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reeseg's review against another edition
4.0
If I was forced to read this book again, I wouldn't complain.
williamriverdale's review against another edition
5.0
A terrific collection of essays. Each one startles and ambushes you. Chesterton takes no prisoners. He is going to grab you by the ankles and shake you upside down until your brain falls off and your heart tavels up your body and gets lodged inside your cranium. He will make you see the whole cosmos in a new light, and even more astoundingly, he will make you see your neighbor next door in an even more blazing glory. A must read.
nattynatchan's review against another edition
5.0
"Man cannot love mortal things. He can only love immortal things for an instant."
"Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves."
"The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap... When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale."
"Exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful."
"Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves."
"The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap... When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale."
"Exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful."
bkoser's review against another edition
5.0
Chesterton is so pithy. Each essay is a procession of proverbs and analogies toward his philosophic destination. He delights in paradox and reversal.
The main figures he discusses (Kipling, Shaw, H. G. Wells) are still well-known, but some of the people and politics discussed are not, making those portions less meaningful today.
I read this on Hoopla and was not impressed by the ebook, so I decided this was a good time to produce my first Standard Ebook. I'll link to that here when it's done. Maybe I can pull out some of my favorite quotes on that re-read.
4.5 stars
The main figures he discusses (Kipling, Shaw, H. G. Wells) are still well-known, but some of the people and politics discussed are not, making those portions less meaningful today.
I read this on Hoopla and was not impressed by the ebook, so I decided this was a good time to produce my first Standard Ebook. I'll link to that here when it's done. Maybe I can pull out some of my favorite quotes on that re-read.
4.5 stars
rschmidt7's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting collection of essays
Many of Chesterton's references and allusions in this book are outdated or terribly obscure to a 21st century American. However, this is a good read for anyone who has an interest in Chesterton's writings. His ability to illustrate a point with a well timed anecdote or parable is evident throughout. I had hoped to find more here about Christianity and Catholicism, but there is little in the way of Christian apologetics in this book. There is obviously a Christian viewpoint underlying all the conclusions reached in the book, but Chesterton makes no direct arguments for the Christian perspective. Instead he argues strongly for belief in a dogma, rather than unyielding skepticism. He makes no attempt to sell the Christian dogma specifically, although it is clear that he believes it to be the only doctrine that makes sense. As a Catholic, I enjoyed this book, but it was not one that I would reread.
Many of Chesterton's references and allusions in this book are outdated or terribly obscure to a 21st century American. However, this is a good read for anyone who has an interest in Chesterton's writings. His ability to illustrate a point with a well timed anecdote or parable is evident throughout. I had hoped to find more here about Christianity and Catholicism, but there is little in the way of Christian apologetics in this book. There is obviously a Christian viewpoint underlying all the conclusions reached in the book, but Chesterton makes no direct arguments for the Christian perspective. Instead he argues strongly for belief in a dogma, rather than unyielding skepticism. He makes no attempt to sell the Christian dogma specifically, although it is clear that he believes it to be the only doctrine that makes sense. As a Catholic, I enjoyed this book, but it was not one that I would reread.
drone232's review against another edition
4.0
Some Good Philosophy
This is a series of good essays on the philosophy and beliefs of Mr. CHESTERTONS time. It is mostly still relevant and very well written. Although, sometimes I felt like it amounted to a series of pithy sayings.
This is a series of good essays on the philosophy and beliefs of Mr. CHESTERTONS time. It is mostly still relevant and very well written. Although, sometimes I felt like it amounted to a series of pithy sayings.
gtonsager's review against another edition
4.0
In a strange way, this work is a product of its time, yet makes profound and timeless statements about the nature of living.
I have learned more about strength and humility in this book than I previously thought I would. Chesterton goes after the ideas of men who thought that they were bigger than they were, and therefore ended up being smaller than they could have been. He attacks pride and a false sense of superiority, he defines a biblical “strength” and gives the best defense for a robustly emotional Christian life that I’ve ever heard. Wonderful book.
I have learned more about strength and humility in this book than I previously thought I would. Chesterton goes after the ideas of men who thought that they were bigger than they were, and therefore ended up being smaller than they could have been. He attacks pride and a false sense of superiority, he defines a biblical “strength” and gives the best defense for a robustly emotional Christian life that I’ve ever heard. Wonderful book.
allisonjpmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Being a collection of essays, some struck me with more force than others. But overall, this is a wonderful representation of how Chesterton functioned as a debater: each essay "slams" either a single person or a group of people for their thinking, but Chesterton slams so good-naturedly, and with such respect for his opponents, that in the end it doesn't feel like a slam at all. If only today's thinkers would be so gracious and generous with each other! Chesterton always points out his opponents' sound thinking and good intentions before he dissects them. He is interested in the truth, and how both good and bad, "right" and "wrong" thinking, can get people there.
I completely agree with his final sentiments:
I completely agree with his final sentiments:
I apologize to the rationalists for even calling them rationalists. There are no rationalists. We all believe fairy-tales, and live in them... Truths turn into dogmas the instant that they are disputed. Thus every man who utters a doubt defines a religion. And the skepticism of our time does not really destroy the beliefs, rather it creates them; gives them their limits and their plain and defiant shape. We who are Liberals once held Liberalism lightly as a truism. Now it has been disputed, and we hold it fiercely as a faith...
The great march of mental destruction will go on. Everything will be denied. Everything will become a creed. It is a reasonable position to deny the stones in the street; it will be a religious dogma to assert them. It is a rational thesis that we are all in a dream; it will be a mystical sanity to say that we are all awake. Fires will be kindled to testify that two and two make four. Swords will be drawn to prove that leaves are green in summer. We shall be left defending, not only the incredible virtues and sanities of human life, but something more incredible still: this huge impossible universe which stares us in the face.
aria_izikdzurko's review against another edition
4.0
This was beautifully written, I didn’t agree with everything but there were many thought provoking points. I will return to chapters 17 and 20 again.