Happy Birthday Gilbert!

 

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, born May 29, 1874.

“The first fact about the celebration of birthdays is that it is a good way of affirming defiantly, and even flamboyantly, that it is a good thing to be alive.” – G.K. Chesterton.

Except, of course, he is no longer alive!

But we will still celebrate. 

C. S. Lewis Sighting

 

One of my favorite periodicals is the St. Austin Review (StAR)..

I just got the May/June 2023 issue, and it is dedicated to C. S. Lewis. 

The issue  includes numerous articles and review related to Lewis, beginning with the editorial by Joseph Pearce: "The Mere Genius of C. S. Lewis."

Other articles include: 

A Literary Communion of Saints: C. S. Lewis and the Power of Literature
The Great Divorce: A Novel Answer to an Immodest Proposal
Ablution versus Abolition in C. S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength
If You Haven't Read Narnia Yet
C. S. Lewis' Genius for Apologetics

And a number of other Lewis-related articles and reviews. I have not read them all yet, but I am looking forward to it.

If you have not discovered StAR yet, and you enjoy intelligent examinations of literature and culture from a Catholic/Christian perspective, I urge you to consider subscribing.

My own contact with Lewis began about the time I first encountered G. K. Chesterton.

As I've noted previously, in the mid 1970's when my faith was wavering I happend to come across some works that righted my spiritual ship: The Confessions of St. Augustine, The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton, and St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton.  

Around the same time, though, I also came across the Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis. I read those all in a one week period!

I continued to read Chesterton after than first encounter - but I read even more of Lewis. The science fiction trilogy, Till We have Faces, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man, Surprised by Joy, The Four Loves, A Grief Observed, and severl collections of stories and essay. 

I read all those works in a ten-year span. You might say I binged on Lewis!

It is only in the last 20 years that I have been reading enough Chesterton to catch up with the Lewis tally. 

Both writers well worth reading.

About the Pearce List - Additions

 

In a previous post, I mentioned Joseph Pearce's Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know.

Specifically, I noted what books by Chesterton and his friends made Pearce's list of 100 works of literature every Catholic should aspire to read.

It's a pretty comprehensive list. I've read in whole 55 of them. I've read most of The Canterbury Tales, but not all of them, so I did not count that. I've read some of the poems of many of the poets listed, but not all of their poems, so I don't count them. With the Tales and the poets I can say I've read in part six  more works he listed.

I have encountered other lists of great works of literature or Catholic works of literature that Catholics should read. Brandon Vogt, for example, has a comprehensive list.

In considering Pearce's list, I have few arguments. It's a good list. Some of the books are hard to find - even in our local library. My personal taste does not run to Jane Austen, so I doubt I'll put a lot of effort into reading more of her books (Mind you, I've taught Pride and Prejudice and even directed a play version of it!). I don't know why he included Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor - a play I rank among his poorer efforts.

The list does seem very Eurocentric, with a heavy British emphasis, but Pearce is from England, so I'll give him a pass on that.

In the the chapters of the book he does touch on some other writers, but does not add any of their works to the list of 100. There are other writers he never mentions at all.. 

Among the works I'd add to such a list:

The Sonnets of Shakespeare (yes, a number of his plays are listed, but not his poetry)
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
C. S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letter

Harriet Beecher Stowe - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Shusaku Endo - Silence

Sandra Benitez - The Weight of All Things

Phyllis McGinley - Times Three (Selected verse from three decades) 
J. F. Powers - Morte d'Urban, Wheat That Springeth Green
Michael O'Brien - Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, Strangers and Sojourners

Yes, some of my added suggestions are not "classics," but they are well worth reading

 

Father Brown Goal Met

As a fan of mystery stories in general, one of my long-term reading goals was to read all of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries.

Having now read The Scandal of Father Brown, I have met that goal.

All told, he wrote 53 Father Brown tales. They were collected in the Ignatius Press G. K. Chesterton: Collected Works.

