G. K. Chesterton Books

I learned to appreaciate Thomas Aquinas in a completely new way from this book. Chesterton's intellect must have been comparable to that of Aquinas. It is somewhat difficult to read because the author's vocabulary and style are somewhat unfamiliar, being from a different time and place. This, however, is the most readable of the books I have read by Chesterton. I finished it with a tremendous respect for the intellect and the spirituality of Aquinas.

G.K. Chesterton notes Saint Thomas Aquinas' philosophy to be one of "a central common sense that is nourished by the five senses" (p. 13). His "argument for Revelation is not an argument against Reason; but it is an argument for Revelation. The conclusion he draws from it is that men must receive the highest moral truths in a miraculous manner; or most men would not receive them at all" (p. 19).

St. Thomas' philosophy is deeply needed in today's world with its distorted thinking. For St. Thomas, "a man is not a man without his body, just as he is not a man without his soul" (p. 17). Indeed, "a Christian means a man who believes that deity or sanctity has attached to matter or entered the world of the senses" (p. 23). St. Thomas' philosophy is deeply optimisitic: "nobody will begin to understand the Thomist philosophy, or indeed the Catholic philosophy, who does not realize that the primary and fundamental part of it is entirely the praise of Life, the praise of Being, the praise of God as the Creator of the World" (p. 81).

By contrast, Manicheanistic thinking "is always a notion in one way or another that nature is evil; or that evil is at least rooted in nature....Sometimes it was a dualism, which made evil an equal partner with good; so that neither could be a usurper. More often it was a general idea that demons had made the material world, and if there were any good spirits, they were concerned only with the spiritual world" (p. 83). Chesteron tells us that "if we wanted to put in a picturesque and simplified form what he [St. Thomas] wanted for the world, and what was his work in history, apart from the theological and theoretical definitions, we might well say that it really was to strike a blow and settle the Manichees" (p. 79).

Early on, Chesterton notes that "the sixteenth century schism was really a belated revolt of the thirteenth century pessimists" (p. xvi). "Thomas Aquinas had struck his blow, but he had not entirely settled the Manichees" (p. 161). "It was the very life of the Thomist teaching that Reason can be trusted: it was the very life of the Lutheran teaching that Reason is utterly untrustworthy" (p. 14).

G. K. Chesterton is one of my favorite authors; "Orthodoxy" and "The Everlasting Man" are among the most thought-provoking books that I have ever read. Nevertheless, this biography of St. Thomas Aquinas was disappointing. Chesterton is, as usual, not lacking in wit, but his wit often overshadows the content. It is clear that Chesterton thinks very highly of Aquinas, but I often felt that much of his characterization was fanciful. His description of Aquinas didn't seem to contradict many of the facts that he presented, but neither did the facts justify his description. Also, the organization of the book was poor; it is topical not chronological, but its topics are not developed well enough to stand on their own. I cannot recommend this book because after reading it, my knowledge of Aquinas and his impact on philosophy, theology, and the church is still poor.

As is evident from other reviews, Chesterton is not everyone's cup of tea. He lived in a day when erudition was registered in extended prose that often lent itself to convolution. To a thinking man, nuance is everything and Chesterton is so intent upon the development of nuance that he may seem opaque to modern readers who do not have the background that he assumes in the reader.

Chesterton is very clear in his introduction. He assumes the reader is acquainted with the major players in his book. He expects us to have a passing familiarity with St. Francis of Assisi so that when Chesterton lumps Aquinas together with him that it is a somewhat surprising strategy. Chesterton assumes that the reader is somewhat aware that the mendicant orders were not revolutionary in that they were introducing new ideas but that their intent was to confront decadence with old ones. This is where Chesterton begins and then he adds his own subtlety to the confusion.

For all that, if you are willing to rise to Chesterton's challenge you will not fail to be edified. Thinking is and should be, often its own reward. A book should not just entertain us but advance us along the pathways of elevated humanity. Chesterton's optimism (of another age) was that such a thing was possible and in that he and Aquinas were of one accord. He may be a bit too easy on the "Dumb Ox" and too ready to paint him more favorably than he warranted in every particular, but Chesterton makes him real and what is more important, leads us to understand how this Medieval mind was really important.

I think that was Chesterton's intent and he does a pretty fair job of accomplishing it. If you find yourself getting confused by the prose let it prod you into doing some background reading before you move on. When you do, you will find the prose is not so confusing as it might first appear.

It's a good book.

GKC delivers what he promises: a sketch that may motivate readers to pick up deeper books on the subject. If you knew nothing about Thomas, chances are, you don't know awfully much more after this book, but you get an idea which way it may go.
I love Chesterton's writing, except where I disagree with him: I can't buy his basic Catholicism (he warns against that in the introduction!), his acceptance of the concept of the 'saint' and of miracles. That just does not match with his approach of 'common sense'.
What I like about him: he likes to challenge paradigms and bust myths. He does this with mighty language and drops plenty of colourful aphorisms. On the negative side: he does remain short on philosophical content (what is this Plato vs Aristotle match all about? should he not at least try to explain the outlines?), but he is a little long on '-isms' and nouns of all kind; he loves name-dropping. And he is a wee bit condescending towards the 'orient' and the 'Chinaman'. Puts me off a little.
One more in this direction: he is a little vague in some of his complaints, so I am not sure what he talks about when he mentions the 'age of uncommon reason' and praises the 'level-headed man' early on. It does sound like an anti-Einstein tirade and like the normal anti-scientist's ranting against the disappointing fact that modern science comes up with counter-intuitive hypotheses, more and more.
But I love his portrait of Thomas as a liberator of the intellect, the one who reconciled religion with reason. His statement that Thomas was the real reformer, those after him were reactionaries is surprising, but I am willing to keep the idea in mind. And he wins my sympathies completely with his comparison of Thomas and Hegel: Thomas was sane, while Hegel was mad. That needs to be said.

