#manalive

[fictionadventurer]

Manalive by G.K. Chesterton

There once was an Innocent man Who had remarkable plan At the point of a gun He made dull cynics run To declare that existence is grand

[apesoformythoughts]

“…this was the primary problem for me, certainly in order of time and largely in order of logic. It was the problem of how men could be made to realise the wonder and splendour of being alive, in environments which their own daily criticism treated as dead-alive, and which their imagination had left for dead.”

— G.K. Chesterton: Autobiography

[thanoptypical]

“All is gold that glitters–

Tree and tower of brass;

Rolls the golden evening air

Down the golden grass.

Kick the cry to Jericho,

How yellow mud is sold,

All is gold that glitters,

For the glitter is the gold.”

G.K. Chesterton, Manalive

[itspileofgoodthings]

Your brand is a young, 21st century female Innocent Smith.

I shoot bullets past people’s heads to make sure they remember they’re alive???? I break into my own home to remember the excitement of living there?? 

INCREDIBLE. 

[k-she-rambles]

I’m still not over the “Have you any friends?” thing

It’s like...Michael asks, and it’s half genuine, half one of his trademark insults —either way you answer it, you’re the butt of the joke.

It shows the condition of things at Beacon House: these people might have been a family, but they missed it. They like each other, but they’re stuck. The spark of their initial intimacy is just enough to let them jab at each other. Familiarity breeds contempt.

So Michael asks, and Warner falls right into it (oh yes, I go out quite often) even though the question isn’t meant for him. Michael b a s i c a l l y looks into the camera like in the office.

And then Arthur answers, and we get an even better sense of how unspeakably lonely these people are —Warner substitutes “going out” for intimacy, Michael doesn’t have friends, he has sidekicks & witty banter with bartenders, and Arthur lets relationships happen to him... and so what happens is they drift away.

But then, after Smith is blown into Beacon, we get narrative confirmation that Michael and Arthur are friends, really good friends...they've just forgotten how, and are starting to remember...

[myvinyllove]

I just finished reading Manalive!

By Chesterton. How can one human have such a pure imagination and such levity when presenting the serious realities of existence.... ugh. To meet him and Frances in Heaven is a dream of mine.

Also, audiobooks are a mom’s best friend.

[allieinarden]

I know you're out of pocket for a few more weeks, but when you're around, do you have suggestions for where to start with G.K. Chesterton? I've been reading his critiques of Nietzsche and need MORE.

Chesterton on Nietzsche, though. I’m never going to forget him comparing the writings of that eminent pessimist to romance novels because of their mutual worship of the man with the muscles.

The first Chesterton I ever read was Manalive, which is one of his novels. It’s a great starting point; it’s short enough to read in a few hours. I would describe it as a carbonated drink with a kick; it’s all twist and bang and fizz and somehow manages to blow your mind in the midst of its lighthearted pyrotechnics. If you’re looking for non-fiction I have to suggest Orthodoxy. Do not be daunted by that heavy title; it’s extremely readable, like sitting for a chat with your funniest and most interesting friend who also happens to be really, really smart.

[fictionadventurer]

I saw your post from 2020 about your Four Quadrants and I absolutely love them! I have wanted to get into Chesterton for a while but have never actually done it bc I have no idea where to start. I decided that you’d be likely to know where I should start based solely on my relating so much to the rest of what your post said. Do you have recommendations?

There are several answers to this question, depending on what type of writing you're interested in, because Chesterton wrote in a lot of different formats.

Novels: My favorite (and the one that feels most "Chestertonian" in the sense of embracing the joys and paradoxes of modern life) is Manalive, which is about a boarding house full of disaffected young people whose lives are upended by the arrival of the energetic and eccentric Innocent Smith, who may or may not be a dangerous lunatic. I'm also fond of his first novel, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which is set in the far future of 1984, where the actions of two eccentric guys get London caught up in medieval warfare. That book addresses Chesterton's common theme of the tension between taking life too seriously and not taking it seriously enough, but it is a very odd book that's a bit more of an acquired taste.

Short stories: Chesterton's most enduring legacy in pop culture is the Father Brown mysteries--one of the few detectives at the time that wasn't just a Sherlock Holmes clone. These stories are half mystery and half philosophical essay, and I love them (and they're nothing like the TV show). I always tell people to start with the first collection, The Innocence of Father Brown, because the first four stories there--"The Blue Cross", "The Secret Garden", "The Queer Feet" and "The Flying Stars"--form an arc that should be read in chronological order, and the rest of the stories can be read in pretty much any order.

Poetry: Chesterton's big achievement is "The Ballad of the White Horse", a novel-length epic poem about the legends of King Alfred the Great and his war against the Danes. But if you don't feel like reading something so long, his other masterpiece is "Lepanto", a stirring poem about the Battle of Lepanto that saved Europe from a Turkish invasion (though that one is much better if you know the historical context). He also wrote this short, rather biting anti-war poem "Elegy in a Country Churchyard".

If you want something not about war, Chesterton was known for his love of Christmas, and he wrote several excellent Christmas poems, including "A Christmas Carol", "The Wise Men", "Gloria in Profundis", "Joseph" , and "A Child of the Snows".

(As long as we're talking about Christmas poems, I'm going to mention that his wife, Frances, was also a poet, and she wrote a Christmas poem every year for their family Christmas card, which include, "How Far Is It To Bethlehem" and "The Shepherds Found Thee By Night".)

Essays: Tremendous Trifles contains several of the humorous, insightful essays that are among the first things I think of when I think of the Chestertonian mindset, including "A Piece of Chalk", "The Advantages of Having One Leg", and "On Lying in Bed" . Perhaps my favorite Chesterton essay, "On Running After One's Hat" isn't in this collection, but feels like it should be.

Nonfiction: "Orthodoxy" is probably Chesterton's most famous and most accessible religious book, which outlines the worldviews that led him to embrace Christianity.

This last recommendation doesn't fit into any of the categories, but I can't finish a Chesterton introduction post without begging you to read this letter he wrote to his wife, Frances, not long after their engagement, because it may be one of the best love letters ever written.