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/lit/ - Literature

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13597744

G.K. Chesterton Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:13:54 2019 No.13597744 [Reply] [Original]

Why isn't he considered one of the greats /lit/?

>He wrote a hundred books, contributed to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, over 4,000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News - all of which were witty and thought provoking.
>Wrote The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish Independence
>His essay in the Illustrated London News helped inspire Gandhi to lead a movement to end British colonial rule

He's one of my favorite writers, I agree he can be overrated on the internet - but to the general population he is obscure and unknown. Do you think it's deserved?

Also
>general Chesterton thread

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:30:03 2019 No.13597799 >>13597744 The Everlasting Man changed my life

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:31:57 2019 No.13597801 >>13597744 He was fat, stupid, had bad teeth, was wrong about everything, and his aphorisms were shit. Look at that fucking outfit he has on, ffs. If only eugenics could have been developed earlier, and precluded his existence.

>>

Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:36:06 2019 No.13597808
File: 254 KB, 785x1000, 1564851954725.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>13597801
>He was fat, stupid, had bad teeth, was wrong about everything, and his aphorisms were shit. Look at that fucking outfit he has on, ffs. If only eugenics could have been developed earlier, and precluded his existence.

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:40:45 2019 No.13597824 File: 21 KB, 474x474, bait.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>13597801 >aphorisms were shit Chestertons fence is one of the most widely used

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:49:59 2019 No.13597851 >>13597799 Also the book that converted C.S Lewis

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:54:00 2019 No.13597863 He also influenced Brideshead Revisited.

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:55:26 2019 No.13597873 >>13597744 >implying quantity matters

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 22:57:21 2019 No.13597878 >>13597744 Because his books suck and his poetry sucks little less. Quality over quantity anon.

>>

Anonymous Tue Aug 6 23:06:14 2019 No.13597918

>>13597878
The Man Who Was Thursday is patrician as fuck, so are The Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy imo. Fr. Brown is also a pretty comfy read - was one of Orwell's favorite series. I've never read a book from him that I hated, lot's were mediocre but usually were worth it for the good chapters - which is pretty impressive for the volume of his works.

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 23:07:48 2019 No.13597925 >>13597918 >patrician >Orwell >comfy >admits mediocrity hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 6 23:09:04 2019 No.13597929 >>13597925 Pynchon is mentioned as being comfy here all the time

>>

Anonymous Tue Aug 6 23:10:10 2019 No.13597934

>"Did you catch this man?" asked the colonel, frowning.

>Father Brown looked him full in his frowning face. "Yes," he said, "I caught him, with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world, and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread."

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 00:19:38 2019 No.13598186 >>13597934 makes sense in context

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 08:41:33 2019 No.13599523 >>13597744 Because he's shit.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 08:46:00 2019 No.13599543 >>13597744 He was pretty fat.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 08:55:58 2019 No.13599587 >>13597744 Not enough novels. And he was going against the royal institute by promoting Christianity. He is great tho. Father Braun is the best in the genre

>>

Anonymous Wed Aug 7 09:05:18 2019 No.13599620

>>13597744
>Why isn't he considered one of the greats /lit/?
If writing vast amounts of material and influencing many people were all it took to be considered one of the greats L Ron Hubbard would be in the Cannon.

Of course Chesterton is no Hubbard but the the kind of prominence you are placing on him when it comes to Irish and Indian Independence is the kind of uncritical fawning that draws out people like >>13597801

Hes written some nice crime fiction and pleasant devotionals but has come nowhere near the level of cultural importance and talent required to be known by the general population.

>Do you think it's deserved?
I think he is vastly over rated by his fans and vastly underrated by the general population - who really vastly under appreciate most authors.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 12:23:17 2019 No.13600666 >>13599620 Fair enough.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 12:26:33 2019 No.13600690 File: 161 KB, 768x1024, 5406252630_f49ed2d7b0_b.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>13597918 >The Man Who Was Thursday is patrician as fuck It's true.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 16:06:24 2019 No.13602010 File: 281 KB, 1440x1652, 20190807_210804.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Dang OP this just popped up on my twitter feed

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 16:13:14 2019 No.13602064 He was really great (400lbs)

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 16:14:28 2019 No.13602072 He was also one of the best economists ever

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 17:04:26 2019 No.13602380 >>13597744 His prose can be quite good. I thought Heretics was a pretty weak book. Orthodoxy was far better. Still getting to Everlasting Man.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 19:29:05 2019 No.13603173 File: 33 KB, 321x500, 51nN5B2-o3L.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Orthodoxy is a masterpiece https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/130

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 7 22:51:52 2019 No.13603942 File: 967 KB, 1524x2334, 9780141193854.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] I've only read his fiction but I loved it.

>>	Anonymous Thu Aug 8 00:43:32 2019 No.13604283 >>13603173 Heretics was pretty good as well

>>	Anonymous Thu Aug 8 00:44:49 2019 No.13604286 >>13603942 Orthodoxy is worth a read even as a non-christian, the common sense aphorisms and general good nature of Chesterton make it a really good book.

>>	Anonymous Thu Aug 8 01:01:41 2019 No.13604335 >>13600690 Just got my copy.