Having left Dickens until later in life, I just completed Barnaby Rudge as part of my attempt to go through his novels in chronological order, starting with Pickwick. Barnaby Rudge is a very different animal from the 4 prior novels, patterned after it was on the swashbuckling historical style of Scott. It's so different from Old Curiosity Shop, which he was writing at the same time as Barnaby Rudge, that it's hard to believe it's the work of the same author, except for the quality of exceptionally vivid characterizations that pervade all the books.

I knew nothing of the historical events upon which the book is based, that, at the time of original publication, were well known to most Londoners, almost as well known as 9/11 is known by contemporary New Yorkers. Dickens seemed to have anticipated this problem, as the historical recreation is so beautifully folded into the melodrama that I never felt left behind. DON'T READ THE INTRODUCTION as too many plot points were given away and spoiled some of the dramatic impact for this reader. Save the introduction for afterward.

The characters are so memorable, it is painful to have to complete the book and say goodbye to them. Especially John Willet, and his double-chin, which almost deserves billing as a character in and of itself, Sir John Chester, a poetic achievement to whom Oscar Wilde and Shaw owed enormous debts, Maypole Hugh, and Grip the Raven (from whom Poe got his idea for the poem "The Raven), are high water marks of achievement.

While I preferred some of the intensely personal, experimental style of the latter half of Oliver Twist and much of Old Curiosity Shop, the confident and bold tone of the narration in Barnaby is a shot of adrenaline in every chapter, and the power of description in Dicken's cinematic viewpoint is incredibly powerful and pulse-poundingly entertaining, while the whole time maintaing a savvy, but never cynical outlook when it comes to the socio-political themes.

Don't miss it.

Barnaby Rudge is one of Charles Dickens' lesser known and read novels--and that's a pity. The book is interesting, full of the kind of characters that Dickens is noted for, and full of action and exciting scenes. More significantly, it is one of his most thought provoking works, with a relevance that is applicable to today's world. It will leave you cheering for the good guys and grateful to see that the bad guys (and gals) get what coming to them. The book is divided cleanly into two parts, the first taking place in 1775, depicts the comings and goings of four families and their assorted relations and friends. The second occurs five years later and focuses on an historical event, the riots which shook London to oppose rights for Catholics.

The book begins at the Maypole, an inn located just outside London and presided over by John Willet, a pompous know-it-all who intimidates his friends and dominates his son, Joe, to the point that he leaves to join the army by the end of this part. Hugh, an uneducated and violent man works for Willet handling animals. Down the road is the residence of Geoffrey Haredale, a country gentleman, and his niece Emma, a beautiful and gracious girl. Her father was mysteriously killed 22 years previously and the mystery runs through the book. Haredale is a Catholic and an antagonist to John Chester, an oily, Machiavellian, highly ambitious character. The only thing the two men have in common is their mutual desire to keep Chester's son Edward from a romance with Emma. In this they succeed and Edward, too, leaves at the end of part 1. The third household contains the Varden family. Gabriel, the father, is a locksmith kindly and a moderating influence throughout the book. Ultimately he plays a hero's role. His wife, Martha, constants nags him, aided and abetted by their servant, Miss Miggs, a comical character given to hysterics. Their daughter, Dolly, is beautiful and vivacious, but flirtatious and at this point does not return the love that Joe Willet shows for her. Simon Tappertit, an apprentice to Mr. Varden, also resides there. He is a ridiculous person with an exaggerated sense of himself and the clandestine leader of a group of similar apprentices with designs on engaging in violence against their masters. Finally there is the residence of the title character, Barnaby Rudge, who is a mentally deficient but happy and charming young man. He lives in genteel poverty with his mother. Mr. Rudge, who was the steward to the murdered Mr. Haredale, was also allegedly a victim. The cast of characters interacts in typical Dickens fashion for the first 33 (of 80) chapters.

The scene and mood shifts abruptly in the second part which gives a detailed and graphic account of the so-called "anti-popery" riots that took place in London in 1780. The reader would do well to read an independent account of these events before reading Dickens' version. The above cast of characters is joined in part two by an additional group including some from actual life (Lord George Gordon, the instigator of the riots and Ned Dennis, one of the ringleaders to name but two). The riots bring out the best and the worst of all the characters. Barnaby is conned into joining the rioters and ends up in prison condemned to be hanged, the Maypole Inn is sacked and John Willet, humiliated, bound and gagged, the Haredale residence is set ablaze and Emma and Dolly taken prisoner, many houses are burned, people killed, Newgate prison is broken into, destroyed and all the prisoners released. The riots end with a harrowing scene is which dozens of people are burned to death by flaming alcohol.

