R
Robyn_p
Guest
Wow, what a ride! I read it in one sitting yesterday and my head is still spinning from it. In a good way.
I had read a little bit of Chesterton’s apologetic work before this (Orthodoxy etc…) and while I liked it, always found him a bit tough to follow. I would sometimes read a page multiple times just to understand what he was saying. So I was expecting his fictional work to be similarly something I was going to have to work hard at to enjoy.
Boy was I wrong. I swear almost every sentence in this book is pure gold. His prose is amazing. It picked me up instantly and didn’t let me down until the very end. Here’s just one paragraph that I loved:
**He felt a strange and vivid value in all the earth around him, in the grass under his feet; he felt the love of life in all living things. ** He could almost fancy that he heard the grass growing; he could almost fancy that even as he stood fresh flowers were springing up and breaking into blossom in the meadow— flowers blood red and burning gold and blue, fulfilling the whole pageant of the spring. And whenever his eyes strayed for a flash from the calm, staring, hypnotic eyes of the Marquis, they saw the little tuft of almond tree against the sky- line. He had the feeling that if by some miracle he escaped he would be ready to sit for ever before that almond tree, desiring nothing else in the world.
I don’t know why, but paragraphs like this make my heart ache. Like that feeling you get when you see a beautiful sunset or hear a symphony. I teared up a little when I read it. Maybe I’m just overly emotional, but this entire little book was beautiful to me. I’ve read a lot of good authors, but none that have moved me before. Chesterton moved me. I don’t feel like I can ever read another book without comparing it to him.
Has anyone else here read this book or some other work by Chesterton and felt the same way? Or am I just crazy?
I had read a little bit of Chesterton’s apologetic work before this (Orthodoxy etc…) and while I liked it, always found him a bit tough to follow. I would sometimes read a page multiple times just to understand what he was saying. So I was expecting his fictional work to be similarly something I was going to have to work hard at to enjoy.
Boy was I wrong. I swear almost every sentence in this book is pure gold. His prose is amazing. It picked me up instantly and didn’t let me down until the very end. Here’s just one paragraph that I loved:
**He felt a strange and vivid value in all the earth around him, in the grass under his feet; he felt the love of life in all living things. ** He could almost fancy that he heard the grass growing; he could almost fancy that even as he stood fresh flowers were springing up and breaking into blossom in the meadow— flowers blood red and burning gold and blue, fulfilling the whole pageant of the spring. And whenever his eyes strayed for a flash from the calm, staring, hypnotic eyes of the Marquis, they saw the little tuft of almond tree against the sky- line. He had the feeling that if by some miracle he escaped he would be ready to sit for ever before that almond tree, desiring nothing else in the world.
I don’t know why, but paragraphs like this make my heart ache. Like that feeling you get when you see a beautiful sunset or hear a symphony. I teared up a little when I read it. Maybe I’m just overly emotional, but this entire little book was beautiful to me. I’ve read a lot of good authors, but none that have moved me before. Chesterton moved me. I don’t feel like I can ever read another book without comparing it to him.
Has anyone else here read this book or some other work by Chesterton and felt the same way? Or am I just crazy?
That’s my favorite book! It was definitely the first time I ever would stop and think, “Wow, this is amazing,” or “Wow, I never thought of it that way.” It changed my outlook on life and gave me a zeal for goodness and truth, and the “revolt into sanity.” I’ve only read it all the way through once but have read the first few chapters over several times since they are so brilliant. I need to go through the whole thing again though. It has been about 3 years.