Chesterton:
"In Monday's issue of the same paper appeared a letter from the same
culprit. He ingenuously confessed that the line did not belong to
Shakespeare, but to a poet whom he called Grey. Which was another
cropper - or whopper. This strange and illiterate outbreak was printed
by the editor with the justly scornful title, " Mr. Chesterton
'Explains'?"
Any man reading the paper at breakfast saw at once the
meaning of the sarcastic quotation marks. They meant, of course,
"Here is a man who doesn't know Gray from Shakespeare; he tries to
patch it up and he can't even spell Gray. And that is what he calls an
Explanation."
That is the perfectly natural inference of the reader
from the letter, the mistake, and the headline - as seen from the
outside. The falsehood was serious; the editorial rebuke was serious.
The stern editor and the sombre, baffled contributor confront
each other as the curtain falls."
Editors can be frustrating, especially when they attempt to read the minds of the writers. And I speak from experience, because I edit things, too, on occasion, and there can be time contraints to verifying things, so you just go with what you think best at the time.
It seems Chesterton is a bit more frustrated than usual in the paragraph, but then, he was personally involved, having someone try to read his thoughts (fool, who can do that?!)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Gilbert has arrived...
...the rest of the day is on hold so I can read it (just taking these few moments, I've lost my momentum. My daughter asked to read it and how can I refuse her? Should our house get two copies so we can read and comment simultaneously?!).
Briefly, it's late, it's the Christmas issue, but they knew it would be late and reason that this is still the Christmas season (which it really is, for a few more day--the magazine is in just by the skin of its teeth, for all I know [wink*Furor]) however, I already see a great Editorial, a good number of Chesterton essays, and a mediocre (Spellchecker wants me to put "motocar" in here...so I'm not getting any help with the spelling of it, sorry!) Flying Stars.
Have you read it yet? What was the most important thing you read?
Briefly, it's late, it's the Christmas issue, but they knew it would be late and reason that this is still the Christmas season (which it really is, for a few more day--the magazine is in just by the skin of its teeth, for all I know [wink*Furor]) however, I already see a great Editorial, a good number of Chesterton essays, and a mediocre (Spellchecker wants me to put "motocar" in here...so I'm not getting any help with the spelling of it, sorry!) Flying Stars.
Have you read it yet? What was the most important thing you read?
Journalism 101-part three
Chesterton writes:
"In this document Chesterton darkly, deliberately, and not having the fear of God before his eyes, asserted
that Shakespeare wrote the line "that wreathes its old fantastic roots so high."
This he said because he had been kept in ignorance by Priests; or, perhaps, because he thought craftily that none of his
dupes could discover a curious and forgotten rhyme called Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
Anyhow, that orthodox gentleman made a howling error; and received some twenty-five letters and post-cards
from kind correspondents who pointed out the mistake.
But the odd thing is that scarcely any of them could conceive that it
was a mistake. The first wrote in the tone of one wearied of epigrams,
and cried, "What is the joke?" Another professed (and
practised, for all I know, God help him) that he had read through all
Shakespeare and failed to find the line. A third wrote in a sort of
moral distress, asking, as in confidence, if Gray was really a
plagiarist. They were a noble collection; but they all subtly
assumed an element of leisure and exactitude in the recipient's
profession and character which is far from the truth. Let us pass on to
the next act of the external tragedy."
Having been the recipient of such mail for similar type "howling errors", I can fully sympathize with Gilbert. I'll bet our Gilbert editor Sean Dailey can, as well. People who jump on the tiniest infraction of a misquote or a misspelled word, and fail to engage in the argument of which the writer most likely put a lot of effort. I know of one Chestertonian who reads over his posts three times before pushing the "Send" button. How nice it would be if writers would just read their scribblings over once...and that readers would forgive much quicker the minor errors in grammar or quotations taken from memory...
"In this document Chesterton darkly, deliberately, and not having the fear of God before his eyes, asserted
that Shakespeare wrote the line "that wreathes its old fantastic roots so high."
This he said because he had been kept in ignorance by Priests; or, perhaps, because he thought craftily that none of his
dupes could discover a curious and forgotten rhyme called Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
Anyhow, that orthodox gentleman made a howling error; and received some twenty-five letters and post-cards
from kind correspondents who pointed out the mistake.