The execution scene, where three of the "ringleaders" are to be hanged is one of the most powerful parts of the book. Dickens gives a vivid account of the conditions and circus atmosphere that surrounds this event. In Hugh's powerful and eloquent speech Dickens also gives a condemnation of British society that creates such persons. Hugh at this point is the most moral person in the book and goes to his death with bravery and courage. This scene alone is well worth reading the book for.

In the end, of course, everything is sorted out, justice is delayed but not denied and we have a happy ending.

If the book can be said to suffer it is from the lack of a strong central character around whom the plot revolves. There is no real hero here or even a singular villain. Joe and Edward, either of whom might have filled the former role are largely absent from much of the book and only show up again after the riots have ended. Gabriel Varden comes closest to that role but is more acted upon than actor until the closing chapters. The most likely candidate for villain, John Chester, likewise disappears at the end of part one. Hugh, Simon and Dennis emerge as a trio of rouges joined by Gashford, secretary to Lord Gordon and a blind man who cries plaintively, why must I be good just because I am blind? The murderer, of course, is also lurking around. But none of these individuals stands apart from the rest and the hero versus villain theme is muted. The book is really about events and how these events shape and change the life of the characters for better or worse.

In the end you will find yourself thinking about Barnaby Rudge for days afterward and it will leave a mark on your life. Nothing more positive can be said about any book.

This is the last of all the Dickens's novels (including the five shorter Christmas Books) that I have either read or attempted. I had saved it until the last because it has not been held in very high esteem either by the critics or the reading public. I was pleasantly surprised.

Whereas there are several Dickens novels that I was unable to finish (namely, The Old Curiosity Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and all the Christmas Books except A Christmas Carol), Barnaby Rudge never dragged even though it is one of Dickens's longer novels. Barnaby Rudge is as filled with memorable characters (especially the secondary ones - Miss Miggs, the Vardens, the Chesters, Hugh, Mr. Tapperttit, Dennis the hangman, etc.); places (the Maypole Inn, the locksmith's shop) and incident (the Gordon Riots) as any of his greater novels.

Stylistically, Barnaby Rudge is akin to Dickens's earlier picaresque novels (Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby). After those early successes of the 1830s, Dickens was struggling to find his mature style in my opinion. Most of the longer and shorter novels I was unable to finish come from the 1840s. (The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Dickens's last novel, but it was only half-finished at his death so it is really not fair to blame Dickens for my failure to respond to it.) Even though The Old Curiosity Shop comes between Nicholas Nickelby and Barnaby Rudge, Barnaby Rudge demonstrates all the strengths of Nicholas Nickelby and avoids the weaknesses of The Old Curiosity Shop. Barnaby Rudge is still early Dickens in my opinion.

G. K. Chesterton described a taste for early Dickens as similar to a taste for new potatoes as opposed to mature potatoes. Some people prefer new potatoes. Barnaby Rudge is not Dickens at his greatest. (I reserve that description for David Copperfield, Great Expectations and Bleak House. Along with the three novels of the 1830s already mentioned, I place Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities and Our Mutual Friend and now, Barnaby Rudge, on the second tier of Dickens's novels.) We must remember, that Dickens at his worst is better than most writers at their best. If Barnaby Rudge were a newly discovered work by an otherwise unknown author, or by one of Dickens's contemporaries, it would be hailed as a masterpiece. As it is, Barnaby Rudge is an eminently enjoyable and readable effort by a great writer.

This is a review of the BBC Radio dramatization version of this book.

The story is a good one, filled with politics of religion, sympathetic characters and Dicken's inimitable prose.

However, this audio version is WAY over produced, with blaring, overly-dramatic music that seemed reminiscent of the worst grade B silent films.

The actors screamed, ranted, raved and wept hysterically more than they spoke. Unless someone already knows the basic plot and characters, they may have difficulty following the action (particularly, as a previous reviewer pointed out, the thick accents will be hard for Americans to decipher.).

The entire production needed to be toned down quite a bit for Dicken's voice to be heard above the clamor.

It might be better to read the book in this case.

Barnaby Rudge (1841)originally appeared as a weekly serial in Dickens'
weekly newspaper Master Humphrey's Clock. The novel is the most obscure work by the master. The story is well worth reading. It is an exciting story of the Anti-Roman Catholic riots of 1780 led by the eccentric George Gordon a member of Parliament. The second half of the book focuses on the riots in a cinematic depiction of the mobs who ran amok in London during a hot summer of hatred, prejudice and murder.
Character rather than complicated Victorian plot is why we read Dickens. This book adds many memorable folks to the gallery of Dickens
characters. In this long novel we meet:
Barnaby Rudge-the title character is a feeble witted lad whose pet is the famed raven Grip. He lives with his mother. We later learn his evil father Rudge Sr. murdered Lord Haredale's brother. The father is hanged but Barnaby lives to spend time at the Maypole Inn. Years before Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" Dickens took a mentally ill person as his hero. Barnaby is pardoned for his participation in the Gordon riots.
Gabriel Varden, his shrewish wife and buxom daughter Dolly live in London where Mr. Varden is a locksmith. After Joe Willet leaves England to fight in the American Revolution he returns home to wed Dolly. A charming love story.
The Haredale family tells us of the love of Mr. Haredale's beautiful niece
Emma for Edward the son of John Chester. Chester is a Protestant and a sworn enemy of the Catholic Haredales.
Minor charactes such as Hugh (the illegitimate son of Chester); Dennis the hangman; Miss Miggs the man crazy maid to Mrs. Varden and others populate the pages of this fast paced tale of murder,mystery and intrigue.
Barnaby Rudge is a fine book which deserves to be better known. It is not Dickens best novel,his longest novel or his most famous novel. Yet it still appeals in its exciting look at the events of 1780. It and the much more famous Tale of Two Cities were the two historical novels the author produced.
YOu will never forget Grip the Raven (said to be the inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven") or Barnaby and his friends and enemies. Curl up with this good book and let your mind and heart wander back to the year of our Lord 1775 when the novel begins.
The book is well illustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot K. Browne
in charming art work.

