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A review by penguin_emperor_of_the_north
Heretics by G.K. Chesterton
4.0
I'll be honest, I don't often understand Chesterton. And when I do, it's because I took the time to reread a passage over and over. Heretics was definitely like that. A constant effort to follow Chesterton's train of thought and parse through the words to get at what he is saying.
And I'd say half the essays in here, I still don't fully understand. Sometimes I wasn't sure what the idea Chesterton was railing against was; sometimes I didn't understand Chesterton's opposition or argument. Sometimes, I just zoned, got through a few pages and realized I had no idea what was going on.
But what I really liked about this book (besides the Chestertonian turns of phrase) is that GK was willing to call out those he disagreed with. He doesn't respond with notes about how that may be true for them or any suggestion of relativity. No, he comes right out and says that I am right and they are wrong and here's why.
Like calling out the worship of the 'superman' (the Nietzschean ideal, not Clark Kent) or pessimists and cynics (myself included). He breaks it down to highlight the inherent absurdity of the ideas.
But after this deconstruction of the then contemporary ideas, I certainly look forward to him laying out his own view of orthodoxy in Orthodoxy.
And I'd say half the essays in here, I still don't fully understand. Sometimes I wasn't sure what the idea Chesterton was railing against was; sometimes I didn't understand Chesterton's opposition or argument. Sometimes, I just zoned, got through a few pages and realized I had no idea what was going on.
But what I really liked about this book (besides the Chestertonian turns of phrase) is that GK was willing to call out those he disagreed with. He doesn't respond with notes about how that may be true for them or any suggestion of relativity. No, he comes right out and says that I am right and they are wrong and here's why.
Like calling out the worship of the 'superman' (the Nietzschean ideal, not Clark Kent) or pessimists and cynics (myself included). He breaks it down to highlight the inherent absurdity of the ideas.
But after this deconstruction of the then contemporary ideas, I certainly look forward to him laying out his own view of orthodoxy in Orthodoxy.