There were five collections:

The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)

The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914)

The Incredulity of Father Brown (1926) 

The Secret of Father Brown (1927)

The Scandal of Father Brown (1935)

There were also three tales originally not included in the five volumes: "The Donnington Affair," 'The Vampire of the Village," and 'The Mask of Midas."

Chesterton once declared "I think it only fair to confess that I have myself written some of the worst mystery stories in the world.".

I don't agree with him. I have certainly read far worse mystery stories. And some of the Father Brown tales are wonderful mysteries. Even the "worst" of them are enjoyable.  

I do acknowledge, however, that some of the tales read as if he wrote them out of financial necessity or or in a hurry. I remember one tale, for example, where a character was referred to as another person's daughter a couple of times, then, later, as that person's granddaughter. Chesterton also uses some stereotypes when referring to certain ethnic groups, or used the "n" word when referring to Blacks. Yes, I understand that the stereotypes and words he used were not offensive in his time, but they certainly made me uncomfortable as a modern reader. When revealed, some of the crimes seemed implausible. 

Some of the tales were stretched out by theological or philosophical passages. Those enriched the tales for me, and set them apart from many other mystery stories. I think those passages helped ot make the tales timeless.

Now that I'm done with the Father Brown stories I need to explore some of his other mystery stories. 

I look forward to that. 

When reading Robert Frost (clerihew)

 

When reading Robert Frost

I often find myself getting lost

in thoughts of walls and trees and snow and roads,

but never once of toads.

Inspector Javert Clerihew

 

Inspector Javert

felt an insatiable desire for a chocolate eclair.
But since the bakeries would not open until well after dawn
he obsessed instead about Jean Valjean.

They Made the List

 Back in 2019, Joseph Pearce published Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know.

He discusses a number of authors in the book, then, in Chapter 25, lists "100 Works of Literature Every Catholic Should Know." 

It's a pretty comprehensive chronological list, ranging from The Iliad to Lancelot by Walker Percy. It does not, however, include theological works, hence works like The Everlasting Man did not make the list.

Still, it includes many works by some of our friends.

Hilaire Belloc:

The Path to Rome
The Four Men
Complete Verse

G. K Chesterton:

The Napoleon of Notting Hill
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Ball and the Cross
The Ballad of the White Horse

Maurice Baring:

C
Cat's Cradle
Robert Peckham

J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings

C. S. Lewis:

Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength
Till We Have Faces
The Chronicles of Narnia

Hmm. No Screwtape Letters?  

Still, it's a good reading list. 

When did you ...

A fellow over on Twitter posed a question: When did you realize C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton were right about pretty much everything?

I had to think about that one.

My own contact with Lewis and Chesterton began in the 1970's. In late 1974 I read the Chronicles of Narnia. I read Chesterton's St. Francis of Assisi in the spring of 1975. Both authors were important to helping sort out my faith at that time.

Though I had encountered the writings of both, I gravitated toward Lewis. Indeed, I began to buy and read his books/collections. By the early 1980's I had read a couple of biographies about him, and:

The science fiction trilogy. The Screwtape Letters, Till We Have Faces, Mere Christianity, The Allegory of Love, The Four Loves, The Abolition of Man, The World's Last Night, Of Other Worlds, God in the Dock, Surprised by Joy, A Grief Observed

I found in Lewis a kindred spirit. I did indeed think he was right about pretty much everything.

I began reading more Chesterton in the 1980's, in part because of learning about his influence on Lewis, and in part because he was touted for writing two of the spiritual classics of the Twentieth Century: Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. So I read both. His thinking helped me to clarify my own. I saw he was also right about things. But I still preferred Lewis, whom I found easier and more pleasurable to read.

I became more immersed in Chesterton in the 1990's and, in particular, after joining the Chesterton Society in the early 2000's, subscribing to Gilbert, and attending the local annual Chesterton conferences. In the last 20 years I have read multiple books by and about him, includign several biographies. Of Chesterton I have read:

The Man Who Was Thursday, Manalive, G. K. Chesterton's Early Poetry, The Coloured Lands, Tremendous Trifles, What's Wrong With The World, The Autobiography, Magic, Heretics, Chesteerton in Black and White, The Well and the Shallows, and Eugenics and Other Evils.

