It is surprising that many people have not read Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s books, some even haven’t heard of him. On the other hand, people whom he influenced through his writing and philosophy, such as Tolkien or Lewis, they enjoy a lot more popularity in comparison. This shouldn’t be surprising though. The worth of an idea, or piece of art, literature or music should not be estimated on the basis of its popularity. Keeping that in mind, allow me to take you to the fascinating world of GK Chesterton.
Some say, Chesterton was the greatest writer of the 20th century; some say, he was the greatest philosopher. Why? There was hardly any subject which he did not touch and he expressed himself with such clarity and precision that you could not help but fall in love with his writing. Let’s take a small example from his essay On Lying in Bed:
The tone now commonly taken toward the practice of lying in bed is hypocritical and unhealthy. Of all the marks of modernity that seem to mean a kind of decadence, there is none more menacing and dangerous than the exultation of very small and secondary matters of conduct at the expense of very great and primary ones, at the expense of eternal ties and tragic human morality. If there is one thing worse than the modern weakening of major morals, it is the modern strengthening of minor morals. Thus it is considered more withering to accuse a man of bad taste than of bad ethics. Cleanliness is not next to godliness nowadays, for cleanliness is made essential and godliness is regarded as an offence.
Notice how deeply and profoundly he talks about the simplest of life experiences. And this is where the reader enjoys it that much. But why is this the case?
Because Chesterton always defended the common man. His simplicity, his belief, his religion, his culture, his idiosyncrasies. Everything. Quite often these days, you’d come across writers who mock, criticise, accuse, abuse, shame the society. That’s why reading Chesterton may feel like a breath of fresh air. How he sees beauty in the traditional cultures. How perfectly he describes them. And he makes us see things which we are generally blind to.
There is a lot of stuff to be read from Chesterton as – thankfully – he wrote a number of books. The best way is to start with his essays. They are meant for a common reader, most of them from newspaer columns. What’s Wrong with the World is a fine collection of essays. Once you immerse yourself in these essays, you can go ahead with any of his books (he wrote around 80). Some of them include The Man Who Was Thursday, Heretics, Orthodoxy, and The Innocence of Father Brown.
The legacy of Chesterton can be best summarised in one sentence. Chesterton wrote The Everlasting Man (which inspired C.S. Lewis to leave atheism behind and become a Christian) and a novel called The Napoleon of Notting Hill which inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish independence who then inspired Mahatma Gandhi. How about that? Can books change the world? That should be an easy question to answer now.
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