Over the past two days, I've savored every moment I spent reading this month's Gilbert. Sometimes I skip around, but there were so many interesting things to read, this time I just did the front-to-back book style reading of it. And boy was I pleasantly surprised when I reached the last page, the last word, a new essay of Gilbert's from the Daily News, March 14, 1908.
This column, titled "A Case of Comrades" shows Gilbert's tremendous ability to *show* the reader what he means. It illustrates his artistic nature and that he is a visual writer.
As I pictured this group of men, debating over whether the train had a central passageway or a left-sided passageway (and having seen enough old movies to visualize both myself), and imagining the way Chesterton drops one conversation on the left and another on the right to engage in this debate, using the sugar cubes, the knives and forks, and the tables for visual aids, well, by the end of that article, I was laughing so hard, I had tears.
Chesterton makes out that men's conversations are rather foolish (although they take them quite seriously) and the debate might not be over a serious subject, but still, I can't help but wish I'd been just somewhere in the room so I could have had a good laugh over it all, don't you?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
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The essay is also available in The Apostle and the Wild Ducks, for those who might not have access to the magazine for whatever reason. This book is available online at Martin Ward's site.
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