

If you have never read any Chesterton, I have the same pity for you as I have for someone who has never eaten Wagyu beef or scuba dived in Fiji. Reading Chesterton is truly one of the most enjoyable experiences available and it is much less expensively availed than Wagyu beef or Fiji. That said I do have one small qualm with this book. Chesterton the consummate Christian apologist spends far too much time apologizing for it's brevity and inadequacy. For me its only inadequacy is its brevity. And if you are totally unfamiliar with Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas and the vocabulary of classical philosophy don't start here. You will need some of the same basic education Chesterton presumed of his original audience.

The Dumb Ox.......2007-04-20

G. K. Chesterton is a man that needs no introduction. He was one of the greatest Christian scholar/writer in the first half of the 20th century. His Orthodoxy did a great deal in converting C. S. Lewis (if you read Chesterton, he sounds like Lewis, or rather, visa versa). Chesterton produces chiastic phrasing and little quips that inspire and educate. He was a Roman Catholic, but very educated in the ways of Protestants (though some of his criticisms of Protestantism are invalid seventy years later).
This book is not an introduction to St. Thomas for the student, it is not a biography for the historian, nor is it an examination of Thomistic philosophy. Instead, it is a combination of all three, but never resting too long in one camp or the other. His first chapter Chesterton (who, interestingly enough, was also a scholar of St. Francis) does something that only his mind could do. He draws distinct parallels between two monks who never met and seemingly have nothing in common, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Thomas Aquinas. One was a thinker who wrote books, the other a doer who loved poetry. The comparison of the two is Chesterton at his best, and can hardly be done justice here.
Chesterton's simple goal is to get people interested in Aquinas "so that they can go read about him in better books." Which, is a very odd statement, considering that his short book is widely regarded as the greatest book on Aquinas.
Aquinas is a little studied and less understood (especially by Protestants). This is a shame considering that his mind is quite possibly the greatest in Church history. Chesterton says in this short book what most scholars would have taken a book more than twice the length to say, and he says it without putting his audience to sleep. He doesn't spend too much time putting Aquinas in historical context, only a few pages, but these pages are some of the most enlightening pages I have read dealing with the world in the time of St. Thomas.
Chesterton is a masterful storyteller (his mystery novels are well known). The stories he chooses to tell are very well chosen. The story of St. Thomas visting St. Louis, king of Paris, is (like a good sermon illustration) humorous, and very telling. I think that clearing up things that are sometimes misunderstood and over generalized was a very wise task to set out to do in such a short work. For instance, "the dumb ox" was what St. Thomas' fellow monks called him, not specifically because they thought he was of a lower intelligence (though, it may have been implied), but because he was so quite. Furthermore, while it is true that St. Thomas was rather large, it is an exaggeration that his fellow monks had to cut a piece of the table out in order to for his to sit. Oddly enough, this was one of the few "facts" I knew about St. Thomas before I took any interest in studying him. Finally, Chesterton's articulation of St. Thomas as a "runaway Abbot" is very enlightening. Just like St. Francis, St. Thomas always choose to be away from the spotlight.
I cannot help to think that the 350 plus pound Catholic in the 1920's saw something of himself in the fat Italian monk. For when he is defending or articulating St. Thomas' view, it feels as if he is defending his own. It is as if he is saying, "No, no you have me, I mean St. Thomas, all wrong."
I believe that you are aware by now of how much I loved this book. It was both inspiring and very enjoyable to read. This has cleared up confusion in my mind about St. Thomas, but the greatest thing it did, was to inspire me to study him further.

Off the Target.......2007-03-20

I saw very little on St Aquinas and a lot of blustery,hard to follow drivel.

The Dumb Ox.......2007-01-19

I found this to be a very informative and entertaining examination of the life and thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas. This man was a saint, a philosopher, a theologian, a Dominican priest,and an eccentric. Chesterton tells the story of this man with evident admiration and devotion. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to explore the life of Saint Thomas without reading a heavy theological work.

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: Heretics, Orthodoxy, the Blatchford Controversies (Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton)

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Chesterton's most famous work, and some oft-forgotten gems

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: Heretics, Orthodoxy, the Blatchford Controversies (Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton)
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
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Chesterton's most famous work, and some oft-forgotten gems.......2002-04-01

This volume, the first in Ignatius Press's _Collected Works_ of Chesterton series, contains what is probably G. K. Chesterton's most famous work, _Orthodoxy_.

What many people do not know is that Orthodoxy was written only at the end of a long debate in the British press. Chesterton had been making a name for himself in English journalism for attacking the Spirit of the Age in turn-of-the-century England; his critics (rather justly) claimed that it was unfair for Chesterton to attack others' beliefs without stating what he himself believed. _Orthodoxy_ was the result.

This volume allows the reader to trace the story from the beginning, in the so-called "Blatchford Controversies", through the critique of Chesterton's contemporaries in _Heretics_ to its culmination in _Orthodoxy_. _Orthodoxy_ is definitely the star of the volume, but there are treasures to be found in the other works as well. Knowing something about the figures mentioned in _Heretics_ does help, but is not strictly necessary, as their heresies are alas still with us.

In my opinion, this volume is the perfect entre into Chesterton's thought, and would make a valuable edition for anyone concerned about clear thinking in regards to life, the universe, and everything.

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume 2 : The Everlasting Man, St. Francis of Assisi, St Thomas Aquinas
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First Rate Apologetics

powerful and passionate apologetics

Chesterton's most important works

Three brilliant books

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume 2 : The Everlasting Man, St. Francis of Assisi, St Thomas Aquinas
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0898701171

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First Rate Apologetics.......2007-05-25

Chesterton is one of those rare intellects who says things which actually change your perception of the world and alters the way you think. The Everlasting Man is a great book in so many ways. First, as in all books in this volume, TEM is great apologetics. Chesterton challenges arguments in favor of evolution and atheism. He is a tremendously gifted arguer. He has the ability to control an argument, direct where it's going, and reserve his judgment and wisdom until the very last sentence in such a way whereas the reader is more or less at his mercy. Many times, Chesterton was so convincing playing the devil's advocate (when he was giving the opponents arguments), I found myself acknowledging how legitimate some of the evolution's or atheist's points were...until Chesterton demolished all the psuedo-argument he had presented as their opinions as misguided argument or unsound thinking.

