G. K. Chesterton
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- For the town of Chesterton in Cambridgeshire, see Chesterton (Cambridge).
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (May 29 1874 – June 14 1936) was an English writer of the early 20th century. Chesterton was known as the "prince of paradox" because he communicated his conservative, often countercultural, ideas in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. For example: "Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it." Most of Chesterton's works remain in print, including collections of his Father Brown detective stories, and Ignatius Press is presently undertaking the monumental task of publishing his complete works.
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Life and career
Born in Campden Hill, Kensington, London, Chesterton was educated at St. Paul's School, and later went to the Slade School of Art in order to become an illustrator. In 1900, Chesterton was asked to write a few magazine articles on art criticism, which sparked his interest in writing. He went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. Chesterton's writings displayed a wit and sense of humour that is unusual even today, while often making extremely serious comments on the world, government, politics, economics, philosophy, theology and many other topics.
Chesterton wrote around 80 books, several hundred poems, 200 short stories, 4000 essays and a few plays. He was a columnist for the Daily News, Illustrated London News, and his own paper, G.K's Weekly. In the United States, his writings on distributism were popularized through The American Review, published by Seward Collins in New York. He was a literary and social critic, historian, playwright, novelist, Catholic Christian theologian and apologist, debater, and mystery writer. His most well-known character is the priest-detective Father Brown, who appeared only in short stories, while The Man Who Was Thursday is arguably his best-known novel. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922. Christian themes and symbolism appear in much of his writing, and he often presented himself in the role of the Church's champion.
The British writer Hilaire Belloc is often associated with his friend Chesterton. Although very different men, they had in common their Catholic faith and a critical attitude to both capitalism and socialism. Both are figures likely to outlast many of their more celebrated literary contemporaries.
Chesterton was a large man, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and weighing around 21 stones (134 kg). Chesterton had a unique look, usually wearing a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, and usually a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Chesterton rarely remembered where he was supposed to be going and would even miss the train that was supposed to take him there. It was not uncommon for Chesterton to send a telegram to his wife, Frances Blogg, whom he married in 1901, from some distant (and incorrect) location writing such things as, "Am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" to which she would reply, "Home."
Chesterton loved to debate, often publicly debating with friends such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Bertrand Russell, and Clarence Darrow. Chesterton was usually considered the winner. According to his autobiography, he and George Bernard Shaw played cowboys in a silent movie that, alas, was never released.
He is buried in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in the Roman Catholic Cemetery.
Influence
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- Chesterton's The Everlasting Man contributed to a young atheist named C. S. Lewis being converted to Christianity.
- Chesterton's biography of Charles Dickens was largely responsible for creating a popular revival for Dickens' work as well as a serious reconsideration of Dickens by scholars. Considered by T.S. Eliot, Peter Ackroyd, and others, to be the best book on Dickens ever written.
- Chesterton's Orthodoxy has become a religious classic.
- An essay that Chesterton wrote for the Illustrated London News inspired Mohandas Gandhi to lead the movement to end British colonial rule in India.
- Chesterton's novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish independence. The same book inspired George Orwell for writing his Nineteen Eighty-Four, which has several implicit references to TNoNH.
- Chesterton's work has inspired lyricists like Daniel Amos's Terry Scott Taylor from the 1970s to the 2000s. Daniel Amos mentioned Chesterton by name in the title track from 2001's Mr. Buechner's Dream.
- His physical appearance and apparently some of his mannerisms were a direct inspiration for the character of Dr. Gideon Fell, a well-known fictional detective created in the early 1930s by the Anglo-American mystery writer John Dickson Carr.
- The character Gilbert in the comic book The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, was based on Chesterton.
Some conservatives today have been influenced by his support for distributism. A. K. Chesterton, the right-wing journalist and the first chairman of the National Front, was a cousin.
Quotes
"The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up."
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."
"The rich are the scum of the earth in every country."
"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead."
"Tea, although an Oriental, Is a gentleman at least; Cocoa is a cad and coward, Cocoa is a vulgar beast."
"Are they clinging to their crosses, F. E. Smith?" (see Welsh Church Act 1914)
(Although often attributed to Chesterton, the quote "When men stop believing in God they don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything," resides nowhere in the writer's works, as such. However, it is certainly reflective of his philosophy and most likely comes roughly from a sketch written about Chesterton by another writer.)
See also
Literature and biographies on Chesterton
- Ward, M., Gilbert Keith Chesterton Sheed & Ward, 1944
- Gilbert - the Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton, by Michael Coren
- Marshall McLuhan wrote an article on G.K. Chesterton, titled "G.K. Chesterton: A Practical Mystic" (Dalhousie Review 15 (4), 1936).
- Chesterton's writings have been praised by such authors as Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, Frederick Buechner, Evelyn Waugh, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Karel Čapek, Paul Claudel, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Sigrid Undset, Ronald Knox, C. S. Lewis, Kingsley Amis, W. H. Auden, Anthony Burgess, E. F. Schumacher, Neil Gaiman, Orson Welles, Dorothy Day and others.
References
- The Oxford Dictionary of 20th Century Quotations by Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-860103-4)
External links
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- The American Chesterton Society (http://www.chesterton.org)
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- An extensive collection of e-text links (http://www.dur.ac.uk/martin.ward/gkc/books/)
- G. K. Chesterton (http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/GKChesterton.shtml): notes on his novel The Man Who Was Thursday
- Bibliography of detective fiction 1st Editions (http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/chestertonbib.htm)
- G. K. Chesterton in Russian (http://www.chesterton.ru/)
- Gilbert Magazine (http://www.gilbertmagazine.com/): a magazine about Chesterton and topics of interest
- Chesterton House: A Center for Christian Studies at Cornell University (http://www.chestertonhouse.org)be:Гільбэрт Кійт Чэстэртан
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