While not given to writing overtly funny, rollicking essays, Chesterton was always cognizant of the fact that a little humor in an otherwise serious work could strengthen its argument and draw attention to the essay’s salient points. This critical observation made so early in his career notes perhaps one of the defining characteristics of many of Chesterton’s essays: his humor. As an anonymous reviewer for the Whitehall Review (27 February 1902) wrote, “The whole book, in short, is one of the most delightful companions possible for a man to have with him, and if it does not run through two or three editions rapidly then there is no humor left in these decadent days.” Thus, as most reviewers were already familiar with Chesterton’s style and his sometimes paradoxical approach to his subject matter, few were disappointed in this collection of largely humorous essays on topics ranging from nonsense to ugly things. When his first collection of essays, The Defendant, appeared in 1901, Chesterton had already gained something of a reputation as an essayist for his contributions to a number of English periodicals such as the Speaker, the Bookman, and the Daily News. As with any author producing such an enormous yield of literature, the quality often varied, but as T.S.Eliot noted in Chesterton’s obituary in the Tablet (20 June 1936), “it is not, I think, for any piece of writing in particular that Chesterton is of importance, but for the place that he occupied, the position that he represented, during the better part of a generation.” Considered by some critics to be one of the last of the great “men of letters,” Chesterton wrote essays on a wide variety of topics over a span of more than 40 years. As an essayist, however, he was no less productive, and his collected efforts in this category fill dozens of volumes.

G.K.Chesterton was one of the 20th century’s most prolific writers, his range including poetry, dramas, biographies, and novels. United architects – essays table of content all sites Chesterton, G.K.

Chesterton on brave new world pdf