..desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of a bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead, the title of the Well at the World's End, the opening lines of Kubla Khan, the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves..."
Has there ever been an evocation of our hunger for heaven more piercing than this one, from The Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis?
I have been reading a lot of Lewis lately, and have a stack more of his books to come. I imagine most Chesterton fans are also Lewis fans, so it's almost impossible not to compare them. I would say that Chesterton is the deeper thinker, but that Lewis is the better writer. Chesterton didn't worry too much about style or even accuracy-- he cheerfully indulged in hyperbole and generalization and oversimplification. Lewis, on the other hand, writes with donnish precision, always at pains to make distinctions and avoid misinterpretation. Chesterton is a rollercoaster, Lewis is a slow country train-- like the "Cantab crawler" to Cambridge that he appreciated so much.
I agree about Lewis, but not entirely about Chesterton.
ReplyDeleteAs a poet, and in many of the Father Brown stories, he writes with the style of an artist - sometimes impressionistic, sometimes Pre-Raphaelite. I humbly suggest he was a fine stylist.
I agree that Chesterton was a superb stylist when he wanted to be. I don't like his fiction much but I'm sure that's a defect in me-- I can't stand descriptive writing. I think some of his poetry was absolutely first class (Lepanto, the Rolling English Road), but lots of it seems so rushed and padded with filler lines. And a lot of his non-fiction writing shows a certain gleeful carelessness. He would make claims like "being undignified is the essence of all real happiness", which seems like over-reaching. Of course, I'm sure this was because he was writing so much and because he didn't care about his legacy-- he cared about his ideas and his causes.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from across the sea. I just came across this site today. It looks great. I was wondering if you post anything about distributism?
ReplyDeletehttp://distributistreview.com
Thanks! I don't post anything about distributism as I don't understand economics-- but I have to say that, economically ignorant as I am, I feel more and more drawn to distributism, seeing all the monstrous corporate headquarters and every street in every city and town becoming a clone of every other. Whether distributism is a feasible programme seems almost less important to me than withholding one's approval from a world of Starbucks and Subways and sprawling, gleaming business districts.
ReplyDeleteHey Mal, it is Sat. morning and what can I see?? Wow, irishchesterton is completely refurbished! The blog looks fantastic! You are indeed too modest and far toooooo secret! Enjoy your weekend! Anna
ReplyDeleteIt was the lovely Michelle who did that-- and who also designed the logo and set up our Twitter account!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend!
Nice blog. I found it via the new blog listing for the Catholic Blog Directory. I'd like to invite you to join Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival, which is a weekly opportunity for Catholic bloggers to share posts with each other. This week's host post is at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival_22.html
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