The book on Thomas Acquinas is invaluable as well. While only the surface of some of Acquinas' arguments are covered, the ones which are covered are the most powerful and relevant. Also, this serves as a simple, yet very thorough, biography of Acquinas' life.

Chesterton is a deep thinker, but he is also very practical and common sensical. No one can ever accuse him of bringing up irrelevant points or creating unclear argument. He says everything he means to say, nothing more or less.

If you are interested in apologetics and in reading a book which has influenced C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and not to mention countless other thinkers and writers, you should buy this book. And it's a great deal too.

powerful and passionate apologetics.......2003-01-14

If you're a Catholic Christian and want to appreciate your faith more, these books will serve you well. If you're not Catholic or Christian and wish to encounter the most persuasive apologetics, this is an excellent place to start.

Chesterton is a wonderful writer. A poet by nature, Chesterton focuses on the material and concrete in ways that seems both paradoxical and wondrous. In "Saint Francis of Assisi," Chesterton takes the most popular saint, and presents all those details that really make us modern secularists most uncomfortable with him. In another book here, he links St. Thomas Aquinas to Francis, showing that, despite their vast differences in temperament, they both strove to save and present the goodness of creation and nature and to rebuke (in word or action) those who would hold the bodily in disdain.

In a sense, the biographies here are more than biographies. They're filled with diversions, and those diversions all point in the direction of the remaining book, "The Everlasting Man," which is presented between the other two. The central point here is that the Incarnation is the central event of human history; it allows us to joyously celebrate the good of creation and nature, as God has blessed matter with His very being.

Also, Chesterton is a real pleasure to read, as this passage shows: "One of my first journalistic adventures, or misadventures, concerned a comment on Grant Allen, who had written a book about the Evolution of the Idea of God. I happened to remark that it would be much more interesting if God wrote a book about the evolution of the idea of Grant Allen."

His wit shines in the conclusion of this anecdote. To his bemusement, his editor castigates *him* for being blasphemous. "In that hour I learned many things, including the fact that there is something purely acoustic in much of that agnostic sort of reverence. The editor had not seen the point, because in the title of the book the long word came at the beginning and the short word at the end; whereas in my comments the short word came at the beginning and gave him a sort of shock. I have noticed that if you put a word like God into the same sentence with a word like dog, these abrupt and angular words affect people like pistol-shots. Whether you say that God made the dog or the dog made God does not seem to matter; that is only one of the sterile disputations of the too subtle theologians. But so long as you begin with a long word like evolution the rest will roll harmlessly past; very probably the editor had not read the whole of the title, for it is rather a long title and he was rather a busy man."

Chesterton's most important works.......2002-04-01

This volume contains the most important works of G. K. Chesterton, his study of St. Francis, his study of St. Thomas Aquinas, and _The Everlasting Man_.

I have chosen the word "study" rather than biography deliberately. Readers looking to find a strict chronological account of St. Francis or St. Thomas according to the modern or postmodern canons of historiography should look elsewhere. What Chesterton does is get you at the heart of these two saints. He tells you what they were all about. He is somehow able to convey to his readers the very air that these saints breathed.

And then there is _The Everlasting Man_. While it is hard to characterize, this is Chesterton's best work. Period. Written as an answer to H. G. Wells's _Outline of History_, Chesterton gets at what is most important in human history: the fact that God became Man in Jesus Christ. It really is an incredible book.

Chesterton had an amazing knack to cut to the heart of the matter. If you want to see what St. Francis or St. Thomas were all about, or to appreciate more the Lord who inspired these saints, I would highly recommend this book.

Three brilliant books.......2001-10-19

Ignatius Press has done the world a great favor by releasing their "Collected Works of Chesterton" series. If you can only afford three volumes, get # 1, 2, and 6. If you can only afford one volume, it should be # 2.

Chesterton's book on St Francis is wonderful. Unlike most modern books, it places Francis squarely in Christianity. (Many contemporary books on Francis portray him as a 13th-century hippie, which would have astounded the devout friar!)

The book on Thomas Aquinas is simply the best biography of him ever, and many noted Thomists have agreed with this sentiment.

But "The Everlasting Man" is the true pinnacle of Chesterton's amazing output. In one book he puts "comparative religion" into a new and brilliant perspective. C.S. Lewis listed "Everlasting Man" as one of the reasons he became a Christian, and it really will floor you.

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I originally called this book What is Wrong, and it would have satisfied your sardonic temper to note the number of social misunderstandings that arose from the use of the title. Many a mild lady visitor opened her eyes when I remarked casually, I have been doing 'What is Wrong' all this morning. And one minister of religion moved quite sharply in his chair when I told him (as he understood it) that I had to run upstairs and do what was wrong, but should be down again in a minute.

Customer Reviews:

Great Edition.......2007-04-29

This is a wonderful edition of What's Wrong With the World. If you have read much of Chesterton's social commentary or essay work, you know that he makes many allusions to people, places, and ideas that were common to him in the early part of the 20th Century. Ignatius Press did a great job footnoting many of these references, which makes this amazing work of Chesterton's much more accessible to the common man, whom he loved so much.

