Saint Thomas Aquinas

By G. K. Chesterton

Catholic-ometer: 5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4 of 5

No, this book does not contain the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  It's merely a biography of him, written by none other than G. K. Chesterton; one of the finest writers whose work I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

Not too many distinct facts are actually known about Saint Thomas Aquinas, apart from his philosophy and theology; the teachings that he wrote and the things he believed and taught.  Actual facts and legends about his life are few and far between, as Chesterton himself remarks, and while he faithfully reports them, they're hardly enough to fill a whole book.

Because of this, Chesterton fills the remainder of the book with observations on the scholarly opposition, history and political atmosphere of the time period, which Thomas Aquinas dealt with.  He talks about the problems that he had to deal with and the issues that he resolved, and finally, how his masterworks of logic were forgotten and why.

Inevitably, Chesterton's personality and writing style intrude into the tale, as the tale itself is hardly told in a normal, narrative format.  Chesterton was a sharp-witted man with a brilliant sense of humor.

However, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I might have, for two reasons, and regrettably, both have to do with the -way- in which it's written.

First, while Chesterton's wit is clear in the text, I'm afraid that I found many of his jokes to be less -funny- and more -ironic observations.-  This is a minor issue at most, though, and my other problem with the book is more intrusive by far.

My second problem is that Chesterton just doesn't talk like a historian.  He talks like he's describing the history of this saint to a bunch of his friends at a club; peppering it with analogies, comparisons and amusing anecdotes, and while, in discussion, I have no difficulty with this, it does make it a little harder to keep track of the point of the chapter, or of the paragraph, or to remember where Saint Thomas Aquinas was when we last left our hero.  I just found it a little distracting.

Now, that's not to say it ruined the book for me.  I certainly enjoyed it, and I agree with most of the points that Chesterton made; even in his comparisons.  Frankly, I've never read a Chesterton book that I didn't, in some respects, enjoy (except for some of his fiction.)  I -especially- like this book's accuracy and faithfulness to church teaching.  Still, it wasn't without its problems.  If you're not easily distracted, and you want to learn about this great doctor of the Church, then by all means, pick this book up.  It's a fine book, and very enjoyable.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you enjoyed it even more than I did.