G.K. Chesterton: Where to Start?

[CatholicWhovian]

Since Chesterton is not a philosopher technically; and he has works which are also non-fiction then it’s better I post this thread here.

I want to read Chesterton but I don’t know where to start. Should I go with his fiction first or his non-fiction? And which of his non-fiction works should I first dabble upon?

 

[EmeraldOne]

I can’t speak to where exactly you should start, but I can speak to his work “Orthodoxy” being very good. I read through that last year. I’m currently reading “The Everlasting Man,” and also would highly recommend it. Hopefully others can shed more light on your question.

 

[Agnessa]

I’ll join on the recommendation of “The Everlasting Man”.

Regarding the “Orthodoxy”: I think, it was written before Chesterton converted in Catholicism? Not that it makes the book bad (from what I’ve read of it, I actually liked it), but something to keep in mind.

 

[laircy]

Really I started with his novel The Man Who Was Thursday and I found it wonderful, because it is philosophical and entertaining in a way that is less scattered. As much as I love Chesterton, I sometimes find his form in nonfiction hard to follow.

 

[youkokun]

Having read Orthodoxy, The Man Who Was Thursday, and a smattering of the Father Brown mysteries, I recommend that you start with his fiction, then scour the web for some of his well-known quotes to get a feel for his non-fiction style, and then get into the stuff that will make your brain hurt pleasantly. Chesterton is a master of paradox. I started with Orthodoxy, then Father Brown, and then the MWWT, but I think the other way around would ease you into the fun better.

The Man Who Was Thursday is like Norton Juster’s the Phantom Tollbooth, or Alice in Wonderland: it takes you to more of the same and yet new places the whole ride through. I highly recommend the Man Who Was Thursday.

 

[catholicscot]

Orthodoxy and Father Brown are his stand-out works but his book about St Francis of Assisi tends to be overlooked. It engages his ideas and his imagination so it might be worth reading early on in your acquaintance with him.

 

[redbetta]

I started with Orthodoxy, but no one here mentioned his work on Thomas Aquinas, I highly recommend that one. It is an excellent stretch of the saint, written after writing one on St. Francis.

 

[eschator83]

cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html
Just for the record, above is an outstanding link for I think all Chesterton books (54 non-fiction, 30 fiction, plus dozens of essays). Blessings and tip of the hat to Della, who posted this in another thread last month. I’ve read Orthodoxy and Everlasting Man (both highly recommended, but not easy reads), St Thomas Aquinas is underway.