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holtfan's review against another edition
5.0
"A turkey is more occult and awful than all the angels and archangels In so far as God has partly revealed to us an angelic world, he has partly told us what an angel means. But God has never told us what a turkey means. And if you go and stare at a live turkey for an hour or two, you will find by the end of it that the enigma has rather increased than diminished."
Here is the thing about G.K. Chesterton: he begins discussing Christmas traditions, veers off into why he anti-vivisectionist, and concludes with turkey. Somewhere in-between he dropped an aside about the king's crown and "Tolstoian non-resistance." It ought to come across entirely nonsensical and yet over a hundred years later, I read it and go..."Oh, why, that applies to what is happening today! It is like he writes for 2020!"
In some ways, he reminds me of the Mad Hatter. His flow of conversation sounds nonsensical. But unlike the Mad Hatter, when you get to the end of it, somehow everything fits together and makes sense.
This is not my favorite Chesterton--the essay format emphasizes the rambling nature of his writing (which even he makes fun of) and the subjects fit together quite loosely. Yet despite the lack of focus, the essays never ceased to startle me with their perspicacity. I started collecting quotes to share in this review but I realized it would never do the book justice. So I guess, I can only leave it with this commendation:
I've been reading this short volume since March. Being 2020, any number of crazy happened over those few months. But no matter what, an essay in this volume felt pertinent. From "The Zola Controversy" (which discusses statutes and how and when we recognize great thinkers) to "The Boy" (including a story about vandalizing statues) to "Patriotism and Sports" (the title speaks for itself) to "The Worship of the Wealthy" to "The Error of Impartiality" to...well, I could probably name all of them. It is not that he faced anything remotely similar to what we face. Or even that he could imagine it. Rather, he writes about the fundamentals and foundations of society. And as the world around us seems to be in the business of shaking the fundamentals of society, his observations cut to the mater in a way we like to obfuscate them at the moment.
So, even though this was probably more of a 4 star read, I will give it 5 stars for timeliness. (Or perhaps I mean timelessness?)
Here is the thing about G.K. Chesterton: he begins discussing Christmas traditions, veers off into why he anti-vivisectionist, and concludes with turkey. Somewhere in-between he dropped an aside about the king's crown and "Tolstoian non-resistance." It ought to come across entirely nonsensical and yet over a hundred years later, I read it and go..."Oh, why, that applies to what is happening today! It is like he writes for 2020!"
In some ways, he reminds me of the Mad Hatter. His flow of conversation sounds nonsensical. But unlike the Mad Hatter, when you get to the end of it, somehow everything fits together and makes sense.
This is not my favorite Chesterton--the essay format emphasizes the rambling nature of his writing (which even he makes fun of) and the subjects fit together quite loosely. Yet despite the lack of focus, the essays never ceased to startle me with their perspicacity. I started collecting quotes to share in this review but I realized it would never do the book justice. So I guess, I can only leave it with this commendation:
I've been reading this short volume since March. Being 2020, any number of crazy happened over those few months. But no matter what, an essay in this volume felt pertinent. From "The Zola Controversy" (which discusses statutes and how and when we recognize great thinkers) to "The Boy" (including a story about vandalizing statues) to "Patriotism and Sports" (the title speaks for itself) to "The Worship of the Wealthy" to "The Error of Impartiality" to...well, I could probably name all of them. It is not that he faced anything remotely similar to what we face. Or even that he could imagine it. Rather, he writes about the fundamentals and foundations of society. And as the world around us seems to be in the business of shaking the fundamentals of society, his observations cut to the mater in a way we like to obfuscate them at the moment.
So, even though this was probably more of a 4 star read, I will give it 5 stars for timeliness. (Or perhaps I mean timelessness?)
bpontius's review against another edition
2.0
An occasionally interesting collection of essays by Chesterton. Wouldn't strongly recommend it unless you're interested in hearing his perspective on numerous contemporary issues. However, regardless of the topic Chesterton has plenty of pithy and quotable turns of phrase.
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