But the odd thing is that scarcely any of them could conceive that it
was a mistake. The first wrote in the tone of one wearied of epigrams,
and cried, "What is the joke
practised, for all I know, God help him) that he had read through all
Shakespeare and failed to find the line. A third wrote in a sort of
moral distress, asking, as in confidence, if Gray was really a
plagiarist. They were a noble collection; but they all subtly
assumed an element of leisure and exactitude in the recipient's
profession and character which is far from the truth. Let us pass on to
the next act of the external tragedy."
Having been the recipient of such mail for similar type "howling errors", I can fully sympathize with Gilbert. I'll bet our Gilbert editor Sean Dailey can, as well. People who jump on the tiniest infraction of a misquote or a misspelled word, and fail to engage in the argument of which the writer most likely put a lot of effort. I know of one Chestertonian who reads over his posts three times before pushing the "Send" button. How nice it would be if writers would just read their scribblings over once...and that readers would forgive much quicker the minor errors in grammar or quotations taken from memory...
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Journalism 101-part two
"I will give an instance (merely to illustrate my thesis of unreality)
from the paper that I know best. Here is a simple story, a little
episode in the life of a journalist, which may be amusing and
instructive: the tale of how I made a great mistake in quotation. There
are really two stories: the story as seen from the outside, by a man
reading the paper; and the story seen from the inside, by the
journalists shouting and telephoning and taking notes in shorthand
through the night.
This is the outside story; and it reads like a dreadful quarrel. The
notorious G. K. Chesterton, a reactionary Torquemada whose one
gloomy pleasure was in the defence of orthodoxy and the pursuit of
heretics, long calculated and at last launched a denunciation of a
brilliant leader of the New Theology which he hated with all the
furnace of his fanatic soul." GKC
Sounds more like a description of (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, doesn't it??!!
from the paper that I know best. Here is a simple story, a little
episode in the life of a journalist, which may be amusing and
instructive: the tale of how I made a great mistake in quotation. There
are really two stories: the story as seen from the outside, by a man
reading the paper; and the story seen from the inside, by the
journalists shouting and telephoning and taking notes in shorthand
through the night.
This is the outside story; and it reads like a dreadful quarrel. The
notorious G. K. Chesterton, a reactionary Torquemada whose one
gloomy pleasure was in the defence of orthodoxy and the pursuit of
heretics, long calculated and at last launched a denunciation of a
brilliant leader of the New Theology which he hated with all the
furnace of his fanatic soul." GKC
Sounds more like a description of (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, doesn't it??!!
Friday, January 27, 2006
Journalism 101-part one
Speaking of editing, here is a funny essay of Chesterton's on journalism. I'm going to piece it out, we can discuss it bit by bit.
"Our age which has boasted of realism will fail chiefly through lack of
reality.
Never, I fancy, has there been so grave and startling a divorce
between the real way a thing is done and the look of it when it is
done.
I take the nearest and most topical instance to hand - a
newspaper.
Nothing looks more neat and regular than a newspaper,
with its parallel columns, its mechanical printing, its detailed facts
and figures, its responsible, polysyllabic leading articles. Nothing, as
a matter of fact, goes every night through more agonies of adventure,
more hairbreadth escapes, desperate expedients, crucial councils,
random compromises, or barely averted catastrophes.
Seen from the outside, it seems to come round as automatically as the clock and as
silently as the dawn. Seen from the inside, it gives all its organisers a
gasp of relief every morning to see that it has come out at all;
that it has come out without the leading article upside down or the
Pope congratulated on discovering the North Pole."
"Our age which has boasted of realism will fail chiefly through lack of
reality.
Never, I fancy, has there been so grave and startling a divorce
between the real way a thing is done and the look of it when it is
done.
I take the nearest and most topical instance to hand - a
newspaper.
Nothing looks more neat and regular than a newspaper,
with its parallel columns, its mechanical printing, its detailed facts
and figures, its responsible, polysyllabic leading articles. Nothing, as
a matter of fact, goes every night through more agonies of adventure,
more hairbreadth escapes, desperate expedients, crucial councils,
random compromises, or barely averted catastrophes.
Seen from the outside, it seems to come round as automatically as the clock and as
silently as the dawn. Seen from the inside, it gives all its organisers a
gasp of relief every morning to see that it has come out at all;
that it has come out without the leading article upside down or the
Pope congratulated on discovering the North Pole."
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Francis + Thomas = Chesterton
It seems to me as if the Ignatius combined St. Thomas/St Francis books of Chesterton's is a great marriage of the two important saints in Chesterton's life, although, naturally, only paradoxically.