'We shall certainly make fools of ourselves; that is what is meant by philosophy.'.......2006-01-09

'The only way to discuss the social evil is to get at once to the social ideal. We can all see the national madness; but what is national sanity? I have called this book "What Is Wrong with the World?" and the upshot of the title can be easily and clearly stated. What is wrong is that we do not ask what is right."
- from "The Medical Mistake", herein (Chesterton's chapter on the perils of trying to overextend biological metaphors in analyzing societies - not that he doesn't do it himself later)

Having bought this book, one of Chesterton's non-fictional works on what might be called philosophy (he himself refers to "modern social inquiry") some years ago, I had not read it properly until just recently, because every time I attempted to tackle it, I made the error of dipping into one of the sections detailing Chesterton's opinions on women's rights, then setting the book aside in frustrated annoyance.

Nevertheless, I have to recommend the book, though not offering any blanket endorsement of Chesterton's opinions as expressed in it. You may well ask why; I will show you rather than tell you.

'I originally called this book "What is Wrong," and it would have satisfied your sardonic temper to note the number of misunderstandings that arose from the use of the title. Many a mild lady visitor opened her eyes when I remarked casually, "I have been doing 'What is Wrong' all this morning." And one minister of religion moved quite sharply in his chair when I told him (as he understood it) that I had to run upstairs and do what was wrong, but should be down again in a minute. Exactly of what occult vice they silently accused me I cannot conjecture, but I know of what I accuse myself; and that is, of having written a very shapeless and inadequate book, and one quite unworthy to be dedicated to you. As far as literature goes, this book is what is wrong, and no mistake."
- from the author's dedication

However wrong-headed I consider some of Chesterton's opinions, how can I help but be disarmed by someone with a sense of humour like that, who can write like that?

More - even where I disagree with him, his arguments are worth reading, though I would not draw the same inferences he does, and itch to counter-argue where I think his initial assumptions have led him astray (not least by digging into some of my better books about what the Victorian era was *really* like underneath the gilded mythology that has grown up around it, both that current at the time and that in force now). Chesterton as a whole isn't simple to classify; someone who agrees with him on one subject may disagree on another, and he may start from a premise the reader disagrees with, follow it up with a logical fallacy or improperly drawn analogy, then jump into a pretty penetrating analysis (and the reverse situation also occurs, in which a weak analysis follows stronger groundwork). This man bears very careful reading.

To take one example, "The old hypocrite...was a man whose aims were really worldly and practical, while he pretended that they were religious. The new hypocrite is one whose aims are really religious, while he pretends that they are worldly and practical." Chesterton was a staunch Creationist, and could make rather disparaging remarks about science, while at the same time favouring open vigorous controversy and logical argument.

To place the book somewhat in context, when it was first published in June of 1910, Queen Victoria had died only nine years before, her son was in the last year of his reign, and women could attend university at Oxford and Cambridge but were not permitted to take degrees. This edition is annotated with footnotes for now-historical references that were current at the time of the book's original publication, mostly in the matter of the names of individual people and political parties; however, many of the footnotes are so terse that they only provide enough information for the reader to look up the information elsewhere (e.g. by providing someone's full name and birth/death dates, identifying them as a writer, then leaving the reader to find out what the writer wrote *about*, why Chesterton brought him up). The terseness of the footnotes has some charm - the editors thus avoid projecting onto Chesterton anything but what can be very impartially annotated.

The book is divided into five main sections: "The Homelessness of Man", "Imperialism, or the Mistake About Man", "Feminism, or the Mistake About Woman", "Education: Or the Mistake About the Child", and "The Home of Man" (not counting the author's notes at the end of the book). The first, third, and fourth sections take up three-quarters of the text, but there is some crossover between them, particularly on education and relationships between the sexes. Each section is broken up into several (4 - 14) chapters, so a much wider variety of topics are covered than may at first be apparent, ranging from science fiction to chivalry (in several senses).

Worth reading, even if you only want to disagree with an opponent with a considerable mastery of language. It's hard going in places, which I down less to philosophical disagreements between reader and writer but to the fact that he's operating from a cultural context that's just similar enough to the present day for the dissonance to be particularly severe when it crops up.

Not the best place to start with Chesterton.......2004-03-15

Chesterton wrote a great deal of fiction and nonfiction, and his nonfiction covers all sorts of topics including religion, literature, biography, and-as here-the social, political, and philosophical issues facing England at the beginning of the twentieth century. As an American at the beginning of the twenty-first century, I did find some of the references dated, obscure, or irrelevant; but there is still plenty here that is worth reading and thinking about.

I would not recommend this as an introduction to Chesterton, as it has not aged as well as some of his other works. But the Chesterton afficionado should not hesitate. GKC's unique style, wit, and insight are in full force here.

Can It Get Any Worse?.......2003-11-30

One thing this book makes clear is that although the socio-political names change, the game remains the same. GK takes a hard look at what's wrong with England in 1910, and his diagnosis works just as well for America in 2003. GK rails against capitalism and socialism, for both philosophies are equally dehumanizing-capitalism excuses inhumanity as a cost of doing business; socialism seeks to redefine humanity by stripping away from us all that is human. Politicians, thinkers, and civic leaders on both ends of the spectrum flail away at social problems by attacking symptoms-poverty, homelessness, the role of women in society, disintegration of the family, unfruitful education-but consistently make the symptoms worse because they never see the underlying problem. What is the underlying problem? It is that our leaders no longer put the individual, which is human and therefore sacred, above the social organization, which is merely artificial and expendable. By dismissing the laws of God, we have nothing left but an anarchy of ideas. We have replaced one law of God with a thousand laws of social theory. GK shows how such an unfocused and confused approach has steadily worsened the plight of the poor, the family, the publicly educated man, etc., and predicts that Western social fabric will only unravel further, as long as we keep this up. Unfortunately for us, we have, and GK's predictions are correct.

A treasure from the past...........2003-03-15

These forty-nine essays first appeared in June of 1910 and though some of the subjects may seem a bit stodgy, the writing is still fresh and riveting and the insights are clear and powerful.

