Chapter & Verse - G K Chesterton

By G K Chesterton

Literature is a world of words and wonder, able to take us on almost unimaginable journeys from the wild and fantastic to the grind and minutiae of life.

An author’s ideas are his building blocks, his architecture of the mind, building a structure on which all else will rest; the narrative, the characters, the words - those few words that begin the adventure.

In this series we look at some of our leading classic authors across two genres: the short story and the poem. In this modern world there is an insatiable need to categorise and pigeon-hole everyone and everything. But ideas, these grains and saplings of the brain, need to roam, to explore and find their perfect literary use vehicle. Our authors are masters of many literary forms, perhaps known for one but themselves favouring another.

Story. Poems. Story. Within these boundaries come all manner of invention and cast of characters. And, of course, each author has their own way of revealing their own chapter and verse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chapter & Verse
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781835474037

Book preview

Chapter & Verse - G K Chesterton

Literature is a world of words and wonder, able to take us on almost unimaginable journeys from the wild and fantastic to the grind and minutiae of life.

An author’s ideas are his building blocks, his architecture of the mind, building a structure on which all else will rest; the narrative, the characters, the words - those few words that begin the adventure.

In this series we look at some of our leading classic authors across two genres: the short story and the poem.  In this modern world there is an insatiable need to categorise and pigeon-hole everyone and everything.  But ideas, these grains and saplings of the brain, need to roam, to explore and find their perfect literary use vehicle.  Our authors are masters of many literary forms, perhaps known for one but themselves favouring another.

Story. Poems. Story.  Within these boundaries come all manner of invention and cast of characters.  And, of course, each author has their own way of revealing their own chapter and verse.  

G K Chesterton - An Introduction

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born on the 29th May 1874 in Kensington, London. 

Chesterton was educated at St Paul's School and then the Slade School of Art to train as an illustrator.  Much of his early career was at publishing houses and then writing columns for various papers.  His weekly piece for the Illustrated London News continued until his death.  He was also a poet, novelist, playwright, literary commentator, editor, biographer, orator and theologian. 

He was often dubbed as the ‘prince of paradox’ for his light whimsical style that often-addressed serious issues such as politics and religion.  The latter was as a member and defender of the Christian faith and the former was shaped by a distrust of concentrated wealth and power. 

He advocated Distributionism and said that every man should be allowed to own ‘three acres and a cow’.  These political views have spread round the world, crediting Chesterton as the father of the ‘small is beautiful’ movement.  It is also said to have influenced Gandhi in seeking a genuine nationalism for India rather than imitating the British state. 

He was an extremely prolific writer but his main literary claim to fame was as the creator of Father Brown. His glorious style and profound ideas in all his work reveal truths, often with humour which makes him remarkably contemporary and relevant to the modern reader. 

G K Chesterton died on the 14th June 1936 in Beaconsfield.  He was 62.

Index of Contents

The Resurrection of Father Brown

The Song Against Songs

The Strange Music

The Song of Right and Wrong

Americanisation

The Englishman

The Mystery

Lepanto

The Convert

The Human Tree

The Secret People

The Last Hero

A Prayer in Darkness

A Ballad of Suicide

The Rolling English Road

A Somewhat Improbable Story

The Resurrection of Father Brown

There was a brief period during which Father Brown enjoyed, or rather did not enjoy, something like fame. He was a nine days’ wonder in the newspapers; he was even a common topic of controversy in the weekly reviews; his exploits were narrated eagerly and inaccurately in any number of clubs and drawing-rooms, especially in America. Incongruous and indeed incredible as it may seem to any one who knew him, his adventures as a detective were even made the subject of short stories appearing in magazines.

Strangely enough, this wandering limelight struck him in the most obscure, or at least the most remote, of his many places of residence. He had been sent out to officiate, as something between a missionary and a parish priest, in one of those sections of the northern coast of South America, where strips of country still cling insecurely to European powers, or are continually threatening to become independent republics, under the gigantic shadow of President Monroe. The population was red and brown with pink spots; that is, it was Spanish-American, and largely Spanish-American-Indian, but there was a considerable and increasing infiltration of Americans of the northern sort—Englishmen, Germans, and the rest. And the trouble seems to have begun when one of these