Chesterton knew and studied about St. Francis all his life, starting from when his father read him a story at his knee as a boy. St. Thomas, well, there is no record of him studying the saint, yet when he wrote his biography, there sure seemed to be a good knowledge of him anyway.
Joseph Pearce, in his introduction to the second book in the Ignatius duo, has a fascinating comment about Chesterton being a synthesis of Francis and Thomas, laughter and humility, playing and praying. Laughter and humility, says Pearce, lead to gratitude. And gratitude was what Chesterton lived each day.
Chesterton knew and studied about St. Francis all his life, starting from when his father read him a story at his knee as a boy. St. Thomas, well, there is no record of him studying the saint, yet when he wrote his biography, there sure seemed to be a good knowledge of him anyway.
Joseph Pearce, in his introduction to the second book in the Ignatius duo, has a fascinating comment about Chesterton being a synthesis of Francis and Thomas, laughter and humility, playing and praying. Laughter and humility, says Pearce, lead to gratitude. And gratitude was what Chesterton lived each day.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Mothers and Sundays
"Sit down!" said Sunday in a voice he used once or twice in his life, a voice that made men drop drawn swords."
I've used that voice a little more than once or twice in my life (probably leading to it's lack of effect in helping the children drop their swords, a fact I need to keep in mind) and I know that voice. It is the voice of a mother, trying to get her children all at the table at the same time so the meal (getting cold) can start.
I vividly recall just such a time, when the four of us were all talking and my mother wanted us to pray and eat.
"Shut up!" she shouted. (We all thought she had sworn. We were not allowed to use this kind of vocabulary in our house.) It was completely effective, and that was the only time she ever said that. And the shock of it still hasn't worn off.
I've used that voice a little more than once or twice in my life (probably leading to it's lack of effect in helping the children drop their swords, a fact I need to keep in mind) and I know that voice. It is the voice of a mother, trying to get her children all at the table at the same time so the meal (getting cold) can start.
I vividly recall just such a time, when the four of us were all talking and my mother wanted us to pray and eat.
"Shut up!" she shouted. (We all thought she had sworn. We were not allowed to use this kind of vocabulary in our house.) It was completely effective, and that was the only time she ever said that. And the shock of it still hasn't worn off.
Monday, January 23, 2006
People Need Ideals
One of the great things about Chesterton is that he reminds us that we need ideals to live by, to strive for, to have as a goal. We frequently speak of teens and young people as being "idealistic" and then, somehow, that sort of wears off as we grow older. Why? Why should young people have the corner on ideals? We *all* need ideals.
A few years back, I had a minor revelation in my faith life. I discovered that if you just live your life telling yourself you are "ok" as you are, that you really are just giving in to all your sin. Yep, it's true that Jesus loves us just as we are, but then he calls us to become "like him." Jesus is a great ideal to try to live up to. And you don't become like him merely by trying *not* to sin, as good as that sounds. You have to "put on" the virtues, as St. Paul tells us.
Then, I suddenly became very interested in virtues. Which are really ideals. Which all leads me back to Chesterton.
A few years back, I had a minor revelation in my faith life. I discovered that if you just live your life telling yourself you are "ok" as you are, that you really are just giving in to all your sin. Yep, it's true that Jesus loves us just as we are, but then he calls us to become "like him." Jesus is a great ideal to try to live up to. And you don't become like him merely by trying *not* to sin, as good as that sounds. You have to "put on" the virtues, as St. Paul tells us.
Then, I suddenly became very interested in virtues. Which are really ideals. Which all leads me back to Chesterton.
Friday, January 20, 2006
25th Annual Chesterton Conference
Who-hoo!
Check here and plan your time accordingly.
I'm already excited! Hope to see a lot of ACS Blogsters there.
Check here and plan your time accordingly.
I'm already excited! Hope to see a lot of ACS Blogsters there.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Chesterton and Taxes
Did Chesterton have anything to say about taxes?
Do people in England pay taxes?
Do people in England pay taxes?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Chesterton and Children
I guess I haven't done a good enough job yet of evangelizing my own friends.
They've heard me talking about Chesterton for years.
So last night, at our homeschool meeting, I asked if I could run through a speech I'm giving at the end of this month to another group, so my friends could be a "friendly" audience, give me feedback, and so forth.
The first "feedback" was that I should start by explaining who Chesterton is.
I never thought I'd have to do that! I figured these people my friends, all already knew who Chesterton was! Heck, I figured ALL homeschoolers already know who Chesterton is! I found out I was wrong.