In fact, some of the moral issues are perhaps more vital today than they were in Chesterton's time. He seemed to foresee that the diminution of our moral standards would lead to the dehumanization of mankind, he foresaw woman's suffrage and the dangers of the burgeoning corporate oligarchy.

All of these essays are memorable, touched with Chesterton's often dazzling verbal legerdemain. In "The Insane Necessity," he writes, "...discipline means that in certain frightfully rapid circumstances, one can trust anybody so long as he is not everybody." There are so many memorable more, like "Oppression by Optimism," "The Unfinished Temple" and "Sincerity and the Gallows" that are each in their turn, breathtaking in both their focus and scope.

Amazon.com

In an article published the day before his death, G.K. Chesterton called The Man Who Was Thursday "a very melodramatic sort of moonshine." Set in a phantasmagoric London where policemen are poets and anarchists camouflage themselves as, well, anarchists, his 1907 novel offers up one highly colored enigma after another. If that weren't enough, the author also throws in an elephant chase and a hot-air-balloon pursuit in which the pursuers suffer from "the persistent refusal of the balloon to follow the roads, and the still more persistent refusal of the cabmen to follow the balloon."

But Chesterton is also concerned with more serious questions of honor and truth (and less serious ones, perhaps, of duels and dualism). Our hero is Gabriel Syme, a policeman who cannot reveal that his fellow poet Lucian Gregory is an anarchist. In Chesterton's agile, antic hands, Syme is the virtual embodiment of paradox: <blockquote> He came of a family of cranks, in which all the oldest people had all the newest notions. One of his uncles always walked about without a hat, and another had made an unsuccessful attempt to walk about with a hat and nothing else. His father cultivated art and self-realization; his mother went in for simplicity and hygiene. Hence the child, during his tenderer years, was wholly unacquainted with any drink between the extremes of absinthe and cocoa, of both of which he had a healthy dislike.... Being surrounded with every conceivable kind of revolt from infancy, Gabriel had to revolt into something, so he revolted into the only thing left--sanity. </blockquote> Elected undercover into the Central European Council of anarchists, Syme must avoid discovery and save the world from any bombings in the offing. As Thursday (each anarchist takes the name of a weekday--the only quotidian thing about this fantasia) does his best to undo his new colleagues, the masks multiply. The question then becomes: Do they reveal or conceal? And who, not to mention what, can be believed? As The Man Who Was Thursday proceeds, it becomes a hilarious numbers game with a more serious undertone--what happens if most members of the council actually turn out to be on the side of right? Chesterton's tour de force is a thriller that is best read slowly, so as to savor his highly anarchic take on anarchy. --Kerry Fried

Book Description

G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.

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Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled 'A nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. Drawing on contemporary fears of anarchist conspiracies and bomb outrages, The Man Who Was Thursday is firmly rooted in its time and place - turn-of-the-century London - but it also defies temporal boundaries. Police Detective Syme finds himself drawn into a world that seems to have gone beyond humanity when he is elected 'Thursday', one of the members of the Central European Council of seven monarchs. Dreamlike, prophetic, and frequently funny, the novel attacks contemporary pessimism and, through a bizarre series of pursuits and unmaskings, returns Syme - and us - to earth more aware of its beauty, promise, and creative potential.

Customer Reviews:

Timeless Entertainment.......2007-05-18

Chesterton sure knows how to write a thriller. Its turns are anything but predictable; its twists are also anything but nonsensical.

Despite Chesterton's intimation that it is simply a nightmare, I find it highly allegorical. Perhaps what's in a man's heart just comes out on the page, whether he intended it or not.

It's interesting that Chesterton picked anarchists as symbolic of the greatest evil of Satan. The book definitely lends itself to allegory, and it seems to have a very ambitious goal: to answer why there is evil in the world. The answer is also very interesting: good people suffer so that in the end when the accuser stands, righteousness will prevail not because it is untested, but exactly because it has been tested and purified. Sunday/Sabbath is a very interesting figure: simply by his presence he exposes everything. The greatest evil and anarchy is the deception that turns brothers against each other, and that evil is nothing MORE than a great deception. It's a very interesting concept, and plays throughout the book in the theme of the rash vows the Days promised to various others--and specifically, Thursday's promise to Gregory.

The book is to be savored like a fine wine: with good food and slowly. You definitely need a few nights to absorb it, and, plan on a rereading. Personally, I loved it. I'm kind of sad *that* dream is over!

A Modern Masterpiece.......2007-04-18

Chesterton, the master of paradox, hits his stride in this dream of paranoia. For those of you who like your thrillers to pack their punches in terms of caliber, pints of blood shed, or body-count, you can all sod off. This is a thriller for the mind and the soul -- its aim is to save you from yourselves.

If you want your English simple, straighforward, fed to you in easy subject-verb-object format, leave as well. This is more post-modern than any of those douchebags you've been fed in your graduate classes at U.C. Santa Barbara.

If Chesterton is not the greatest modern author, then that is only because T.S. Eliot or Evelyn Waugh is slightly better.

The chief pity is that Americans -- most direly in need of this sort of instruction -- will not read this work.

Nihilistic buffoonery that opens the door to truth, understanding and redemption........2007-03-26

Because of our own doing, evil has been given a permanent place in our world, and G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, illustrates that fact perfectly.