The company asking $6.99 for this public domain book, widely available on the Web, is called BiblioBazaar.

Bizarre would better fit.

.99 is, perhaps, reasonable for a repackaged public domain book, though really Kindle users should just find unencrypted Mobipocket files and load them using the USB to their Kindle.

In the meantime, caveat emptor!

Just begain reading "Heretics." I wish I had found this book, and Chesterton, 30 years ago when I was 20 instead of now when I am 50.

Ideas and actions can take decades sometimes a century or more to "bloom."

During 1905, Chesterton identifies errors that have bloomed and guide/justify our day's thinking & action -- runious errors.

Can't wait to finish.

Should be required reading.

Chesterton is always a joy to read. Precise, poetic, inspired prose and a razor-sharp mind.

A fantastic book by a great writer, highly recommend it for anyone interested in Apologetics, or just fun argument should definitely read it. While this review will hardly do justice to him, Chesterton is amazingly complex, and while sometimes incorrect, offensive, or fallacious, he is always intelligent, witty, and generally has an opinion very much worth listening to. Highly recommended.

G.K. Chesterton wrote HERETICS c. 1905. Yet this book is still timely in that popular gurus change opinions and social theories very quickly never realizing how dated the newest fad becomes. Chesterton had the rare ability in exposing many new fads as actually some varient of some ideas that were in vogue during Ancient History.

Chesterton never engages in ad hominem arguments. He is careful to metion the merits of those with whom he disagrees. Chesteron focuses on the logical fallacies of his critics and never engages in bitterness or smear tactics.

Readers should carefully read Chesterton's cirticisms of G.B. Shaw. Chesterton asserts the validity of Shaw's Socialism. Chesterton does not argue with Shaw's socialist views per se. He does critisize Shaw's tendenacy toward a mechanical view of society and politics. One should note that in spite of their repeated debates and crticisms of each others' work, Chesterton and Shaw remained life long friends.

Chesterton has some interesting comments on political power. Chesteron was probably not a democrat, and his views beginning on page 168 are note worthy. Chesterton remarks condemns those who pick a Caesar. He remarks that people falsely look favorably on such an individual because he, the Strong Man or the Caesar, is not an ordinary man. In other words, men may domocratically opt for someone whom ordinary think is better. This is a form despotism or slavery where the ruler has the sanctions of the victim. Other rulers hold position by heredity right whereby men accept this notion only because of the social order rather than false praise or respect for someone who may be evil and take advantage of men's sychophantic blind obedience to self appointed knaves.

Chesterton has good insight regarding the abuse of language and different rules for social classes. If some poor soul is arrested for stealing, he/she is accused of theft. If some who is wealthy is arrested for the same crime, the comment is that the wealthy person has an illness called kleptomania. To paraphrase Chesterton, the wealthy want to make laws ( or in their case excuses)while decent people want to obey the law and expect everyone to do the same.

G.K. Chesterton writes well and uses reason as his guide. He did not get angry when his critics attacked him for his personal appearance. He was a large man. Chesterton could laugh at himself. However, he got angry when men attacted honesty and truth. Chesterton was a champion of himself or his work. He was a champion of reason, truth, and honesty. Whether one disagrees with him, Chesterton is well worth reading for his prose, knowledge, and logic.

These six stories are completely missable for fans of the "Father Brown" tales. The "detective" here is Basil Grant, and he's omniscient and uninteresting-- he has no detecting to do since he just seems to "know" what's going on long before his dopy pals Rupert and Charles Swinburne.

I'm a big fan of the Holmes and Raffles and Thinking Machine stories, as well as all of the Father Browns. But these clunkers have no place in any canon of Victorian or post-Victorian detective/crime fiction.

Give this a miss.

There's not another book out there like The Club of Queer Trades. It's a short collection of mysteries, all of which center around people who have unique jobs. Each story is original and clever and funny, totally unlike other mysteries you may have read. I particularly enjoyed the way in which the stories play as a counterpoint to the Sherlock Holmes stories. The incomparable Basil Grant solves these cases with his own otherworldly wisdom.

I couldn't escape the notion, either, that these stories weren't simply entertainments. There are brief moments of pure poetry where it seems that Chesterton is more concerned with writing a parable than with writing a mystery. Or, perhaps, he's just suggesting another sort of mystery. Anyway, this was a great read for so many reasons. It's a can't miss for Chesterton fans.