Dale Ahlquist has produced a number of studies I have read: Knight of the Holy Ghost,  The Gift of Wonder,The Complete Thinker, and The Apostle of Common Sense. 

There have been other works about him as well.  

Yes, when I discover an author I like I become fixated.

I still find Lewis easier and more pleasurable to read. And, to be honest, I have found some of Chesterton's dated racial terms and stereotypes uncomfortable to read. But I still read both - most recently reading The Great Divorce and rereading Out of the Silent Planet, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters, all by Lewis, and currently rereading The Everlasting Man with the local Chesterton Society. 

Last year, I reread two of the Narnia books: The Silver Chair and The Last Battle

As for Chesterton, I read

 
The Ballad of the White Horse
Lepanto: With Explanatory Notes and Commentary
The Secret of Father Brown
"The Donnington Affair"
“The Vampire of the Village”
St. Thomas Aquinas

I have a goal of reading all the Father Brown mysteries. I'll finish that goal this year. I'll also likely be reading another Chesterton title with the local Chesterton Society. As for Lewis, I will be rereading some of his books - it's been 40 years since I binged on him.

Going back to the fellow's Twitter question: I began seeing Lewis as right about pretty much everything in the 1970's, and Chesterton in the early 2000's. 

Speaking of Clerihews

 

Over the years I've been fortunate to have a number of my clerihews published in Gilbert . The current tally is 50 individual poems. Due to some mix-up, four of those were published a second time.

The last one published was a Robert Burns one in the May/June 2022 issue.

Although I did not attend the Conference last year, I did submit several clerihews for the Clerihew Contest. Alas, they did not make the winners' list, nor have they appeared since in any issue. So unless one of those that I submitted last July make it into print in the future, the tally will likely remain at 50.

Not a bad total.

Oh, I'm still writing clerihews, and will continue to post them here, but I've stopped submitting to the magazine for now.

Here's the published list in alphabetical order:

Achilles - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017
After that day in Moriah, young Isaac - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017
Albert Einstein - Gilbert Magazine, September 2009

Alexa - Gilbert May/June 2020

Anne Rice - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

As a director, Ed Wood - Gilbert May/June 2020

A somber Marquis de Sade - Gilbert May/June 2017

At Nicaea, St. Nicholas - Gilbert! May/June 2019

Ayn Rand - Gilbert May/June 2020

Charles Bukowski - Gilbert January/February 2017

Condoleeza Rice - Gilbert Magazine, June/July 2007

Dr. Mary Gatter - Gilbert May/June 2017

e (cummings) e - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

Elizabeth Warren - Gilbert May/June 2020

Evangelista Torricelli - Gilbert January/February 2019

Fidel Castro - Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

Fred Rogers - Gilbert November/December 2018

Geoffrey Chaucer - Gilbert May/June 2020

G. K. Chesterton - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017

Herman Melville -  Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

I don’t know if Rudyard Kipling - Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

In his early life Thomas Merton - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

In those woods, Robert Frost- Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2009

