Kevin Belmonte is known for his penetrating analysis of figures such as William Wilberforce. In his new book on the life and impact of G.K. Chesterton he brings together the literary genius of Chesterton alongside the spiritual discernment of such a figure. Yet, he does not leave us with a dry, over monotonous biography, but a glimpse into the person of Chesterton as much as the myth. His early years were sought with a radical desire to both read, write, and to verbally spar with his friends. Belmonte writes, "This precocious boy was learning passages of Shakespare by heart, was profoundly influenced by reading George MacDonald's classic fantasy tale The Princess and the Goblin..." (15). Yet, Chesterton did not do all that well in school at first, and as Belmonte indicates, he was more of the type to plod his own course of studies.
The book goes on to explore Chesterton's writings, his critical biography of Charles Dickens, his work on the Robert Browning and his keen literary skill at critiquing literature all the while not dismissing it as some ancient relic not useful anymore. In speaking of Dickens, Chesterton said, "Dickens was a mythologist rather than a novelist; he was the last of all mythologists, and perhaps the greatest. He did not always manage to make his characters men, but he always managed, at the least, to make them gods" (101). Chesteron believed in the enduring quality of a story that could have both moral and literary qualities that could applied in each era. One of the best things that Belmonte does in this book is find passages in which Chesterton was at his best, in describing both the critical literary mind of Chesterton, but also the amazing quality of G.K. to pay close attention to texts and read them very well. Much of what Chesterton lamented was a lack of close attention to the contours of a text wherein in modern culture we tend to look for the various perspectives when coming to a text.
What I thought personally were the most amazing findings in this wonderful book on Chesterton by Kevin Belmonte were the great spiritual struggles Chesterton faced. Bombarded by materialism and decadence, Chesterton really groped for answers to some of life's greatest questions, and this is indeed what Orthodoxy and Heresies are about. Belmonte does a great job at looking at the lives of Garry Wills and Philip Yancey as having been greatly impacted by Chesterton. One specific passage is worth repeating; Chesterton here in his study of Chaucer says, "There is at the back of all of our lives an abyss of light, more blinding and unfathomable than any abyss of darkness; and it is the abyss of actuality, of existence, of the fact that things are, and that we are ourselves incredibly and sometimes almost increduously real" (118). The struggle of holding onto faith for Garry Wills was met by the sincere apology by Chesterton of a an idea he called the "mystical minimum." For Chesterton, this was God allowing him to see that he exists even in the midst of brokenness, failed dreams, and moral indifference. Not only that God allowed Chesterton to see his existence, but the creation speaks of God's work through the very smallest things.
There is much more that could be said but these are a few of the rich details that I discovered in this timely book by Kevin Belmonte. Thanks go to Thomas Nelson for a copy to review
The book goes on to explore Chesterton's writings, his critical biography of Charles Dickens, his work on the Robert Browning and his keen literary skill at critiquing literature all the while not dismissing it as some ancient relic not useful anymore. In speaking of Dickens, Chesterton said, "Dickens was a mythologist rather than a novelist; he was the last of all mythologists, and perhaps the greatest. He did not always manage to make his characters men, but he always managed, at the least, to make them gods" (101). Chesteron believed in the enduring quality of a story that could have both moral and literary qualities that could applied in each era. One of the best things that Belmonte does in this book is find passages in which Chesterton was at his best, in describing both the critical literary mind of Chesterton, but also the amazing quality of G.K. to pay close attention to texts and read them very well. Much of what Chesterton lamented was a lack of close attention to the contours of a text wherein in modern culture we tend to look for the various perspectives when coming to a text.
What I thought personally were the most amazing findings in this wonderful book on Chesterton by Kevin Belmonte were the great spiritual struggles Chesterton faced. Bombarded by materialism and decadence, Chesterton really groped for answers to some of life's greatest questions, and this is indeed what Orthodoxy and Heresies are about. Belmonte does a great job at looking at the lives of Garry Wills and Philip Yancey as having been greatly impacted by Chesterton. One specific passage is worth repeating; Chesterton here in his study of Chaucer says, "There is at the back of all of our lives an abyss of light, more blinding and unfathomable than any abyss of darkness; and it is the abyss of actuality, of existence, of the fact that things are, and that we are ourselves incredibly and sometimes almost increduously real" (118). The struggle of holding onto faith for Garry Wills was met by the sincere apology by Chesterton of a an idea he called the "mystical minimum." For Chesterton, this was God allowing him to see that he exists even in the midst of brokenness, failed dreams, and moral indifference. Not only that God allowed Chesterton to see his existence, but the creation speaks of God's work through the very smallest things.
There is much more that could be said but these are a few of the rich details that I discovered in this timely book by Kevin Belmonte. Thanks go to Thomas Nelson for a copy to review
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