G K Chesterton Explorations In Allegory

A revaluation of the vast and vastly varied work of G.K. Chesterton through a literary reading of his philosophy, and a philosophical reading of his fiction. Novelist, essayist, poet, playwright, historian, journalist, Christian apologist, literary and social critic, G.K. Chesterton was one of the most protean and prolific writers of his age, perhaps of any age. Bernard Shaw called him a 'colossal genius.' This study determines the scale and quality of that genius, and considers why he has failed to gain the 'permanent claim on our loyalty' that T.S. Elliot believed he deserved. Interest in Chesterton today tends to be divided between those who enjoy his stories as an end in themselves, and those who argue his unique contribution to metaphysics. By comparing the ethical sympathies and literary style of his work across different genres, Michael D. Hurley brings Chesterton's divided selves together: to show how his achievement as a writer and a thinker are inseparable, and why his philosophy must therefore be read aesthetically, and his fiction read philosophically.

"Gilbert Keith Chesterton has been the subject of several biographies, but none as comprehensive as The Outline of Sanity, A Biography of G. K. Chesterton by Alzina Stone Dale." -THE WALL STREET JOURNAL "A biography in which the imaginative and intellectual stature of the man is seen in its full measure." -SUNDAY TIMES (UK)

A collection of critical essays on G.K. Chesterton's work.

This study examines a selection of Chesterton’s novels, poetry, and literary criticism and outlines the distinctive philosophy of history that emerges from these writings. Specifically, McCleary contends that Chesterton’s recurring use of the themes of locality, patriotism, and nationalism embodies a distinctive understanding of what gives history its coherence.

The complete adventures of the well-loved clerical sleuth, collected in one brilliant volume. Shabby and lumbering, with a face like a Norfolk dumpling, Father Brown makes for an improbable super-sleuth. But his innocence is the secret of his success: refusing the scientific method of detection, he adopts instead an approach of simple sympathy, interpreting each crime as a work of art, and each criminal as a man no worse than himself. This complete edition brings together all of the Father Brown stories, including two not previously available in Penguin: 'The Donnington Affair', in which Chesterton rises to the challenge of solving a murder-mystery half written by someone else (Max Pemberton), and 'The Mask of Midas', which was found in Chesterton's papers after his death. It also includes an introduction and notes by Michael D. Hurley. G.K. Chesteron was born in 1874. He attended the Slade School of Art, where he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown, before turning his hand to journalism. A prolific writer throughout his life, his best-known books include The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), The Man Who Knew Too Much(1922), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and the Father Brown stories. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922 and died in 1938. Michael D. Hurley is a Lecturer in English at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of St Catharine's College. He has written widely on English literature from the nineteenth century to the present day, with an emphasis on poetry and poetics. His book on G. K. Chesterton was published in 2011.

Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled `A Nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. This critical edition includes several short related pieces, `A Picture of Tuesday', `The Book of Job', and `The Diabolist', as well as a map of Edwardian London and detailed explanatory notes. - ;Widely considered as Chesterton's masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) defies classification. Subtitled `A Nightmare' by Chesterton, on one level it is a fast-moving and surreal detective story. Drawing on contemporary fears of anarchist conspiracies and bomb outrages, The Man Who Was Thursday is firmly rooted in its time and place - turn of the century London - but it also defies temporal boundaries. Police detective Syme finds himself drawn into a world that seems to have gone beyond humanity when he is elected `Thursday', one of the members of the Central European Council of seven anarchs. Dreamlike, prophetic, and frequently funny, the novel attacks fin-de-si--egrave--;cle pessimism and, through a surreal series of pursuits and unmaskings, returns Syme - and us - to earth more aware of its beauty, promise, and creative potential. This critical edition includes several short related pieces, `A Picture of Tuesday', `Introduction to the Book of Job', and `The Diabolist', as well as a map of contemporary London and detailed explanatory notes. -

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, Technical University of Braunschweig, language: English, abstract: Gilbert Keith Chesterton started writing when he was a schoolboy and today his work is well-known all over the world. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. But he also wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 books, hundreds of poems, five plays, five novels and more than two hundred short stories, including a popular series on “Father Brown” which I think is one of his greatest works. These stories on “Father Brown” have been written between 1911 and 1935 and are summarized in five books called “The Innocence of Father Brown”, “The Wisdom of Father Brown”, “The Incredulity of Father Brown”, “The Secret of Father Brown” and “The Scandal of Father Brown”. All the books “constitute a fascinating summary of Chesterton practising what he preached” 1 . In my work I will concentrate on the second Father Brown book called “The Wisdom of Father Brown”. It was published in 1914 and contains twelve stories on the priestdetective Father Brown. First I will give short summaries of the four stories I chose from the book and afterwards I will focus on the main character Father Brown, his attitudes and his development. To do this I will mainly give attention to the four stories I selected but also prove some of my statements by referring to one of the other stories. I will also compare Chesterton’s views with the attitudes of his figure Father Brown.