G.K. is witty, and even his weaker works will still make you laugh out loud. This book is no different, a parody of the classic Sherlock Holmes type deductive reasoning. They are really several sub-stories that all merge together for a fitting conclusion, involving the queerest trade of them all. A lot of G.K.'s familiar themes are here, such as emphasis on atmosphere as opposed to details, and how things seemingly ridiculous not only make sense, but are actually necessary. Probably not the best place to start with his works, but if you're a fan these short stories will not disappoint.

This is a nice collection of stories, all well done in Chesterton's infectious style. There are little bits of social dogma stuffed into the margins, but the stories are primarily amusements.

One odd note - this edition of the book contains some very strange artifacts - noticably occasions where the word "die" is substituted for the word "the". Almost as if it were translated from German and somebody missed a few articles. There were several other instances, which I've forgotten, but the number of errors in the text is surprising. The binding is also not vey sturdy - it's pretty clear that this Elibron Classics edition has been rapidly put together and not intended to last through more than one or two readings.

G.K. Chesterton always had a knack for making ominous situations that turned out to be... pretty normal. And that's what "The Club of Queer Trades" is all about, a string of Sherlock-Holmes-style mysteries that spoof the elaborate deduction process. And show readers some of the bizarrest jobs Chesterton could think of.

The book introduces us to Basil Grant, a judge who came to realize that law and justice aren't the same thing, and who ended up giving sentences like "Get a soul" before leaving the courtroom. Then his detective brother Rupert introduces him to Major Brown, an army officer who suspects that his neighbor is plotting to kill him. It isn't too surprising, since there are pansies spelling out "Death to Major Brown."

But with his deductive processes, Basil reveals the bizarre truth behind the Major's problem: an adventure company which is part of the Club of Queer Trades, a "society consisting exclusively of people who have invented some new and curious way of making money."

Throughout the stories, he, Rupert and the narrator encounter other people who have found weird ways of making a living: an ex-lieutenant who seems to be telling tall tales, the "the wickedest man in England," an Essex vicar who was kidnapped by men disguised as old ladies, a dancing professor who has apparently lost his mind, and finally a lady being imprisoned in a basement who flat out refuses to leave -- and it may have something to do withBbasil.

Only the guy behind "The Man Who Was Thursday" could pull off a book like "The Club of Queer Trades," or a concept like the club itself. And as an added humorous twist, this book is apparently meant as a sort of spoof to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries -- Rupert is sort of Holmesian in his elaborate deductions, but he never gets it right.

These are some of Chesterton's frothier stories, but he still peppers his stories with little moral and philosophical moments ("they have not merely no notion, they have an elaborately false notion of what the words mean"), but never enough to bog down the light banter and funny action scenes. And there are moments of Chesterton's prose that are pure poetry ("... a mystic, elvish, nocturnal hunting").

Basil himself is a bit of a know-it-all, but at least he's a funny, slightly offbeat one, and perfectly at ease with talking to a tied-up criminal about Darwinism. His brother Rupert introduces himself as being a detective, but gets more and more upset as the book goes on, until he desperately grasps at the idea of a villainous milkman giving "secret signs."

"The Club of Queer Trades" is a deliciously quirky little book, and leaves readers wishing that they could hear a few more tales of these wonky jobs. Definitely worth employing.

G.K. Chesterton's classic Epic Poem is a masterpiece and gets a 5 Star Rating by every English professor on earth. But this particular edition, the paperback printed by Quiet Vision Publishing, is worthless! As soon as you turn the page, each and every one, it comes out of the binding and falls on the floor! Somebody needs to report that company to the BBB.

Thank God there is an free-standing edition of this poem in print. I was afraid it would only be available in a large collection. It would be better still if it was pocket sized, paper-back, and had a figure of a white horse on the front!

Chesterton expressed his passion for history and sacrificial heroism in this ballad. If you enjoy the imagery and values of Arthur, CS Lewis and the Iliad, you will enjoy this short book. "Heart of the heroes, ride!"

G.K. Chesterton's masterpiece, and the work he himself considered his best, is a must read for everyone interested in history, literature and great poetry. King Alfred of England is almost forgotten as the hero of the times--the 800's, when Viking raiders continuously challenged the people living on the island that was to become England. If not for King Alfred, England would now be Norway or Daneland.

The whistling rock, the white horse on the hill, romance and chivarly live on in this masterfully woven tale of history.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, I think you will appreciate Father Brown. This edition is a great bargain-priced introduction.

Father Brown is the archetypal bumbler who is actually quite adept at finding out who committed the crime. He is the ordinary citizen who beats the police at their own game.

I got addicted to short stories about 35 years ago when I was at high school. I began reading them in the yellow-covered Gollancz science fiction short story collections. There is something to be said for a story that you can read at a sitting.

Chesterton's stories are now public domain. You can sample them online, but it is much nicer to have a book to browse away from the computer!

And this is such an unbeatable price, I am buying several copies to give as excellent, but inexpensive gifts.

Highly recommended.

This book was purchased based on the titles in the table of contents. However, this book is 277 pages and not the 800 pages it says. It is NOT the complete Father Brown Mysteries at all. A few of the stories like "The Flying Stars" and "The Absence of Mr.Glass" are not in this book. I am very disappointed since this was a Christmas gift.