I hereby declare that I will give this talk, titled Chesterton and Children to any and all homeschool groups. Contact me at the link there on the left. The first thing I will tell you is who Chesterton is. Then I will tell you why everyone should be reading him. And then I'll tell your group the secret of why I'm a Chestertonian.
They've heard me talking about Chesterton for years.
So last night, at our homeschool meeting, I asked if I could run through a speech I'm giving at the end of this month to another group, so my friends could be a "friendly" audience, give me feedback, and so forth.
The first "feedback" was that I should start by explaining who Chesterton is.
I never thought I'd have to do that! I figured these people my friends, all already knew who Chesterton was! Heck, I figured ALL homeschoolers already know who Chesterton is! I found out I was wrong.
I hereby declare that I will give this talk, titled Chesterton and Children to any and all homeschool groups. Contact me at the link there on the left. The first thing I will tell you is who Chesterton is. Then I will tell you why everyone should be reading him. And then I'll tell your group the secret of why I'm a Chestertonian.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Artists Who Read Chesterton
Don't you think it would be cool to have a comic strip using Chesterton as the main character? Show him forgetting where to go, having Frances straighten his clothes, wield his swordstick here and there...I think it would be quite fun.
Now, we just need an artist who thinks so, too.
Now, we just need an artist who thinks so, too.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Blog Bugs at Firey Firefox
I should write a peom about this.
Somehow when making a template change, I inadvertently left out an important piece, not realizing its import.
The piece looked like this:
-->
and I thought it was some sort of arrow, which made me think of King Alfred fighting on the hills under the White Horse, which reminded me of rocking horses, and my nursery, and then I was off to get a glass of milk, and the whole thing just cleared right out of my mind.
A very kind soul with the unlikely name of Publius wrote to my kind assistant and I do believe the whole matter is straightened out.
And you would only know about this problem is you were using something fiery called Firefox or Foxfire or something like that, which reminds me of Flambeau and a story I once wrote about Father Brown, which reminds me of cigars...
Thank you very much.
Carry on.
Somehow when making a template change, I inadvertently left out an important piece, not realizing its import.
The piece looked like this:
-->
and I thought it was some sort of arrow, which made me think of King Alfred fighting on the hills under the White Horse, which reminded me of rocking horses, and my nursery, and then I was off to get a glass of milk, and the whole thing just cleared right out of my mind.
A very kind soul with the unlikely name of Publius wrote to my kind assistant and I do believe the whole matter is straightened out.
And you would only know about this problem is you were using something fiery called Firefox or Foxfire or something like that, which reminds me of Flambeau and a story I once wrote about Father Brown, which reminds me of cigars...
Thank you very much.
Carry on.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Those who don't like Chesterton...
...don't like the truth.
Those who don't like Chesterton don't like life.
And as Chesterton himself would say, there's so much of him to like! And he loved life more than most people, because there was more of him that was alive than most! (Found the two above quotes in "Chesterton as Seen by His Contemporaries" by Cyril Clemens.
I guess I just like the truth, and I sure do like life.
Because I sure do like Chesterton.
Those who don't like Chesterton don't like life.
And as Chesterton himself would say, there's so much of him to like! And he loved life more than most people, because there was more of him that was alive than most! (Found the two above quotes in "Chesterton as Seen by His Contemporaries" by Cyril Clemens.
I guess I just like the truth, and I sure do like life.
Because I sure do like Chesterton.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Being Polite
Did you ever wonder if parents are teaching their children to be polite these days?
Or is teaching them to be polite like this knucklehead says, a form of abuse? (Hawkins would have us believe we can teach our children only his kind of dogmas, instead of the kind of dogmas we would like to choose for ourselves. To me this means Dawkins would have us be less free rather than more free. He needs a large dose of logical, Chestertonian thinking, don't you think?)
I was reflecting just now on how polite Gilbert Chesterton was, so polite that people often mentioned how polite he was, which means it made an impact.
I recently re-watched the film Harvey and the one thing I noticed particularly with this viewing, was how incredibly polite "Elwood" (Jimmy Stewart's character) was. Incredibly polite.
I think politeness-training alone would improve the world a tremendous amount, and I know that even I can learn a lesson from Elwood and Gilbert.
Or is teaching them to be polite like this knucklehead says, a form of abuse? (Hawkins would have us believe we can teach our children only his kind of dogmas, instead of the kind of dogmas we would like to choose for ourselves. To me this means Dawkins would have us be less free rather than more free. He needs a large dose of logical, Chestertonian thinking, don't you think?)
