On tap

“No animal ever invented anything as bad as drunkenness – or as good as drink.” – G.K. Chesterton

Tonight, I decided to have a beer. I don't know why; just in the mood.

As I sipped my Guinness Stout, I wondered if that was one of the beers Chesterton drank. Perhaps a scholar out there has studied the particular brands he drank. Perhaps a dedicated Chestertonian might then set a goal of drinking a pint of each brand the great one imbibed. I would be happy to volunteer.

Given GKC's distributist ideas, perhaps he preferred locally brewed beverages. Ales and porters of London and its environs? Hmm.

But perhaps he did sample a Guinness. I'll settle for that now.

A Gosnell reflection

I don't know if late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell
will end up in Hell,
but I bet he's hoping all those babies who died
won't be helping God to decide.

Today I wore Chesterton

At the Catholic school where I teach, I've been sneaking in Chesterton - essays and poetry in a couple of classes. Just a taste, but at least some of the students have now heard of him.

I've also been wearing him  on dress down days like today. Specifically, I have a Chesterton Academy sweatshirt. People assume it's a tribute just to Chesterton, not that it represents another high school. I don't explain. But I do proclaim.

Chesterton lives! 

In which I spout heresy

I've read a goodly amount of Chesterton's writings. My tally is no where near the amount the great Dale Ahlquist has read - I suspect he has studied even Chesterton's shopping lists ("Two cigars, three pieces of chalk, brown paper, ...") - but it's more than most people. I credit his biography of St. Francis with helping to save my faith, and I followed that up with such books as his biography of Aquinas, The Everlasting Man, and Orthodoxy, a slew of his essays, and a broad selection of his poetry.

But I had not read many of his Father Brown stories.

I had read a few of the Brown mysteries - the ones that are regularly anthologized - and I enjoyed them.

So this past Christmas I was delighted when youngest daughter gave me a first American edition of The Wisdom of Father Brown that she had found in a used bookstore.

I had a few other things to read first, then I got to this treasure full of anticipation.

With each story I grew more disappointed.

I am a fan of mysteries. I've read almost all the Sherlock Holmes tales, many of the Tony Hillerman Navajo stories, a number of Parker's Spenser books (where I learned a better way to cook pasta!), all the Father Dowling books my local library had, and I even got to interview the incredible (though sadly, now late) Ed Hoch, who's stories I love.

I just didn't think the mysteries in this Father Brown book were particularly good as mystery stories.

Then I got to "The God of the Gongs."

I was more than disappointed. I was offended.

I understand that it was a different time period and that racial names were viewed differently then, but I found the frequent use of "Nigger" jarring. If it had just been that - I've read The Adventures of  Huckleberry Finn - I could have understood the use of that word. But there was also an attitude of racial superiority that came through in various lines about Italians, darker races, and Blacks, and when Father Brown observed, "That negro who has just swaggered out is one of the most dangerous men on earth, for he has the brains of a European, with the instincts of a cannibal," I nearly threw the book down.

I don't think Chesterton was a racist. I think he was a product of his time.

I would not be surprised if such attitudes might be found in some of his other writings - I've only begun to mine the mother lode. But they have literary riches that outweigh such racial slag.

But as for the Father Brown tales ,,,

I'll finish reading the book - it was a gift and I feel obligated - but it may be a while before I'll read any more Father Brown mysteries. I've lost the desire.