The mystery story is exemplified by the Sherlock Holmes stories. Those who haven't read them will probably know much about them from the way they have (justly) been added to the public imagination. So a good way of describing the Father Brown stories is to compare the two, as the images of Holmes are probably known to all.

Holmes is a private detective. As such, his main objective is to solve the crime. Father Brown is (obviously) a Catholic priest. His objective is to serve God by trying to better society. These two goals say a lot about how they go about solving crimes. Unlike Holmes, Brown gets close to crimes by accident (yes, that's a big suspension-of-disbelief) - as they happen amongst the families and coworkers of friends. He does not seek to "catch" the crook for the police but rather to find out what happened. At times, he lets the criminal go - and unlike the grumpy Holmes his speech (full of philosophical discussions) and actions reek of a love of humanity.

Holmes solves by logical deduction. Brown solves by a combination of intiution and a deep insight into character and circumstance. As such, the crux of many of the stories is psychological. Others rely on assumptions that people make about, say, people subservient to them. The Brown stories are therefore great satires of the early 20th century London society.

This edition has 18 stories - a quite eclectic collection and very recommended if you haven't encountered Brown before. The first one (the Blue Cross) introduces him marvelously as one of the great detectives.

In the genre of the finely crafted English detective story, Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories are wholesome and stimulating detective tales surpassed by few others, except perhaps Doyle's legendary Sherlock Holmes. In contrast to the arrogant Holmes, however, Chesterton's protagonist is rather quiet, unassuming and modest, and makes an unlikely hero - a catholic priest. Father Brown's simple manner makes you quick to underestimate him, but the startling flashes of brilliance that spill from beneath his humble exterior soon make you realize that he has a firm grasp on the truth of a situation when you are as yet frustratingly distant from it. His perceptive one-liners make it evident that he has a clear insight into something that you see only as an apparently insoluble paradox.

Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox", and the Father Brown stories are a clear testimony of his fondness for paradox. Ultimately it is not just crimes that Brown must solve, but the paradox underlying them. In fact, not all stories are crime stories - among them are mysterious situations that do not involve criminals, and it is the perceptive insight of Father Brown that is needed make apparent contradictions comprehensible by his ruthless logic. Father Brown is not so much concerned with preserving life or bringing a criminal to justice as he is with unravelling the strands of an impossible paradox. In fact, Chesterton's conception of Father Brown is itself a paradox - both a cleric and a crime-fighter, a priest and a policeman, a representative of God's mercy and an instrument of God's justice, a proclaimer of forgiveness and a seeker of guilt, a listener in the confessional and a questioner in the interrogation.

How a priest could possibly play the role of a detective is explained in the first story, "The Blue Cross". Brown apprehends the confounded criminal Flambeau and explains that his knowledge of the criminal mind is due in part to what he's heard at the confessional booth "We can't help being priests. People come and tell us these things." (p.17) When Flambeau retorts "How in blazes do you know all these horrors?" Chesterton allows his humble priest to attribute his insight into human depravity to his experience as a priest: "Oh, by being a celibate simpleton, I suppose, he said. Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil." (p.18)

But both Chesterton and Father Brown have insight into much more than just human depravity - they are both champions of Catholic orthodoxy. This gives the Father Brown stories a depth not found in Brown's compatriot Holmes. In the course of Chesterton's stories, we are treated to philosophical discussions about catholic theology, such as the relationship between faith and reason. We do not merely meet an assortment of cobblers, blacksmiths, magistrates and generals, but atheists, legalists, secularists, pagans, Presbyterians, Puritans, Protestants and Catholics, all with varying and vying affections for superstition, naturalism, rationalism, scepticism, agnosticism, materialism, anarchism, nihilism, or cynicism. Along with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton was one of the few writers in the twentieth century that made an important contribution to English literature that was stamped by Christian principles instead of the prevailing secularism of the day.

Readers who do not share Chesterton's theological convictions will not concur with all his insights, but they must concede that they are enjoyable, profound and stimulating. Somewhat surprising is the occasional use of blasphemous expletives such as "O my God", although generally from the mouths of others than Father Brown himself. And Brown does seem to degenerate more and more into a mouthpiece for Chesterton, with a sermonizing tone not present in the first stories.

But on the whole these are exemplary models of the English crime short story. The "Wordsworth Classics" edition contains a selection of 18 favorite stories, with contributions from all five of Chesterton's published Father Brown collections. Among my favorites are "The Blue Cross", where Father Brown follows a mysterious trail of clues and engages in some bizarre behaviour and fascinating theological discourse to apprehend Flambeau. "The Hammer of God" is also an outstanding whodunnit, as Brown solves the murder of a man who has been crushed by a huge hammer outside a church, seemingly the recipient of a divine thunderbolt of judgment from heaven. In the process Chesterton shares some thought-provoking insights, such as the memorable: "Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak." (p.91) Also unforgettable is "The Blast of the Book", which recounts the mysterious disappearance of five men whose only crime was to open a seemingly magical book. Father Brown is quick to unravel the paradox by explaining it as the work of an ingenious prankster.