At the very beginning of the novel, the daylight scene of the neighborhood changes by nightfall to a reality that is mind-bending and questionable, at best: "More especially this attractive unreality fell upon it about nightfall, when the extravagant roofs were dark against the afterglow and the whole insane village seemed as separate as a drifting cloud. " Page eight. As that evolution of perception can be placed upon an environment, again by our doing, how can that affect the perception of the people who are occupied within its confines? It does, yet it does so on a deeper plain. When is the presentation of goodness real goodness versus goodness out of obligation or duty? And can the person discern kindly obligation vis-a-vis authentic Christian goodness? Or are the two so firmly meshed together that they can not be extricated, for past events have indeed raised that question mark. It is a slippery slope, and one must always be on guard when goodness is used in order to obtain something compared to when something is offered freely without expectations or obligations, and we are speaking about the philosophical, and especially the theological here. Who can be trusted, and who can not be? Even though the act of proving oneself is cyclical, who is more credible, the one or the other, and what if the two are a part of the same circle and there is a divide, as say in religion? Who will predominate? Who is truer to God? And are facades used to mislead people? It has happened before.

What I enjoyed very much about The Man Who Was Thursday was that it raised an assortment of these types of questions upon my reading it, and they too were applicable in regards to faith and the Catholic Church, whose exposed duplicity (and I say that without spite) also raised a vast array of questions. As human beings are inherently fallible, religious or otherwise, it is faith (choose your denomination) that is the stabilizer for the unsteady human condition: "'You were,' said Syme seriously, and hung the heavy lantern over the front. There was a certain allegory of their whole position in the contrast between the modern automobile and its strange, ecclesiastical lamp." P. 137. The strange, ecclesiastical lamp was doubtlessly symbolic of the light of Christ, the light of God, who is Truth in times of duplicity and doubt, where people, the anarchists, who appear to be anything what they really are. And when you can not even trust those who are close to you, which happens quite frequently to the characters in The Man Who Was Thursday, via fumbling idiocy and gnawing black doubt, you can only trust the light and blood of Christ as the last vestage of hope, for that love is life changing, and pages 163 through 167 are vital to the minute comprehension of that unknown gloriousness, for Sunday, towards the latter end of the novel, for escape purposes, rises via the aid of a balloon in a bumbling form of resurrection that is humanly endearing, pleasing and desirious in its own right.

Another element that makes The Man Who Was Thursday so appealing is that it has such an in-your-face truth offering in respects to people of power and authority and those who abuse that authority that is anything but faith-oriented: "The only crime of the Government is that it governs. The unpardonable sin of the supreme power is that it is supreme. I do not curse you for being cruel. I do not curse you (though I might) for being kind. I curse you for being safe! You sit in your chairs of stone, and have never come down from them..." Page 180. For someone in any capacity of religious or poiltical authority, who abuse their power and overlook their fallibility, to be privy to an act of evil (you choose what evil) and yet stay stoned silent, that is where that Light needs to seep into. Let not pride or the haughty veneer of what one is or desires to be prevent that.

In order to accept faith, one must know fully what he or she is, and that is what makes the novel so uplifting and jolly; it is an optimistic novel, because it mocks the bleakness of nihilism. Chesterton even has the happy-go-lucky audacity of inserting himself in the novel, but he does so with the full knowledge of where he came from, and where, in the end of life, he is fortunately going towards. "Chesterton is so thrilled by his acrobatic stroll along the razor's edge of nihilism that he earns hus sunniness a new on every page."--xvi. It is because he was never alone. We do seem to forget that every now and then.

Mind-warping and mind-expanding!.......2007-03-22

The Man Who Was Thursday is a Christian allegory, but it is not a simple allegory of the Christian faith, ala The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This book is an allegory by a Christian thinker, for Christians. The Anarchists of this book are not the real-life bomb-throwers, but represent free will - the freedom to do evil. The policemen represent the Christian's desires to reign in the evil, and Sunday represents the Universe, the ultimate giver of good and evil.

Is this a great philosophical work, a key to understanding the ultimate nature of God? Well, you'll have to read that and decide for yourself. As for me, I found it to be a fascinating and at time unsettling work. It's easy to see why this book is considered a Christian classic, and its also easy to see why so many people read it and declare that they had no idea what it was about.

This is another one of those mind-warping book that is difficult to understand, but mind-expanding as you begin to grasp what the author is saying. I highly recommend this book!

Thursday's Child has far to go.......2007-01-30

The plot of this book is crafted with mechanical precision. Start to read and you've pulled the switch and it all gets rolling. Each word, sentence and paragraph accumulates into a picturesque ride moving initially at a cruising pace. Then the story continues to develop page-by-page gaining momentum and the reader at warp speed is drawn completely into Chesterton's improbable world. It is a not so subtle allegory of broadly drawn characters and events informed by what I interpret as the author's deeply held religious convictions. Here is planet Earth and the jolly, impish God overseeing every little thing of his creation. It's rough out there all right but hard work and great fortitude will see us mortals through. This is just what Thursday and the other bogus "anarchists" find through all their trials and lunacy. The Man Who was Thursday is not a great book (there are many people that think it is) but it is entertaining; clever through rather sophmoric. It occurred to me that the old Monty Python gang could have made it into a great movie that would have done justice to its zaniness. Maybe Tim Burton?

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A witty, insightful chronicle brimming with wisdom, experience, and more than a few life lessons learned the hard way.
The Restless Victorian
I cannot imagine that a better autobiography has ever been written
Chesterton lives what he writes

The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1586170716

Book Description

Here is a special two-in-one book that is both by G.K. Chesterton and about Chesterton. This volume offers an irresistible opportunity to see who this remarkable man really was. Chesterton was one of the most stimulating and well-loved writers of the 20th century. His 100 books, and hundreds of essays and columns on a great variety of themes have made G.K. Chesterton the most widely quoted writers of modern times.

Here is Chesterton in his own words, in a book he preferred not to write, but did so near the end of his life after much insistence by friends and admirers. Critic Sydney Dark wrote after Chesterton died that perhaps the happiest thing that happened in Gilbert Chesterton's extraordinarily happy life was that his autobiography was finished a few weeks before his death. It is a stimulating, exciting, tremendously interesting book. It is a draught - indeed, several draughts one after the other - of human and literary champagne."