Irascible St. Jerome - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017

Jackson Pollock - Gilbert! May/June 2019

Jean Paul Sartre - Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

Lot's wife - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

Methuselah - Gilbert! July/August 2018

Napoleon Bonaparte - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017

One of the aims of ISIS - Gilbert May/June 2017

     One of the aims of ISIS - Gilbert May/June 2020

Paolo Uccello - Gilbert November/December 2018

President James Polk - Gilbert Magazine, May/June 2011

Prolific Stephen King - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

Robert Burns – Gilbert May/June 2022

Rudyard Kipling - Gilbert April/May 2007 

Saintly King Henry - Gilbert November/December 2018

Steven Wright - Gilbert May/June 2017

     Steven Wright - Gilbert! May/June 2019

St. Dominic - Gilbert November/December 2018

St. Francis of Assisi - Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

St. Thomas Aquinas - Gilbert November/December 2018

There was a side of J. R. R. Tolkien - Gilbert Nov/Dec 2017

Titus Oates - Gilbert! May/June 2019

Tron - Gilbert November/December 2018

TV’s Dr. House - Gilbert Magazine, April/May 2007

Vladimir Kosma Zworykin - Gilbert Magazine, March/April 2011

Vladimir Putin - Gilbert (March/April) 2017

When Alexander Pope - Gilbert May/June 2017

     When Alexander Pope - Gilbert! May/June 2019

When he was young St. Polycarp - Gilbert May/June 2017

     When he was young St. Polycarp - Gilbert! May/June 2019

When talking with Socrates - Gilbert Magazine, January/February 2007

When Siddhartha Gautama - Gilbert Magazine, July/August 2009

Yvonne De Carlo - Gilbert! March/April 2021 

St. Blaise

 

It's probably safe to assume Saint Blaise
is enjoying Paradise these days.
Martyrdom likely led him to eternal glory
and not just some fish story.

Where's the Chesterton Biography Movie?

In recent years we have been treated to biographical movies about J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien) and C. S. Lewis (Shadowlands, The Most Reluctant Convert). But as far as I know, we have had no biographical film about G. K. Chesterton, despite his friendship with Tolkien and his influence on Lewis.

Now Chesterton has appeared in segments of the in the EWTN series G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense. And, of course, his character Father Brown has been the subject of at least two movies (Father Brown. Detective and The Detective) and two television series (the first in 1974 and a current one that began in 2013 and is still being produced). I've even heard of  movies based on Magic and The Man Who Was Thursday, though I have seen neither. 

But no biographical movies. 

There's potential, certainly. His discovery of faith and his later conversion to Catholicism, his encounter with the diabolist, his courtship of Frances, the debates with Shaw, the Marconi scandal, and so on.

But no biopics.

I can think of a few possible reasons.

His books are not as popular or as widely known as those of Tolkien or Lewis. His audience tends to be more limited, and for a long time his reputation had waned or was obscured. 

His writing style, while popular in his day, is sometimes a challenge for modern readers, hence he is less read than Tolkien and Lewis. Father Brown is his most popular character, but the two Father Brown television shows were shown in the U.S. on PBS, which tends to draw a small audience. .   

Chesterton died in the 1930's while Lewis lived until the 1960's and Tolkien to the 1970's, so he is a more distant figure.

There have been accusations of anti-Semitism, which, while supporters have argued  persuasively against them, still linger. Certainly those accusations have interfered with his cause for canonization. One suspects the possibility of controversy has made movie makers hesitant.

And, to be honest, he was not photogenic, especially later in life when he was very heavy and dressed in eccentric ways. Even as a young man before he gained weight he was not exactly a looker. (I say this as one who always described himself as having a face made for radio!)

Though, apparently, Frances didn't mind!

Nor, fortunately, did my wife when it came to me!   

Whatever the reason, I am aware of no credible interest in a biographical film celebrating his life.

There may still be a chance some day of a Chesterton biography in our theaters. It could be something The Society of G. K. Chesterton might consider promoting, though I am not aware of any efforts on their part currently.

Until then, we will just have to content ourselves with the pleasure of reading his works.  

Princess Diana

 

In response to some unkind comments about Princess Diana in the November/December Gilbert, I have only two things to say:

1. I was always taught it's rude to speak ill of the dead in that way.

2. Princess Diana is a distant relative. 

C. S. Lewis and Mere Christianity

I bought my copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis February 25, 1980.

I know this because the receipt is still in the book. I bought it those four decades ago at the now defunct Village Green Book Store here in Rochester, N.Y.

I was on a C. S. Lewis binge back in those days. I would only later really discover the greatness of  Chesterton. 

Currently, I'm trying to increase my spiritual reading, so I thought it was a good time to reread this book, which is based on radio addresses Lewis gave.

It's only been some 40 years, after all!