I was reflecting just now on how polite Gilbert Chesterton was, so polite that people often mentioned how polite he was, which means it made an impact.
I recently re-watched the film Harvey and the one thing I noticed particularly with this viewing, was how incredibly polite "Elwood" (Jimmy Stewart's character) was. Incredibly polite.
I think politeness-training alone would improve the world a tremendous amount, and I know that even I can learn a lesson from Elwood and Gilbert.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
When did you discover Chesterton?
I read Orthodoxy in college. Didn't get it.
Read it again at about age 35.
Totally loved it, said, about every other line, "Right on, brother, preach it, dude!" (or something like that).
Haven't stopped reading him, don't think I ever will. Even if I ever get to read everything he ever wrote, I could still start over again and it would be fresh the second or third time.
How about you? When did you first read/discover Chesterton?
Read it again at about age 35.
Totally loved it, said, about every other line, "Right on, brother, preach it, dude!" (or something like that).
Haven't stopped reading him, don't think I ever will. Even if I ever get to read everything he ever wrote, I could still start over again and it would be fresh the second or third time.
How about you? When did you first read/discover Chesterton?
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Chesterton Day by Day
I once went through an e-Bay/Chestertonian purchase phase, where I was buying lots of old things, any old things that had the word "Chesterton" on them. I got some fine things, and some not so fine. I found out there was an author, way back, who didn't like Chesterton, and wrote a book about that, which amazed me. I was naively under the impression that Chesterton was universally loved.
Anyway, one such acquisition was Chesterton Day by Day a sort of perpetual calendar, with a new quote from Chesterton for each day. There is something like this on-line, too.
Anyway, today's quote is this:
"Variability is one of the virtues of a woman. It obviates the crude requirements of polygamy. If you have one good wife you are sure to have a spiritual harem." From the Daily News.
Now what, do you imagine, is Chesterton saying?
Anyway, one such acquisition was Chesterton Day by Day a sort of perpetual calendar, with a new quote from Chesterton for each day. There is something like this on-line, too.
Anyway, today's quote is this:
"Variability is one of the virtues of a woman. It obviates the crude requirements of polygamy. If you have one good wife you are sure to have a spiritual harem." From the Daily News.
Now what, do you imagine, is Chesterton saying?
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Politically Correct Titanic: "Persons and Children First"
I read this funny article today on a lady in California attempting to be politically correct in her statement where she tries to say that children will be better served when their "deadbeat parent" starts paying his share so that "women and children" aren't left for poor. The commentator was laughing at the half and half use of politically correct terminology and suggested that the California lady should have said "persons and children" aren't left for poor, in order to be perfectly fair.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Fairy Tales
The current Chesterton Review (link above) is totally dedicated to Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature. There is even an article by one of my favorite authors, Regina Doman, who was interviewed in Gilbert Magazine (and the interview is available on line at the Gilbert web site). Regina talks about how she came to write her teen novels, which is fascinating, because at the Brown household, we are big fans of her writing. So, to read this "How I Came to Write My Novels" article is like getting the DVD Extras when you purchase a favorite movie.
Another favorite writer, Stratford Caldecott has and article titled, "Tolkien's Elvish England" and his wife Leonie has two articles, "Surprised by Joy: Children's Literature and the Search for Meaning" (I can't wait to read that!) and "Transcending the Cave: Fantasy Film as Philosophical and Spiritual Reflection." (The PCers would say "transcending the Prehistoric" instead I suppose.)
It's a great feeling when a magazine like this arrives, and you can't wait to read every article, and you know each one will bring new insights and mind boggling ideas. Ahhh, contentment. I guess heaven for me is just going to be stacks and stacks of Chesterton magazines, huh?!
Another favorite writer, Stratford Caldecott has and article titled, "Tolkien's Elvish England" and his wife Leonie has two articles, "Surprised by Joy: Children's Literature and the Search for Meaning" (I can't wait to read that!) and "Transcending the Cave: Fantasy Film as Philosophical and Spiritual Reflection." (The PCers would say "transcending the Prehistoric" instead I suppose.)
It's a great feeling when a magazine like this arrives, and you can't wait to read every article, and you know each one will bring new insights and mind boggling ideas. Ahhh, contentment. I guess heaven for me is just going to be stacks and stacks of Chesterton magazines, huh?!
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