Full of Chesterton's wonderful and unique writing, humor, inspiration and humility, with some 40 rare photos, this book will be greatly desired by Chesterton fans, as well as by anyone interested in learning who this colorful and brilliant person was.

Customer Reviews:

A witty, insightful chronicle brimming with wisdom, experience, and more than a few life lessons learned the hard way........2006-11-05

Completed only a few weeks prior to the close of the author's long, successful and happy life, The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton is the life story of one the modern era's most prolific authors, credited with approximately one hundred books on topics ranging from philosophy, theology, poetry, literature, fiction, and history. Written in an amiable, accessible first-person voice, and illustrated with some forty rare black-and-white photographs, The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton is a "must-have" for researchers and students of Chesterton's literary work, and highly recommended for college and public library collections. A witty, insightful chronicle brimming with wisdom, experience, and more than a few life lessons learned the hard way.

The Restless Victorian.......2006-07-25

Like many English majors upon graduation I was sick to death of Enlgish lit and sold my books off at the local used book store. As "classic rock" seems to be whichever moldy oldies a radio station wants to play, so "classic lit" is similarly a mixed bag of whatever gets shoved into the Norton Anthologies.

Much later I found out how politically motivated such anthologies are (especially the non-fiction ones) and as usual, the Oxford Press ones proved to be far better collections. But reading Chesterton's autobio, I realized how little I got out of my one Victorian lit class, and how much more there was to this era than Thomas Hardy and George Eliot.

Being more and more known as a Chesterton fan-atic and having garnered three pages of notes, bon mots and one-liners from this book, why do I give it four stars? Simply because I require Randall P. or some other competent commentator to provide far more copious footnotes of all things Victoriana. A great deal of history and literature (Victorian pop culture)is herein lightly touched on or briefly referred to by G.K.C. as if readers actually knew what he was talking about.

A friend listened to this book on tape and his take on it was that unlike Orthodoxy and other Chesterton works which continually dazzle the reader, this one is concerned more with enlightening them. Rather than quote the whole book, as one may be tempted to do, I'll confine myself to this reflection on World War One, which Chesterton calls the Great War since this book from 1936 falls before WW II:

"What would the Kaiser, with his mailed fist and his boasts of being Atilla and the leader of the Huns, even in time of peace, have been like if he had issued completely victorious out of a universal war?...What has come out of the War?(?) We have come out of the War, and come out alive; England and Europe have come out of the War, with all their sins on their heads, confused, corrupted, degraded, but not dead....The only defensible war is a war of defence. And a war of defence by its very definition and nature, is one from which a man comes back battered and bleeding and only boasting that he is not dead."

Chesterton has done this reader a great service of actually making him interested in the Victorian era, and rekindled something of that spark for reading that being an English major plodding through a Norton Anthology nearly inevitably kills. He's done something more than breathed life into an oft-dismissed and dusty age, in his lust for life he holds out the promise of breathing life even into our own.

I cannot imagine that a better autobiography has ever been written.......2006-04-09

Let me begin by saying that this is really not so much of an autobiography as the title Autobiography implies that it is. Chesterton, being a very humble man, chose not to talk about himself during good portions of this book. Of course, there is a lot of discussion of himself (otherwise it would not be an autobiography at all), but there is much that is simply about the world at his time and the thoughts that he has. It is almost more like Augustine's Confessions that a real autobiography (by this I mean an autobiography of his ideas rather than his actions).

In this outstanding book, Chesterton gives us his life story, starting with his childhood, leading into his slight involvement in occultism, then to his conversion (when he realized that all the things he thought he had discovered by thinking were what Christians had believed all along), and into his literary career and political activities. Along the way we get his views on materialism, determinism, naturalism, educations, science, Catholocism, evil, art, the common man, ethics, war, politics, truth, writing fiction, optimism and pessimism, nature, human rights, etc. You get the picture. Chesterton talks about just about everything that was a major issue when he wrote this (1936). He finished it right before he died and it was published posthumously. I personally liked it more than Orthodoxy, which I liked very much. This book is almost like an expanded version of Orthodoxy with some of Chesterton's life story mixed in. Definitely worth reading. It is probably one of my ten favorite books that I have ever read.

His discussion of optimism and pessimism near the end of the book was especially good. This was a major issue then, as modernism's Idea of Progress was clashing with the despair following the World War and the Great Depression. He ended up concluding that neither is the correct stance. He states that "The two sins against Hope are presumption and despair." He goes on to say that what we should really be doing is not presuming that things will go right, or despairing that they will go ill, but rather we should be appreciating what we have. Some things are perhaps hard to appreciate, but this book is not one of them.

Overall grade: A+

Chesterton lives what he writes.......2003-11-13

As always, Chesterton here weighs in with mountains of brilliant insights and poetic experiences. This is a very broad book, covering the whole range of Chesterton's interests, which spanned literature and politics and myth and orthodoxy, among other things. As I progressed from chapter to delightful chapter, I found myself chuckling now and scratching my head again and racing to jot down my thoughts at the end. Few authors I have read carry such a solid understanding of so many areas as Chesterton, and certainly even fewer present it as accurately and as beautifully as Chesterton.

But you can get a lot of this insight in his other books. This book in particular was enjoyable to understand in a small degree how Chesterton lived out what he believed. It was very encouraging to see that all of these wonderful thoughts need not stay bottled up in the head; they must come out in jokes and essays, books and beer. It took Chesterton a number of years to believe in orthodoxy, and he made some blunders and learned many things in a difficult manner. But in the end, Chesterton lived as a manalive, and this was perfectly in keeping with his final philosophy. We would all do good to read this book and take some lessons from the wise man who was Chesterton.

Book Description

Manalive pits a group of disillusioned young people against Mr. Innocent Smith, a bubbly, high-spirited gentleman who literally falls into their midst. Accused of murder and denounced for repeatedly marrying his wife and attempting to live in various houses, Smith prompts his newfound acquaintances to recognize an important idea: that life is worth living.

