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For those that have read Chesterton's Orthodoxy....

PostPosted: December 22nd, 2007, 7:41 pm
by Adastra

PostPosted: March 29th, 2008, 12:38 am
by postodave
Well the expert on all things Chestertonian on this site is Rusmeister. He drives me mad with it but send him a private message and see if he will clue you in.

PostPosted: March 30th, 2008, 4:39 pm
by rusmeister
Wow! I consider myself complemented! Thank you! :smile:

"He's mad! Mad, I tell you!"
"It is not I who am crazy! It is I who am MAD!!!" (Ren + Stimpy) :wink:

Seriously, I would say that Chesterton is a harder read than Lewis - he's harder to follow initially, until you get his drift. When you do, look out!

In his biography (by Maisie Ward), relatives reported that doctors predicted that this kid with his huge head would be either a genius or an idiot.

An idiot doesn't get reprinted for a hundred years running.

I'd say that there are excellent answers at the website of the American Chesterton website http://www.chesterton.org/ . People like Dale Alquist know more. But I’d be happy to do my best to answer any questions here (the OP is an old post that I missed).

PostPosted: April 23rd, 2008, 2:19 pm
by ABC
Have you read Chesterton's "Heretics"? I found it much easier to understand what Chesterton was arguing FOR in "Orthodoxy" once I understood what he had been arguing AGAINST in "Heretics".

PostPosted: April 23rd, 2008, 2:50 pm
by repectabiggle
I just recently read Heretics. Great fun. I think that's one of the things some people may find difficult in Chesterton: he's fun! Seriously, Chesterton is all about unmitigated jollity in refuting nonsense and substantiating truth. And he loves paradox. Oh wow, does that man love paradox, but that can probably be tough to get used to for some readers in our time.

I need to read Orthodoxy. Unfortunately, although Heretics is available online at Google Books, Orthodoxy isn't, which I assume means the one is still copyrighted and the other isn't? Go figure.[/i]

PostPosted: April 23rd, 2008, 4:47 pm
by rusmeister

PostPosted: April 23rd, 2008, 5:06 pm
by repectabiggle

PostPosted: May 17th, 2008, 5:55 am
by Sarah N.

PostPosted: May 17th, 2008, 11:48 am
by Sven
The ISBN is 0970377215.


Image

PostPosted: May 18th, 2008, 1:49 am
by rusmeister
Another thing that strikes me more and more (rather than less and less) about GKC is his joy and lack of bitterness - if not for the Marconi history, which did heavily impact him, he would have had a pretty cloudless life. I wish I could be so gentlemanly to people I disagree with and be so cheerful.

PostPosted: June 4th, 2008, 6:22 am
by reveal

PostPosted: June 24th, 2008, 4:15 pm
by Cet

PostPosted: June 25th, 2008, 4:37 am
by blindlemonpie
I finished Orthodoxy today, and I thought it was wonderful. One of Chesterton's most commendable attributes is his ability to explain the symbolism and subtle nuances of history and everyday life as a skilled commentator might a work of literature. Afterall, he is offering us a chance to participate in that awful (in the old sense) that is lies at the center of poetry and romance.

Has anyone read his book on St. Francis? I read it a few years ago, and it was my first sojourn in the world of Chesterton. Perhaps it was because I had recently read Omer Englebert's wonderful St. Francis: A Biography, but I don't remember being greatly impressed. The one image that remains burned into my mind is of Francis teaching Christian Europe to rejoice after having endured the Middle ages as a penance for paganism (I wish I could dig up the quote. Maybe later). As Chesterton never intended this essay to stand in place of a detailed biography, I should read it again now that Englebert is not as fresh in my mind. Perhaps I'll gain more from it at the ripe old age of 22. :toothy-grin:

PostPosted: October 8th, 2008, 7:51 pm
by Wixenstyx
The only Chesterton I've read so far is 'The Man Who Was Thursday', which was recommended to me by a friend. After reading this thread, I think it's definitely time to raid my local library and see what I can find.

Where is the best place to start, in your opinion? Orthodoxy?

PostPosted: October 9th, 2008, 5:19 am
by rusmeister