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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “The Everlasting Man has got to be on the list of the top five books I have ever read, on any subject, fiction or nonfiction. This, Chesterton's greatest work, is more than a mere apology; more than a mere outline of human history, though it is that. It covers the interior, one might say...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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1 of 1 members found this review helpful
“The Everlasting Man has got to be on the list of the top five books I have ever read, on any subject, fiction or nonfiction. This, Chesterton's greatest work, is more than a mere apology; more than a mere outline of human history, though it is that. It covers the interior, one might say psychological, history of the human condition and the human experience, breaking our spiritual history into four columns -- monotheism, mythology, philosophy, and diabolism -- and shows how Christianity satisfies the mythic hunger for romance while at the same time satisfying the rational and philosophical hunger for truth. Chesterton is one of the sanest, most insightful, and wittiest authors I've ever read. His strength lies in seeing through popular illusions and fallacies and dispelling them, while salvaging everything in them that is good and truly human. Though he insists that Pagan religions are not really religions in the sense we mean today (“We know the meaning of all the myths. We know the last secret revealed to the perfect initiate. And it is not the voice of a priest or a prophet saying ‘These things are.’ It is the voice of a dreamer and an idealist crying, ‘Why cannot these things be?’”), he nevertheless honors these old religions by holding up the healthy and human aspects which characterized them (“When we say that they also have temples and idols and priests and periodical festivals...we only mean that Pagans have more sense than Puritans”). Dismissing the comparative approach to religion, mythology and folklore, Chesterton reasserts the romantic view and its essential nature as part of human identity and experience. This echoes such utterly sane and utterly delightful statements he has made in other books (“This elementary wonder, however, is not a mere fancy derived from the fairy tales; on the contrary, all the fire of the fairy tales is derived from this.” -- Orthodoxy). The fascinating thing about Chesterton is that he satisfies all aspects of the reader's mind (largely because his subject does so as well), the rational and the emotional. He is a Liberal in the older, classical sense, and looks down upon conservatives and progressives alike. His wit is gymnastic and his insight and intellect piercing like a narrow sword. There is not much more I can say, save that if there is only one book on Christianity or religion or mythology that you ever read, this should be it. ”
Michael wrote this review Friday, December 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Amazing book...deeply profound and thought-provoking!”
Rachel J wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Chesterton is the king of the alternative thinkers. He looks at the world in a way the world would prefer not to be looked at. This is a broad outline of the history of man, pre and post Christ. His comparison of Carthage and Rome is stunning. ”
Sorella M wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This may possibly be the best book I've ever read.”
millinerd wrote this review Monday, July 16 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“'The next best thing to being really inside Christendom is to be really outside it,' Chesterton writes. The critics of Christianity live in the shadow of the faith and have lost its light. Unlike one really outside Christianity, they are too bitter to see the light of reason, much less, the Light of the world, Who is Christ.”
Earl wrote this review Saturday, March 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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