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All next day at Beacon House there was a crazy sense that it was everybody's birthday. It is the fashion to talk of institutions as cold and cramping things. The truth is that when people are in exceptionally high spirits, really wild with freedom and invention, they always must, and they always do, create institutions.

Customer Reviews:

Sanity has broken out, and is spreading.......2007-04-13

Sometimes we need a little madness just to know we're alive. That's the basic message of "Manalive," a delightfully strange mystery (of sorts), in which G.K. Chesterton demonstrates just why life is worth living -- and that a bit of craziness can be extremely beneficial.

A wind blows a new tenant into the dreary Beacon House -- Innocent Smith, an exuberant, eccentric and sweet-natured man who seems to be nuts. But Smith has a positive effect on the house -- he creates his own court, brings a few couples together, and falls in love with a paid companion next door. All seems to be well with the world.

Then the unexpected happens: Smith shoots at one of the tenants, and two doctors arrive to arrest him, claiming that he's a bigamist, an attempted murderer, and a thief. But cynical writer Moon insists that the case be tried there -- and they explore Smith's past history, revealing startling truths about what he does. Is he the wickedest man in Britain, or is he "blameless as a buttercup?"

You gotta love "Holy Fool" books, although Chesterton's take on it is sunnier than Dostoyevsky's or Cervantes'. Instead, "Manalive" focuses on a childlike, optimistic man who is far cleverer than anyone suspects, because he knows the value of living life, and how to keep it from ever getting dull.

The first half of the book is a bit predictable, but Chesterton throws an unprecedented twist into the plotline by having the "allegorical practical joker" turn out to be a fugitive. Then, it's half legal battle, half philosophical argument, in which which Chesterton points out the beauty of living life, and how nothing makes us appreciate it more than the nearness of death.

"With our weak spirits we should grow old in eternity if we were not kept young by death. Providence has to cut immortality into lengths for us," Smith explains.

But since this is by Chesterton, it's full of hilarious dialogue ("In the matter of his being a flamingo, my client reserves his defence"), and lushly detailed writing, where something as small as a man standing in a moonlit garden is given an ethereal eerieness.

And Innocent Smith is a bit of an enigma -- charismatic, innocent, weird, eccentric and lovable. Yet how can he have committed these crimes, and still live up to his name? He's surrounded by a bunch of people who have fallen into dullness or cynicism -- Irish reporters, timid doctors, heiresses -- but who show signs of the "sanity" as they spend time around him.

"Manalive" is a twisty, hilarious tale where nothing is as it seems -- but Chesterton also throws in some philosophical points about how great it is to live your life, and appreciate it. Definitely a good read.

funny and challenging.......2007-01-10

One of my favorite books--I have read it 3 times. The imagery is engaging and funny. The book encourages one to live life to the fullest.

Contrived story; brilliant ideas.......2006-05-05

While the very story of the book is rather contrived and artificial, the ideas conveyed in it make this a worthwhile read. Basically Chesterton uses an allegory to show that contemporary society cannot begin to comprehend a truly Christian man. Remarkably Chesteron set this book in an ostensibly Christian society. However his understanding of a Christian meant someone like the protagonist Innocent Smith; a man who was dead to the world in that he paid no heed to the laws and customs of man but held dear the eternal principles and laws of God.
Chesterton also slips in some harsh criticism of science,psychology in particular, throughout the course of the book. Although Gould and Pym constantly change their scientific explanations of Smith's behaviour, they pompously expect everyone to except their decisions because it is science. While science does explain things of the material world, Chesterton makes it clear that the soul of man is above such crude analysis becuase it is made in the image of God.
So as a man fears things he does not understand so do entire societies fear men they do not understand.

Whimsical.......2006-03-01

Manalive is all the things stated by the other reviews given here, except the inference of being a great book. It has some wonderful prose. It has interesting ideas. It has a truly unique main character, Innocent Smith.

At the same time, there are two clear issues with Manalive. First, it is rife with extreme plot contrivances. Allegory or not, these are very distracting. A trial is enacted in a single afternoon, and letters used as evidence simply appear from all around the world. Innocent's wife takes vacations of a week or two in different locations about Britain, but people know and care about her as if she'd been there for a year or more. Etc. Second, the characterizations, other than Innocent, are shallow and stereotypical. There is the sleepy elder matron, the sardonic playboy, the intelligent but uptight D'ebutante, the stodgy closed-minded doctor, and so on.

A third problem with Manalive is that the central theme does not hold up, other than perhaps whimsically. Chesterton uses Innocent Smith to break conventions, to think beyond the norm, to witness the sunrise, to portray the essence of being alive. A crucial component of being alive is to never harm anyone: Smith shoots but never hits, he thieves but only from himself, he seduces and runs off with many women but (it turns out) they are all his wife. He and his wife play a recurring game of seduction and elopement, and it is here that Chesterton's core idea fails. Innocent and his wife never let anyone know what has happened to her. She simply runs off with him, and they've done so much of this--a young woman disappearing with this unusual man, to never be heard from again--that Innocent is feared to be a serial murderer or polygamist. The key is that the people left behind had grown to care for his wife. Perhaps they care in a stodgy, uptight, and not-alive manner, but in a very real sense, Innocent and his wife harm these people by never letting them know what happened to her.

Manalive has many wonderful attributes, but in a seriously flawed package.

