Catholic-ometer: 5 of 5
Enjoyability: 5 of 5
The secondary title; "G.K. Chesterton on the Arts" describes this small book a bit better than the main one. It's really a book all about G.K. Chesterton; that giant of Christian evangelism, who I've so recently had the pleasure of reading some of the work of, and I really can't say anything against this work. It's about Chesterton's views, art, Christianity, and it's done without any of the "spin" that so many modern authors and essay-writers are fond of using.
I honestly can't think of anything worth complaining about here. That about half of it is quotes by Chesterton? Well, yes, but I've given five points to actual quote books before, and this one explains the context sufficiently to make the quotes, if anything, even more meaningful. Should I complain about the somewhat ostentatious title? With few exceptions, I don't like to do that, unless the title is truly misleading, since most authors don't get to decide the title of their book. Should I complain about the essay-like way it was written in? The almost hero-worship-like way that Chesterton's views are enshrined herein? No, I can't do that. In Mister Peters' place, I'd do it the same way. Should I complain that it's not original enough? I'd never do that, for one of the reasons listed in chapter 3.
The fact of the matter is, this is a great book for Catholics, all about imagination, wonder and fun, and their place in the life of a Catholic, and all taken from quotes by one of the finest defenders of the faith in the last 200 years. Chesterton is a delight, as always, and made no secret of his defense of imagination and fun.
This book goes over Chesterton's views on fiction, on critics and proper reviews, on songs, poems and art, and on good humor, then gives a brief biography of Chesterton, containing some information, which I was unaware of, like the name of his wife. In this entire book, there's only one thing that I disagree with (the notion that people don't want to hear the bad points of an artistic work before they buy it,) which is pretty darn impressive.
I find that Chesterton's best points here are his insistence on the importance of childlike joy and wonder in appreciating the arts, and his strong defense of fun, imaginative expression, regardless of the critical reaction it might receive. Of course, like all defenses of fun and wonder, it's simultaneously an attack on scientism, which is two birds with one stone, as far as I'm concerned. However, if you wanted me to tell you the best quotes in the novel, I'd be here all day. Believe me when I say that you're better off just picking this book up and reading it yourself; especially if you've been fooled by the media's lies about the Catholic Church being the enemy of free expression. This little book puts all that into perspective, and could serve as a nice, little Chesterton introduction as well. I just hope you have as much fun with it as I did.
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