There is a scene in Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday where an English detective, impersonating an anarchist, is joined in a “foul tavern” by another English detective, impersonating a nihilistic German professor. The second undercover detective ordered a glass of milk, in keeping with the habits of the Professor de Worms. But he rejected,…
Tag: g. k. chesterton
Review: The Napoleon of Notting Hill
In a drear future – or, we may say, a drear past that never was – democracy in England died. England sank into a dull despotism. Its army and police almost vanished; its King was chosen out of alphabetical lists. “No one cared how: no one cared who. He was merely a universal secretary.” In…
Good Friday
A Good Friday Excerpt of Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton The grinding power of the plain words of the Gospel story is like the power of mill-stones; and those who can read them simply enough will feel as if rocks had been rolled upon them. Criticism is only words about words; and of what use…
CSFF Blog Tour: The Myth of Arthur
Say, have you thought what manner of man it is Of whom men say “He could strike giants down”? Or what strong memories over time’s abyss Bore up the pomp of Camelot and the crown. And why one banner all the background fills, Beyond the pageants of so many spears, And by what witchery in…
CSFF Blog Tour: Imagining Angels
One sometimes wonders – on these tours where we debate angel books and angel characters – what angels make of it all. Possibly they don’t make much. Heaven has more important business. Anyway, they have surely noticed by now that gaps in human knowledge are often filled by human imagination. God has set limits so…
CSFF Blog Tour: Other Mills
Yesterday I mentioned G. K. Chesterton’s opinion that pagans practiced demonic rites because they knew they were terrible. Today I will provide excerpts from The Everlasting Man where he wrote this. This passage also touches on the issue of magic in Christian fiction, which Becky Miller raised in her post. I believe that Christians who…
Review: The Ballad of St. Barbara
There is an old legend of St. Barbara, patron saint of artillery and of those in danger of sudden death. And there are, I suppose, few better places to tell it than in the trenches of World War I. The Ballad of St. Barbara is written in two parts, both verse, alternating the legend of…
Clippings from my Kindle
Nearly a year ago I got my Kindle. A few months after that, I figured out how to create highlights. Here are a few Clippings from my Kindle. God is the only Being in this world who knows fully why He created me. Therefore, He directs my life. Husbands cannot give us purpose. God may…
Character Profiles: Rotten to the Core
And all that sat by the fire were sad, Save Ogier, who was stern, And his eyes hardened, even to stones, As he took the harp in turn; Earl Ogier of the Stone and Sling Was odd to ear and sight, Old he was, but his locks were red, And jests were all the words…
The Tremendous Issue
Last week I reviewed The Napoleon of Notting Hill. There was one criticism I had, when I first finished the novel, that I withdrew after further thought. I’ll share it now, but first a SPOILER WARNING: This post will focus on the ending of The Napoleon of Notting Hill. If you don’t want it spoiled,…