One of the best books I have ever read.......2006-02-19

I was absolutely astounded at the level of wittyness and profoundity that Chesterton achieved in this novel. Chesterton manages to once again use a rediculous fiction novel as a vehicle to share his profound insights into life with us as well as his stinging refutations of the leading philosophies of his time. Innocent Smith, the main character, is a man who says that "I am going to hold a pistol to the head of Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him--only to bring him life." Innocent Smith is put on trial by Modern Man for attempting to save a mans live, breaking into his own home, and marrying his own wife. He is a man whom is the embodiment of a live life. His life is truly alive, for he goes to great pains to make it so. He travels around the world just so he can have the satisfactions of arriving home again, he breaks into his own home so that he can covet his own posessions rather than his neighbors, he shoots at a man to save his life. To the best of my knowledge there is no character in any fiction book anywhere who is anything like Innocent Smith, and I seriously doubt that any other author will ever be able to reproduce a character like him. He is a man who makes a game of chasing his hat and who is delighted with discovering an attic to have a picnic in, yet he is a man who carries a loaded gun he uses to deliver "pills of life" and refute the philosophies of the day. He is the subject of this profound work by G. K. Chesterton, who is only slightly less profound that the character which he has produced.

Overall Grade: A+

Average customer rating:

Too much Chesterton, not enough Aquinas
Chesterton never disappoints...
Not for those seeking a rudmentart history.
I am sure it's good, but man it's deep!
Rambling and Overbearing

Saint Francis of Assisi
G.K. Chesterton
Manufacturer: Image
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385029004
Release Date: 1987-11-17

Amazon.com

There are certainly many studies of Saint Francis of Assisi that an interested reader might find and many of them immensely praiseworthy. But in reading G.K. Chesterton on Francis, you get two glories for one: first is an enlightening study of this most beloved of Christian saints and second is Chesterton himself, one of the great Christian writers of the 20th century, who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922 because, it has been said, "only the Roman Church could produce a St. Francis of Assisi." Published shortly after his conversion, Chesterton wrote this book in part to reclaim Francis for the church. There are always those who want to claim Francis for their cause, Chesterton recognized, who also fail to understand the spiritual and intellectual ground upon which he stands. Chesterton would return Francis to Christ. As he summarizes, "however wild and romantic his gyrations might appear to many, [Francis] always hung on to reason by one invisible and indestructible hair.... The great saint was sane.... He was not a mere eccentric because he was always turning towards the center and heart of the maze; he took the queerest and most zigzag shortcuts through the wood, but he was always going home."

As one editor of Chesterton's puts it, "of St. Francis he might have said what he said about Blake: 'We always feel that he is saying something very plain and emphatic even when we have not the wildest notion of what it is.'" --Doug Thorpe

Book Description

Francis of Assisi is, after Mary of Nazareth, the greatest saint in the Christian calendar, and one of the most influential men in the whole of human history. By universal acclaim, this biography by G. K. Chesterton is considered the best appreciation of Francis's life--the one that gets to the heart of the matter.

For Chesterton, Francis is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche.

Customer Reviews:

Too much Chesterton, not enough Aquinas.......2007-05-06

Considering how short this book is, one would expect there not to be too many details about Aquinas' life. But the amount of pages that have anything actually relevant to Aquinas are too few. Much of it reminds me of Chesterton's book Orthodoxy. (I'm thinking especially of all the poignant social commentary, which was appropriate for Orthodoxy, but not The Dumb Ox). But I did not buy this book to read Orthodoxy again, but to read a biography of Aquinas. I have often heard people praise this book as being the best biography of Aquinas (if that is true, I shudder to think of what the other biographies must be like!) But many of these people that I have encountered, I suspect, had judged the book before they read it (because they like Chesterton's other works), and read it as if it were the greatest biography. I recommend passing over this book.

Chesterton never disappoints..........2006-11-20

G.K. Chesterton ranks high among the most entertaining and insightful Christian writers in history. His singular wit infuses his work bringing mirth to what might otherwise be solemnity. His style is playful, yet earnest and, though his era has passed, he remains as readable now as ever. Indeed, Chesterton resides not far behind the venerable CS Lewis as an icon of Christian literature. His St. Francis of Assisi proves no exception.

Chesterton's intent is cleary not a comprehensive biography, but an introduction to the remarkable career of Francis Bernardone. The author hits only the highlights expecting these examples to accurately portray the whole. He easily succeeds. St. Francis of Assisi is a concise, enjoyable look at a saint who brought the principles of Christ back to a Catholicism which had long before started to wander. Read this and other works of Chesterton. You may find they all bear a 5-star ranking.

Not for those seeking a rudmentart history........2006-08-14

Chesterton writng is for the scholarly reader. His discourse is more question and answer to the theological and philosifcal issues surrounding Francis than a history or biography. As my readings enlarge my scope I will go back to this title and hopefully appreciate the discourse more than at it's first reading.

I am sure it's good, but man it's deep!.......2006-04-01

I have just finished reading "St. Francis of Assisi" by GK Chesterton, and I know that it was pretty good. In fact, it may be very good, but I don't really understand it! If you know anything about GK Chesterton then you know that his books are deeper than the ocean. This one is no exception. If you are looking for a biography (the story of St. Francis throughout his entire life) then this is not the book for you. (I would suggest buying St. Boneventure's biography from Tan Books) This book is really an essay on the life of St. Francis. It is difficult reading, and not a bed-time story for your kids. I think for your benefit, it would be good to read a normal biography on St. Francis (like the one mentioned above) and then read this essay. That way, you will not be frustrated in not getting many stories of St. Francis's life, and you will have perhaps better understandings of what GK Chesterton is talking about. Anyway, if your a Chesterton fan, then I'm sure you will like this, but remember--- this is HARD TO READ.

Rambling and Overbearing.......2005-06-07

This book was arcane and verbose which made it very difficult and unenlightening. The author digresses often and seems to add-in superfluous commentary on unrelated subjects. His references often point to "current events" which have long since lost relevance and the entire text has a dated, maze-like feeling.

If you're looking for an account of the life of St. Francis of Assisi, I would not recommend this book. If you are familiar with the life of St. Francis and are looking for a commentary on the events of his life you may find this work helpful due to its supposed eminence among works about the saint.

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