Father Brown's tongue never fails to produce profound paradoxical gems such as "The point of the pin was that it was pointless." (p.273). And: "I never should have thought he would be so illogical as to die in order to avoid death." (p.264) It is Brown's unique perspective that allows him to see what others do not see. When his compatriots are awed at the eloquence of a magistrate's thundering sermon in "the Mirror of the Magistrate", Father Brown remarks: "I think the thing that struck me most was how different men look in their wigs. You talk about the prosecuting barrister being so tremendous. But I happened to see him take his wig off for a minute, and he really looks quite a different man. He's quite bald, for one thing." (p.222.) His words are frequently indicative of remarkable perception.

With the finely crafted prose, depth of theological insight, and brilliant combination of perception and paradox, Chesterton has created in Father Brown a noble and enduring character, a worthy successor to Sherlock Holmes and in some respects his equal and superior. The Father Brown stories are unquestionably worthy of their designation as classics.

For the first time in all the years I have learnt from G.K. Chesterton, I have found a biographer able to explain the Marconi scandal... Cecil, G.K.'s brother, was attacking insider trading before it became a fashion to do so. Joseph Pearce allows us to understand and value G.K. fidelity towards his brother's memory and social insights. Hat's off to the biographer.

I'm not a big fan of biographies, but Pearce does a fine job here. Part of it obviously is due to the wonderful man he is dealing with, a splendidly witty writer who perfected the paradox and dared to insert common sense into politics. The material on the younger Chesterton isn't too interesting, but Pearce succesfully explains Chesterton's views, reviews all his major writings, covers his personal life well and gives fair space to Chesterton's critics as well as his friends (though the two were often one and the same, such as Shaw and Wells, as the book points out). A very good introduction into the life of Chesterton and recommended for anyone interested in him or anyone who doesn't know anything of this great man.

This is an audacious book. Consider for a moment - you are an author writing a biography of an author, who had in turn already written an autobiography. And the author you are writing about is GK Chesteron. After all GKC said about himself, what more is there to say?

Fortunately, a lot. While this work is a biography, it comes close to being a deserved panegyric as well. Pearce is clearly taken with his subject, and the result is one that mimic's Chesterton's own habit of "conveying the truth, if not the facts."

That being said, Wisdom & Innocence is a hefty book, covering Chesterton's life in strangely selected detail. It serves as a nice "jumping off point" to Chesterton's other works, although I share some frustration with other reviewers that some detail is lacking (my personal gripe is that the intellectual battle between Chesterton, Wells and Shaw is overshadowed by descriptions of their genial personal relationship).

After all of Chesterton's nominal biographies of great literary figures, one can easily forgive Pearce for applying the same "impressionist" techniques to Chesterton himself. I, for one, think GK would be pleased.

Joseph Pearce is a very able writer, who has extensively reviewed the relevant literature written by or referred to G K Chesterton. His book provides a very useful introduction to GK, with many valuable insights related to his conversion into Catholicism. But it is precisely here where I find the book to be somewhat lacking. Being a Catholic and an avid GK reader myself, I believe that, nonetheless, a number of other relevant issues should have been addressed. Though GK's wife pivotal role is discussed, not much is said about their life together. GK's needs were taxing. He worked night and day and led a half-bohemian life. How did his wife cope with all this? Most important: Pearce mainly (sometimes just) tells us how GK was seen by other people. Letters from GK's friends and relatives are quoted at length and constitute a substatial part of the book. The problem here is twofold. On the one hand written documents cannot be always taken as the truth (e.g. when Shaw praises a certain book by GK is he being sincere, or is he just being polite?). On the other, by relying only on "extrinsic evidence," Pearce offers us only a view of the public GK, but not of the private GK. How did GK cope with the fact that he and his wife could not have children? How did that affect his writing and his character? What was his daily routine? None of these questions are answered.
This love for third-party quotations on Chesterton, has funny results. For instance Pearce quotes several letters by GK's admirers on the great success of GK's drama "Magic." However, Pearce fails to discuss the content of the play.
Finally, there is no analysis of GK's views on substantive points. I have always found it puzzling, that so brilliant an Englishman as GK may admire Napoleon so much. Why was this? Why did Chesterton like so much the French Revolution? Pearce is not interested in addressing these topics. However, he pays a valuable poetic tribute to the man, his beliefs and his wife.

I bought this book because I had been enthralled by my, admittedly brief, introduction to some of Chestreton's work.

"Day by Day" provides many pearls of wit and wisdom yet there are many also that are so couched in his time and culture that they are lost to a different generation.

This book serves two purposes. It is intended to be a daily devotional (like Oswald Chambers "My Utmost For His Highest"), focusing on G. K. Chesterton's wit and wisdom. The quotes were selected by Chesterton himself, so they represent what he thought was important, as opposed to reading another person's second-guessings.

One good point is that it has moveable feasts in an appendix, like Lewis's "The Business of Heaven." A down point is that the book lacks an entry for Leap Day. This is a common mistake made by all devotionals I own, except for Chambers's. If you are smart enough to include the Roman Catholic feast days (which you would expect from Chesterton), then why can't you remember Leap Day? It is beyond me!

The second purpose of the book is an unintentional one. This book serves as a de-facto quote book. I love quote books, since they serve as random sampler for a person's thought. C. S. Lewis said, "The only use of selections is to deter those readers who will never appreciate the original, and thus save them from wasting their time on it, and to send all the others on the original as quickly as possible." (The Quotable Lewis, #447)

This book accomplishes both: it is a wonderful daily devotional, and it whets the appetite for more.