Unlike the Village Green Bookstore, the ideas in the book are clearly not defunct.

And as I was reading, it hit me that they seem really familiar. I have used many of the same explanations and arguments myself over the last 40 years.

The more I read, the more I began to wonder if this book was the source of some of my own thinking, or if what he wrote clarified ideas that were forming in my mind at the time that I read the book. His method of creating common situations, anecdotes, or "parables" to help explain more complex theological points - such as his description of a writer creating a novel to help explain how God is outside of time - is a technique I have used in my own teaching and theological discussions. Did I learn that from him? Or did he simply reinforce a tendency already in me?

I was not aware of it at the time, but I now know that his own conversion came about in part from reading G.K. Chesterton, so I began wondering if some of Lewis's ideas came from Chesterton or were clarified by reading him. Perhaps I'm just another link in a chain.

I'm almost done with Mere Christianity. I'm also rereading The Screwtape Letters as part of a Catholic reading group as well.

I suspect I will be rereading more Lewis when I am finished with these books.

Chesterton (and Friends) Reading in 2022

Each year, I keep a tally of works read - books, plays, etc. And a number of those works this past year certainly fit under the heading of "Chesterton and Friends."

Chesterton is well represented: 

The Ballad of the White Horse 
Lepanto: With Explanatory Notes and Commentary 
The Secret of Father Brown 

"The Donnington Affair" 

“The Vampire of the Village”  
St. Thomas Aquinas 

The last work was reread as part of the group reading by our local Chesterton Society. 

I had reread The Lord of the Rings last year. This year, Tolkien was represented by The Father Christmas Letters.

C. S.  Lewis put in an appearance with two of his Narnia books that I reread: 

The Silver Chair 

The Last Battle 

Though more of a predecessor than a "friend," George MacDonald also joined the tally with Phantastes. 

A more recent "friend" of Chesterton is Joseph Pearce. I read two of his histories:

Heroes of the Catholic Reformation: Saints Who Renewed the Church 

Faith of our Fathers: A History of True England  

I also read a recent novel in which Chesterton, Lewis. Tolkien, and Owen Barfield are characters! In Toward the Gleam by T. M. Doran, Chesterton even saves the life of the main character.

Finally, Chesterton was a fan of  Dickens, and though Dickens is not a "friend" the way Tolkien or even Lewis would be, I think it's safe to include Oliver Twist in my tally.

Next year, there will certainly be more Chesterton, Lewis, and Dickens. I'm already in the process of rereading The Everlasting Man with my Chesterton Society group, and The Screwtape Letters with my Campion reading group. I'm in the process of trying to read all the Father Brown mysteries. I have only The Scandal of Father Brown and "The Mask of Midas" to go, so they are on my list for 2023. I recently got a copy of The Story of the Family by Dale Ahlquist, and will read that in the coming months. I also plan to reread Dickens' David Copperfield.  

Who knows what words of other friends will also pass before my eyes.

Merry Christmas

 

               Jesus
               came to save all,
               the lowly and the great,
               but chose to come as one of the
               lowly.

Toward the Gleam (T. M. Doran)

One thing I did notice among some recent books written by Catholic writers of a certain school is fictionalized versions of actual historical figures. This proved true in Toward the Gleam by T. M. Doran. 

Among the folks who show up are G.K. Chesterton (who at one point saves the life of the main character!), C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Agatha Christie, Edith Stein, and Winston Churchill (!). The main character is also a famous individual (under an assumed name). I won't reveal who he is, but I was able to figure it out early in the book.

Chesterton actually shows up just twice - but, as I mentioned, he arrives at just the right moment to save the main character.

Lewis and Barfield show up a few times, offering insights and advice.

And Christie, appropriately, provides a mystery.

The premise of the book is that a college professor (a philologist) on a hike finds box made of a strange metal containing a book written in mysterious runes. The main character spends years trying to translate the runes, eventually discovering the book is about an ancient previously unknown civilization.

