Some of the essays are absolutely phenomenal, others are simply pleasant, but they're all enjoyable reads, best when savored slowly over an extended amount of time. I particularly recommend reading one or two in the evening, with a glass of something tasty close to hand.
02 June 2011
On Tremendous Trifles, by G.K. Chesterton
I love Chesterton's writing so unsurprisingly, I very much enjoyed this collection, a series of essays originally written for the Daily News between 1902 and 1909. He has this marvelous dry and witty sense of humor that's coupled with a genuine appreciate of beauty which manifests itself in lovely, elegant prose. There's a certain mysticism in his way of approaching the world, but it's matched by a very English style of common sense (that is refreshingly matched with a strong moral and ethical backbone, and a keen sense of empathy for others). It is a belief - one that I share - that intellectual inquiry can produce a kind of spiritual appreciation of the world: "The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder."
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1 comment:
Great post. Chesterton is one of my favorite writers, precisely for his paradoxical style and common-sense ethical orientation. He saw through much of modernism's cant. I wish more would read him, but I fear his orthodox Catholicism turns them away.
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