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The Christian Imagination: G.K. Chesterton on the Arts

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Mr. Peters has done a great job at presenting the essence of the creative Chesterton in this short but fulfilling book. While much certainly has been written on Chesterton's brilliant reasoning or his political philosophies, at the root of his thinking was the simple idea that God saw creation as a pleasing thing, and so should we. Chesterton brought not only his firmly-rooted faith, but also a child-like wonder and a fantastic imagination to everything he wrote about, from sociology to satire. Peters' book is a satisfying primer on this idea, and it draws from a diversity of material. Each chapter gives a brief, but not abstract, summary of an aspect of Chesterton or his work. One, for instance, gives an overview of GKC's forays into songwriting, drama and illustration, while another outlines his views on art critics and "bohemians" -- people who Chesterton saw as possessing a distinct lack of imagination. The last chapter serves as an overview of Chesterton's writing career. The book is not exhaustive by any means, but it is complete. Artists and writers will appreciate this book, and I would especially recommend it to those relatively new to Chesterton, as you will find it to be a valuable and informative introduction, as well as an enjoyable read.

Thomas Peters does an excellent job of presenting G.K. Chesterton's thoughts and observations on imagination and the arts. This book is a wonderful and much needed antidote to today's cultural climate, in which the arts establishment seems to value ugliness and outrageousness above all. Here are a few of GKC's countercultural opinions: Fashionable nihilism and pessimism are among the greatest threats to the free and fruitful imagination; humility and wonder enhance creativity, while pride inhibits it; good poetry has rhyme and rhythm; there's nothing wrong with beauty in art; a play should be a treat for the audience, not a realistic slice-of-life; it is not a legitimate use of the arts to make people either bad or unhappy; the "higher frivolity" is better than the "higher criticism" and other pretensions. You'll find all this and more in this well-written book, which includes many quotations (and a few drawings) from GKC himself. And it's all at least as relevant today as it was in Chesterton's time.

This book is essentially a piecing together of GK Chesterton's writings on art. Peters pulls together a fascinating series of concepts from Chesterton about the nature of art and art criticism.

Chesterton is famous for turning concepts on their heads and helping you see things in a fresh and more generous light. He has a way of expanding your world and encouraging you to shed cynicism and modern paralysis.

I read this book with a group of friends over a number of weeks and we had a tremendously good time. It was a true conversation starter. I'd also recommend it for Christian college courses where the discussion of the Christian's role in the arts is in play. It will get people thinking... and talking.

The secondary title; "G.K. Chesterton on the Arts" describes this small book a bit better than the main one. It's really a book all about G.K. Chesterton; that giant of Christian evangelism, who I've so recently had the pleasure of reading some of the work of, and I really can't say anything against this work. It's about Chesterton's views, art, Christianity, and it's done without any of the "spin" that so many modern authors and essay-writers are fond of using.

I honestly can't think of anything worth complaining about here. That about half of it is quotes by Chesterton? Well, yes, but I've given five points to actual quote books before, and this one explains the context sufficiently to make the quotes, if anything, even more meaningful. Should I complain about the somewhat ostentatious title? With few exceptions, I don't like to do that, unless the title is truly misleading, since most authors don't get to decide the title of their book. Should I complain about the essay-like way it was written in? The almost hero-worship-like way that Chesterton's views are enshrined herein? No, I can't do that. In Mister Peters' place, I'd do it the same way. Should I complain that it's not original enough? I'd never do that, for one of the reasons listed in chapter 3.

The fact of the matter is, this is a great book for Catholics, all about imagination, wonder and fun, and their place in the life of a Catholic, and all taken from quotes by one of the finest defenders of the faith in the last 200 years. Chesterton is a delight, as always, and made no secret of his defense of imagination and fun.

This book goes over Chesterton's views on fiction, on critics and proper reviews, on songs, poems and art, and on good humor, then gives a brief biography of Chesterton, containing some information, which I was unaware of, like the name of his wife. In this entire book, there's only one thing that I disagree with (the notion that people don't want to hear the bad points of an artistic work before they buy it,) which is pretty darn impressive.

I find that Chesterton's best points here are his insistence on the importance of childlike joy and wonder in appreciating the arts, and his strong defense of fun, imaginative expression, regardless of the critical reaction it might receive. Of course, like all defenses of fun and wonder, it's simultaneously an attack on scientism, which is two birds with one stone, as far as I'm concerned. However, if you wanted me to tell you the best quotes in the novel, I'd be here all day. Believe me when I say that you're better off just picking this book up and reading it yourself; especially if you've been fooled by the media's lies about the Catholic Church being the enemy of free expression. This little book puts all that into perspective, and could serve as a nice, little Chesterton introduction as well. I just hope you have as much fun with it as I did.