A large, tall figure wearing a crumpled hat, a well-worn cloak, and carrying a swordstick enters the thread. His figure is imposing, but hardly impressive; his hair is unkempt, as is his mustache, and his glasses are crooked. The pockets of his jacket, trousers, and coat are filled to the brim with various items he has deposited there, usually because he cannot remember where they are supposed to go-- you see, he is rather absent minded; it is one of his traits that he has never tried to lose, for being absent minded about small and unimportant things leaves him free to clearly articulate his thoughts on the things which are truly important. From observing his appearance, you would hardly expect that this aging man would be a famous journalist and author... let alone the author of some of the most profound and timeless works that have ever been published. You would scarcely guess that the crumpled hat covers a mind which is capable of memorizing entire books, or that it houses some of the most brilliant thoughts you will ever read. It would be difficult to perceive that those eyes which are squinting through the crooked glasses are eyes which see the world more clearly and vividly than... well, pretty much anyone.
Who is this man, you may ask? His name was Gilbert Keith Chesterton.
Welcome to the special feature for G.K. Chesterton! 
If you have never read any of the works by this author, well, I can only say that you are truly missing out! He is quite possibly my favorite author ever. He wrote about many topics (it would probably be more accurate to say that he wrote about every topic), and wrote about all of them well. He was a journalist, a novelist, a poet, a biographer... the list goes on and on!
Now, here's a few questions to get the discussion started...
-Which of his books have you read?
-Which of his books do you own?
-Do you have a favorite book by him?
-Which of his characters is your favorite?
-Have you ever had the urge to have a picnic on the roof after reading Manalive? 
-Have you even read Manalive*??
*As President of the Manalive Conspiracy I have a tendency to go nuts when discussing it. Please ignore if necessary.
Let the discussion begin!
--- flambeau
President of the Manalive Conspiracy
Founder of Team Hoodie
Icon by me
Topic starter
Posted : October 30, 2010 12:05 pm
Flambeau, indeed I have read Manalive and wrote my thoughts on it here (in fairly Chestertonian fashion, if I do say so myself).
TBG
Whereof we speak, thereof we cannot be silent.
If God did not exist, we would be unable to invent Him.
Posted : October 31, 2010 4:26 pm
I feel I should not be posting here, for all I have read of Chesteron's work is a Father Brown short story. It was a lovely little story, and I quite liked it, but I made the mistake of putting the book down and it has been buried under the mountains of other books waiting for me. 
Also, once upon a time I went to the book store to get Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and right beside it was The Man Who was Thursday. I'd heard from many people that that particular book was amazing, so I spent a full fifteen minutes in the bookstore as I contemplated getting it while my mother waited in the car for me. In the end, I didn't buy it.
Now, I've also heard Manalive is good... 
but it never comes up on BookMooch...
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Posted : October 31, 2010 11:26 pm
-Which of his books have you read? The Wisdom of Father Brown, The Man Who Was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Manalive, Heretics, and Orthodoxy
-Which of his books do you own? All of the above and none at all... I have Project Gutenberg texts. 
-Do you have a favorite book by him? The Man Who Was Thursday. It was hilariously funny, and then the ending totally blew me away.
-Which of his characters is your favorite? Gabriel Syme
-Have you ever had the urge to have a picnic on the roof after reading Manalive? Uh... kind of...
-Have you even read Manalive*?? Yes, dear president, I have finally done so! 
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago! -- G. K. Chesterton
Posted : November 1, 2010 1:32 pm
Excellent review, TBG! I love how you tied Chesterton's concept in with the Christian life. 
Awww, poor Nionel! It's a shame that you haven't gotten to read more than that! You picked a good series to start with though! I personally love the Father Brown stories a lot! As for TMWWT and Manalive, I can't even count how many times I've read those books! They are in a class by themselves, and are perfectly wonderful. I'd recommend both of them!
@ Mel, I've not read Heretics or Orthodoxy, are they good?
You don't any of his books in hard copy? You have my deepest sympathy!!
-Have you ever had the urge to have a picnic on the roof after reading Manalive?
Woohoo! I'm not the only one!
-Have you even read Manalive*?? Yes, dear president, I have finally done so!
*high fives*
Now, to answer my own questions...
I have read Manalive, TMWWT, The Flying Inn, The Ball and the Cross, The Everlasting Man, What's Wrong With the World, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Man Who Knew Too Much, all of the Father Brown stories, and a collection of his short stories. I think there might have been a few more, but I can't remember right now.
I own Manalive (two copies), TMWWT (two copies of this one too), The Flying Inn, The Ball and the Cross, What's Wrong With the World, The Man Who Knew Too Much, all of the Father Brown stories, Charles Dickens (a first edition! ), and Irish Impressions (another first edition! ). I think that's all.
My favorite book by him would be either Manalive or TMWWT. Both of those are amazing, and I don't know if I could choose between the two of them.
My favorite character would be either Innocent Smith, Gabriel Syme, or Michael Moon. I'm also quite fond of Dr. Bull.
The answer to the last two questions is YES, and YES!
Have any of you ever read Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton by Dale Ahlquist? It's exceptional, and I would highly recommend it to any Chesterton fans. My copy has been read multiple times and is full of underlines, double underlines, and exclamation points that I've added to mark my favorite quotes.
--- flambeau
President of the Manalive Conspiracy
Founder of Team Hoodie
Icon by me
Topic starter
Posted : November 4, 2010 8:37 am
flam, we even have a portion of roof that would be excellent to picnic on, so I don't really have an excuse not to.
Heretics and Orthodoxy are books that have to be read more than once, I think, and I've only read them once so far. I read, but I'm not sure I comprehended a lot of it. In Heretics, Chesterton takes the work of several famous authors, and comments on their world-views. Orthodoxy continues on the same theme, but he uses himself as an example. Of the two, I think I found more passages I would have underlined in Orthodoxy.
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago! -- G. K. Chesterton
Posted : November 4, 2010 9:15 am
Please note that this Special Feature will be closing on Saturday, November 20, after which you may continue discussing the great Chesterton in the Books thread.
Also, remember that if you have an idea for a Special Feature, please PM one of the Spare Oom mods, and we will be glad to add it to the list.
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Posted : November 15, 2010 3:09 pm
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