Along the way a criminal mastermind, who seeks knowledge from that civilization thinking it would give him great power, discovers the main character has something connected with that civilization, but does not know exactly what it is. The villain tries to cajole, bribe, then threaten the main character and his family and friends in an effort to obtain that artifact. Some attempts on the life of the main character are made (and along the way several people are indeed killed), but he is saved through luck, his own resources, and the help of his friends (the folks mentioned earlier).

I won't reveal more of the plot.

The characterizations were believable. The plot moves along. The philosophical discussions don't bog down the story. It was fun recognizing the famous folks and what this book is really about. There are a few elements that stretch credulity (it is fiction, after all), but all the loose threads are resolved by the end.

A Chestertonian would find much in this book to like. 

I'll continue, for now

 

In my last post, I noted that so few people seem to be following this blog any more - even the former team members.

I got no responses. 

This used to be a respectable blog. There were some good writers. When they asked me to join I felt honored.

I've decided to continue for now. Chesterton and the "friends" - writers who knew him, were influenced by him, or who are like him in some ways - are too important to simply ignore.

Who knows, maybe some time in the future someone will be inspired by something here. 

So ...

 

I've been attempting to keep this blog alive. But it seems that very few people read the new posts - even my fellow team members appear to have abandoned it entirely.

Is it worth the time and effort? I know blogs are considered passe, but then, some people think Chesterton is passe. 

Any responses? 

Chesterton and Anti-Semitism

In 1978 I was counselor and a life guard at a summer camp. During one session, the boys' cabin I was working with played a softball game against a girls' cabin. The girls trounced the boys.

After the game,  my fellow male counselors and I chided the boys for allowing girls to beat them. We were echoing the kind of comments we had heard our high school coaches saying to us.

That night, a couple of the female counselors approached me. They pointed out the inappropriateness of our comments disparaging girls playing sports. I listened, recognizing they had a point.

When I think of that incident, I also recall times when, as a grade school and middle school student in the 1960's, friends and I made a number ethnic jokes. We thought we were being funny; I realized when I was older we were being offensive.

Was I a bigot or a sexist? No. But I was guilty of saying some inappropriate things. 

The summer camp incident and the ethnic jokes were all reflective of the times, and of my ignorance.

Which brings me to G.K. Chesterton.

There has been a recent flap involving individuals charging him again with anti-Semitism. The flap has led to one once stalwart Chestertonian rejecting Chesterton and his supporters/defenders, and to some former Chestertonians, like ex-lovers, gleefully supporting his criticisms.

I'm not here to chastise the fallen-away stalwart. He explains himself well, and he makes some good points. I hope with time there may be a reconciliation.

But it did lead me to reexamine my own unease about some of the things Chesterton has written. He did write some things about Jews that made me uncomfortable. He also bothered me when in multiple instances he referred to Blacks as n*****s.

I recognize, however, that I'm judging those comments and words through the lens of my own times and awareness. Consequently, I've always I considered such troubling comments and word choices as reflective of the times in which he was writing. I certainly have seen even worse comments from other writers of his time. I once wrote a clerihew about Rudyard Kilping, for example:

I don’t know if Rudyard Kipling
ever had problems with tippling.
The concerns that he’d face
involved imperialism and race.

Still, Chesterton did write a number of things that clearly are offensive. But I consider that he, like me, acted out of ignorance and reflected his times. 

That does not shield him from criticism or even exonerate him.

A sin committed out of ignorance is still a sin. The culpability is in part mitigated, but there is still culpability. 

Despite those troubling things he wrote, I remain convinced that Chesterton was NOT an anti-Semite. 

However, I also understand that what he wrote is offensive to many people, and has been an impediment to his being officially recognized as a saint. He may never be able to overcome that impediment.

 

That doesn't mean he's not a saint, just not an official one. 

But he is not an anti-Semite.

He's just a flawed human being, as am I.

Dostoyevsky Clerihew

Fyodor Dostoevsky

was plagued by vices that proved pesky.
So to pay his bills he took a successful gamble
creating characters who were prone to verbally ramble.