I bought this book for my grandmother and she loves it. It's hard for her to sit and read for a lond piriod of time. This book is nice because it has one little reading for every day. I would highly recomend this book.

Having spent years combing the used bookstores from Maine to Florida for Victorian era detective fiction, I can vouch for the superlative quality of this collection. You would probably have to time-travel in order to find so many intriguing stories all in one place-including a rare gem by R. Austin Freeman which apparently has never been published before in the United States. The editor is Edgar award-winning author Douglas G. Greene, considered by many the foremost authority on classic detective fiction today. The introductory essay alone is worth the price of the book. Thanks again, Dover-and thanks again, Douglas Greene.

This is an anthology of detective stories in Victorian era, when Holmes and Watson were actively investigating. However, Holmes fans will still be rather disappointed because most are featuring rather commonplace detectives showing off in front of the dumb. Nevertheless, there is still some intelligence in the detectives, which is rarely found in their modern world collegues.

Editor Douglas Greene has gathered an eclectic set of Victorian mysteries that is sure to please fans of Victorian literature. Many of these authors are long out of print, and there were several with whom I was completely unfamiliar.

There were of course, stories by Doyle, Orczy and Chesterton to represent the more traditional favorites--Chesterton's "The Eye of Apollo" is especially excellent. Several of the other stories were surprisingly deep and well-written, though there were also a few truly dreadfully written stories, that were quite popular in their day, and reading them was fun in a different way. (I'll not give my opinion as to which stories were which, so as not to influence other readers.)

Overall, this is an excellent set of Victorian stories, giving a wide range of styles and tastes, with a short biography of the author at the start of the story. For anyone who enjoys Victorian lit, these stories (especially the lesser known gems among them) will make a wonderful read.

George Bernard Shaw is supposedly the opposite of Shakespeare, who was too pessimistic, being described as a 'serious optimist.' In Shaw's play "Man and Superman" creative evolution is the topic in serious dramatic terms, performed in 1903. He is the precursor of what is now called "creative intelligent design" as described in the book OF PANDAS AND PEOPLE (1993). While he had problems with the biological randomness of Darwin, he pretty much eliminated God from the equation of how human life began.

The God-incorporated alternative to Darwinism now being proposed by who else but the President of the United States of America, Shaw felt that the life force is transmitted by rare men of genius who were selected by nature to carry on the work of building up an intellectual consciousness. In "Man and Superman" the Don Juan was an asexual but in a way religious and felt that life could be improved and that meant getting rid of 'imprisoning conventions.'

The intelligent design is a hot topic now among theologians, educators and scientists who want this concept taught in the schools along with Darwin (leaving out the Biblical account). Shaw left out completedly the thought of God having anything to do whatsoever with the human existence; it was just a 'what-if' story idea which extremely religious people believe to be the truth.

Shaw's "Devil's Disciple" was his first commercial success with Richard Mansfield as the matinee idol starring in the play set during the American Revoluiton. His earlier "Man and Superman" was placed on a restricted list by the libraries so it could not infect young minds with its unorthodox view of God and matrimony. His play about prostitution, so prevalent in the century he was so prolific with his works, "Mrs. Warren's Profession," played to a sold out audience with up to 3,000 people turned away at the door. This popular sensation was closed down by the police and the entire cast faced charges of 'disorderly conduct.'

Every star wanted to be Henry Higgins in "Pygmalion" played by Peter O'Toole and Leslie Howard. Rex Harrison played the part in the movie, "My Fair Lady." Lynn Fontanne and Wendy Hiller, along with Mrs. Partick Campbell on whom the play was based, wanted to play Eliza Doolittle.

He wrote to Mrs. Campbell "I can't be sympathetic; these things simply make me furious," when her son was killed in 1918 by the Germans as the war was ended. He wrote articulate letters throughout his life to many people, "some subjects that language cannot accommodate."

He had his place in our world and prophesied what was to come on Broadway, the British stage, and the controversial world of science and biology. He was the forerunner to beat all!

In only one hundred pages Chesterton encapsulates the influences on and works of George Bernard Shaw, and he is on top form. I should say up front for those that want the Drive-Thru version, go direct to chapters 2 and 6 (35 pages total) for a sound grasp of the man, the playwright, and the later works; and double back to chapter 5 (20 pages) for the earlier works. The last chapter explains how Shaw lost his faith in humanism through reading Plato [tis se philei, o Sokrates;], and fell back in disarray to Nietzsche for backup.

What makes this biography so incisive? Firstly the fact that Chesterton and Shaw were old friends and debating partners. Second, that they were both literary gents of sharply contrasting style, and consequently struck generous bright sparks off one another. Under this stimulus the normally verbose Chesterton style is reigned in, which is a relief to those who have ever been frustrated by it. (It should go without saying that he is worth persevering with, but I took about five reads of 'Orthodoxy' to really get it. His fiction is much more concise - odd but true.)

Since Chesterton and Shaw so vehemently disagreed with each other on many topics, one would expect this quick text to be filled with antagonism. Instead, it is a delightful explanation of Shaw's background, biography and beliefs, told in a gentle, light-hearted manner. Chesterton shows a great respect for his adversary, while making clear his own views through quite a few of the one-sentence quotables for which he is well known.