Friday, April 8, 2011

Review of Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton

OrthodoxyOrthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was most certainly within the top 5 best books I have ever read. Possibly within the top 3. It was absolutely amazing. My new sub-goal in life is to get people to read Chesterton. If Christendom would remember him and listen to his advice, it would find itself better-equipped to understand and handle our times.



As Dale Ahlquist said in Lecture XII at the American Chesterton Society (chesterton.org), "The first problem is that every sentence in the book makes you stop and think, which makes you lose the thread of the main argument." Chesterton says profound and brain-stopping things habitually. After about Chapter 2 you think he can't possibly it up, and yet he keeps going and going and going and going...



This book is challenging in some ways, yes. For one, you have to stop and think every other sentence. For two, perhaps his language is a little more difficult to process than what we hear every day. But please, please make the effort to read and understand this book. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension." If that is the case, then Chesterton will take you to new heights of thought, if you let him. His insight is worth the work.



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1 comment:

  1. You've piqed my interest! He's on my must-read list but have never yet done so. I'm intrigued about this title in particular and look forward to delving in at some point. Thanks for the heads-up!

    BTW, I'm typing this on my new mini! **Grin that splits face** Wow, a writer's dream! Heady stuff.

    Love and a hug,
    Miss W.

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