 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | G. K. Chesterton was one of the most well-known and beloved writers of his time. Yet he has been strangely neglected today. This book is the perfect introduction to Chesterton. Ahlquist is an able guide who takes the reader through twelve of Chesterton’s most important books as well as the famous Father Brown stories. One of the problems with approaching Chesterton is that he was so prolific that the reader is simply overwhelmed. But Ahlquist makes the literary giant accessible, highlighting Chesterton’s amazing reach, keen insight, and marvelous wit. Each chapter is liberally spiced with Chesterton’s striking quotations. There is something special that runs throughout Chesterton’s books that sets him apart from the confusing philosophies of the modern world. That common thread in Chesterton’s writings is common sense. It is instantly recognizable and utterly refreshing. |
Average Customer Rating:   My Chesterton adventure I selected this book to begin my adventure with G K Chesterton. It is my introduction following the TV program that got me interested. I recommend it as a starting place for getting to know this remarkable man. The book is well written. I have spot checked some of the quotes and they are accurate. I have concluded that Chesterton is a MUST read and I highly recommend this book as a start in understanding his insights and philosophy. The negative, if there is one, will be the reader's heightened awareness of just how much trouble American society now faces and desperate has become the hour. But then Chesterton would say "change it." G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense Great for anyone who is wondering where all the common sense has disappeared to in our politically correct society and who enjoys a few chuckles while reading.
Absolutely delightful and a wonderful introduction to Chesterton. Mediocre This book makes for a good introduction to the world of Chesterton. However any person who is even partially familiar with his works will garner little information from this book.
While Dale Alquist is a great scholar, I find his commentary to be one sided at best. I believe (a phrase never used by Mister Alquist) that Chesterton can stand on his own, without commentary. Viewing Deep Wells from the Heights Ahlquist's introductory text to Chesterton was a delightful, witty, and quick read which set me afire once again to read an author whom the contemporary world has lamentably forgotten - and not accidentally. I have before fallen in love with Chesterton and hope to continue to fall in love with this humble intellectual giant, the apostle of the people, of "common sense" as Ahlquist says. This text functions very well to whet anyone's appetite for Chesterton.
One of the marks of a great mind is a unity in thought, particularly over time - even when time realizes various conversions, like the life of Chesterton. In Ahlquist's bird's-eye view of Chesterton's major works, the general theme of Chesterton's levity and love for the obvious, simple paradoxes of life shines forth as a glorious beacon to the majestic thoughts of this man. The text on the whole is a delightful, yet not too serious, admixture of the author's musing with quotes of varied length from Chesterton. It is a joy to leap from subject to subject in this short overview, for that was the way that the physically massive writer would write, like the most free of angels, floating humbly above the fray of grave intellectuals. I highly recommend this text to all, from the complete Chesterton novice, to the junior who perhaps needs a re-expansion of his Chestertonian horizons, to the scholar of Chesterton who too can only benefit from stepping back to look at the great masterpiece that is collected works and mind of Chesterton. A Zealot's Take On A Zealot's Writings No one will accuse Dale Ahlquist of being detached and objective about Chesterton's work. I don't think there is a serious word of critique in this whole volume, so if you are looking for a broad view of Chesterton, with perhaps even some suggestions that he might be lacking in some regard, then this book is not where you will find it. What Ahlquist does very well is bring the essential arguments that Chesterton makes across the spectrum of his writings together in a concise, accessible and enjoyable book.
This is a book you can pick up and peruse, read a chapter, put it down, pick it up a month later and begin again. The title says it all. Chesterton is presented as the Apostle of Common Sense so the things that you read sound like common sense whenever you read them. You don't have to remember a sustained argument that has gone before.
As a convinced Calvinist I flinch when Chesterton (and Ahlquist) oversimplify significant positions on free will, God's sovereignty and ultimately the quality of life associated with those who hold to different views on it. I don't get upset though because the principles that Chesterton is ultimately arguing for are actually inherent within Calvinism also. What he really says are basic principles of Christianity, not Catholicism, though Chesterton and Ahlquist equate them.
Chesterton's work is worth reading for his arguments on the family and distributive social economy alone. These are words our society needs to hear and we really ought to pay attention.
So, read the book - enjoy the wit and the superb command of the language that truly great intellect can muster - and learn. |  |
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