The official blog of the American Chesterton Society where we talk about anything Chesterton talks about or writes about; including everything and everything else.
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This might be slightly off topic but I was recently reading an interview of Daniel Tammet who is a autistic savant and also a Chesterton adherent and he mention in his interview how he though that Chesterton might have also been a savant, he states, "The other thing I like is that, judging by the descriptions of his home life, I reckon Chesterton was a savant. He couldn't dress himself, and would always forget where he was going. His poor wife." Could there be any truth to this?
Dear Cigars, I have read Daniel's comments before. Although there are some similarities, I think there are differences, too. For example. Chesterton was married. rather than "poor wife", I believe Frances took upon herself some of the more mundane household duties so that her husband would be free to write; which is how he earned his living.
I cannot agree that Chesterton was a savant. I believe, instead, he was brilliant and a genius. The difference there is a savant gets good at one thing: piano playing, imitations, numbers; while Chesterton seemed to be brilliant at everything having to do with the mind and thinking.
But I welcome your thoughts, and if you have any defense of Chesterton as a savant, let's hear it.
Dear Nancy.Brown Thank you, for your quick reply, I was a little hasitant about calling him a savant, mostly because of his warm personality and his vast friendships, most if not all savants are not social, but I found it intriguing when Tammet said " I felt that Chesterton was on the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum himself; certainly I have always felt close to him from reading about his experiences and ideas". He than goes on to mention the various "savant" like abilities that Chesterton had such as, a great memory, also being able to simultaneously write an essay while dictating another to his secretary etc.. Anyways I just found his comments fascinating and thought I'd share them with all the Chesterton fans.
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This might be slightly off topic but I was recently reading an interview of Daniel Tammet who is a autistic savant and also a Chesterton adherent and he mention in his interview how he though that Chesterton might have also been a savant, he states, "The other thing I like is that, judging by the descriptions of his home life, I reckon Chesterton was a savant. He couldn't dress himself, and would always forget where he was going. His poor wife." Could there be any truth to this?
ReplyDeleteDear Cigars,
ReplyDeleteI have read Daniel's comments before.
Although there are some similarities, I think there are differences, too. For example. Chesterton was married. rather than "poor wife", I believe Frances took upon herself some of the more mundane household duties so that her husband would be free to write; which is how he earned his living.
I cannot agree that Chesterton was a savant. I believe, instead, he was brilliant and a genius. The difference there is a savant gets good at one thing: piano playing, imitations, numbers; while Chesterton seemed to be brilliant at everything having to do with the mind and thinking.
But I welcome your thoughts, and if you have any defense of Chesterton as a savant, let's hear it.
Dear Nancy.Brown
ReplyDeleteThank you, for your quick reply, I was a little hasitant about calling him a savant, mostly because of his warm personality and his vast friendships, most if not all savants are not social, but I found it intriguing when Tammet said " I felt that Chesterton was on the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum himself; certainly I have always felt close to him from reading about his experiences and ideas". He than goes on to mention the various "savant" like abilities that Chesterton had such as, a great memory, also being able to simultaneously write an essay while dictating another to his secretary etc.. Anyways I just found his comments fascinating and thought I'd share them with all the Chesterton fans.
Thanks for your comment