The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume 06: The Napoleon of Notting Hill; The Man Who Was Thursday, The Club of Queer Trades

by G.K. Chesterton, George Marlin (Editor), Denis J. Conlon (Introduction)

Introduction by Dr. Denis Conlon, University of Antwerp T.S. Eliot, Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis and W.H. Auden all recognized Chesterton as a giant literary figure. This volume contains G.K. Chesterton's earliest and greatest novels. The reader will encounter characters that defend with great vigor the diginity of the person and fundamental Christian beliefs. This volume is graced with Chesterton's own drawings and photos, as well as maps.

Genres: Fiction

600 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Leslie Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

All four books were enjoyable to read, though I'm sure Chesterton included so much symbolism that went over my head. You don't have to grasp it all to enjoy the stories. The introduction in this volume was very extensive and helpful in that regard, though.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Club of Queer Trades, second pass through. No one thinks up plots like GKC.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading: The Man Who Was Thursday

[Tom Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is excellent. The Collected GKC series is essential for any Chestertonian mainly due to the footnotes which explain the many cultural references and fallen-out-of-use terms. It bothers me slightly that GKC's unfinished version of The Ball and the Cross is here, since it pads out the volume so much. But I have yet to read either this version or the finished edition (present in the following volume of the Collected Works), so there might be a purpose to its inclusion that I've yet to see.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant defense of modern medievalism!