Customer Reviews

The Flying Inn

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

G. K. Chesterton is a hugely powerful voice, both intellectually and spiritually. I resonate to him as I do to few others (a few examples of my personal favorites, going in different directions, would be Leo Tolstoy, Ayn Rand, Robert Heinlein, James Branch Cabell). "The Flying Inn", published in England in 1914, is a tale of a man who is confronted by modern cultural trends -- and, oddly enough, this focus on all things "modern" (in 1914) is no less relevant today than it was a hundred years ago. Chesterton saw England as being a culture in transition and in conflict with itself, and the struggles he saw play out dramatically in this novel: The individual versus the collective; common sense versus political correctness; right and wrong versus legal and illegal; a healthy soul versus a healthy body. But to state these themes makes the book sound like a lecture, and it's not that (although it does freely meander into occasional philosophical discourses, some of which didn't hold my interest); this story is, more than anything else, an adventure and an odyssey, which begins when Mr. Humphrey Pump wants to visit the local pub in pursuit of a pleasant hour, but he finds it is being shut down by lawmakers who have decreed the neighborhood bar to be an unhealthy anachronism. Thus begins a tale of flight and civil disobedience (hence the title, "The Flying Inn"). We meet a curious collection of characters that are driving, hindering, observing, and contemplating this safe, regulated, soulless, terrifying world of the near future.

The descriptions of multicultural mandates are prescient. For example, one of the major characters, an English lawmaker, is enamored with Islam, and he becomes an agent of social progress, having decided it's necessary to make England less offensive to its Muslim friends -- thus England is to be purged of pubs, not to mention, for example, ending the offensive Christian habit of marking ballots with a cross (they should be marked instead with a crescent). A lot of the details of this enlightened "tolerance" ring disturbingly true when juxtaposed against the excesses of the present day.

Like "Gulliver's Travels", "The Flying Inn" is both a serious social comment and a lot of fun. There's a reason it's still in print after all these years.

The Flying Inn defied many of my expectations of the book, but is imbued with Chesteron and his many unique prophetic touches. Throughout, the story is a meandering dash of unlikely heroes, pitted against all the forces of "modern" society. In this respect, the book is a clear precursor to CS Lewis' "That Hideous Strength", and bears a great deal of similarity to Chesterton's "The Ball & The Cross". From the standpoint of the characters and the plot, "The Flying Inn" is hilarious. I read it on the airplane and caught myself laughing out loud.

But then there is the tragic component of the story, which is that the prophetic vein has proven all too true. Certainly the west never embraced and incorporated Islam to the extent that Chesterton portrays - the temperance movement is quiescent for the moment, and although everything from fast food to meat is under assault from the nanny state, the attack doesn't bear the hallmarks of a crypto-islamic ethic.

But, Chesterton accurately portrays the weakness of the West as it abandons its underlying moral strength as it abandons Christianity, leaving it at the mercy of societies in which self-hatred and tolerance are not treated as virtues. There is a strong Chesterbelloc tone to the book - Hillaire Belloc's catalog of the enemies of the Church are well represented. Indeed, "The Flying Inn" demonstrates Chesteron's gift at immortalizing concepts, where Belloc's more lucid expositions are dated and flat.

Where Chesteron's "The Ball & The Cross" illustrates a dystopia of modernism and apathy, "The Flying Inn" illustrates a dystopia of oligarchic cultural relativism. And it is just such an assault that has rendered the West so vulnerable to the current assault by Islam - an assault not by violence and conquest (despite the activities of terrorists), but an assault of belief and energy. Muslim immigration has transformed Europe, and outside of England and Poland, there is little resistance left in the weak old secular dominions. Chesterton's world is coming to pass - the green banners of "the prophet" fly ever more freely in Europe.

And yet, despite the enormity of both the portrayal and realization of the death of a great civilization, Chesterton's romping tale leaves you hopeful and cheerful. Ultimately, Merrie England and its children will have the final laugh - precisely because we CAN laugh, and our enemies cannot.

The Flying Inn is a delightful treasury of wit, poetry, and commentary, wrapped together in a story written in the positive spirit of early 20th-century adventure books. Some of the specifics might at first appear to be dated, but the theme is more relevant than ever.

They say that Chesterton was at his best when he was at his lightest, that it was when his insights and prophecies came forth most abundantly. Having read The Flying Inn, all I can say to the above is INDEED. The Flying Inn is so hilarious, rollicking, and downright politically incorrect. But not politically incorrect as some left-wing liberals try to be today. Their attempts at satire utterly lack life and they have a snarl and sneer that gives their satire impotence. Here though, in The Flying Inn, G.K. Chesterton weaves a satire that is at once innocent and jolly as much as his other writing, yet inflicting, cutting, and merciless as the satire of Waugh. In fact, it seems the more jolly and innocent G.K. gets, the more he is able to make capacity for the cutting satire. In this book they go hand in hand, and bubble over with the exuberance and notion that the book is also realizing its own joke. This is G.K.C. laughing at his best.

This novel, written just before the outbreak of World War I, belongs to my absolute favourite books. It is quintessential England in a nutshell, and foresees in a remarkable way, how the world seems to develop now, ninety years later. The attempts at amalgamation of different cultures, and the clashes - alas worse in reality in so many parts of our globe - are wrapped in a story with lively action, humour, and interlarded with some pieces of the most delightful poetry. Any student of political and ideological phenomena, as well as psychological warfare, would find this book inspiring. Yet, it is as good an entertainment as you would wish for. The various personalities are to the point, and you might recognize quite a few characters from among your own acquaintances. Just as an example: Only a genius can give a name to a fictitious and politically opportunist and obsequious journalist, such as "Mr. Hibbs However"! Warmly recommended!

Chesterton produced yet another masterpiece in The Flying Inn, which describes the state of England after it's political leaders begin to merge with Islamic philosophy in an attempt to unify the two cultures. Chesterton does a fantastic job of showing how the ideals of Islam and the Christian West are quite opposite, and how Islam destroys a culture. As previous reviewers have noted, Chesterton is not the least bit worried about being politically correct, and has no qualms about showing the inferiority of the Islamic religion.

In addition to deep philosophical and theological discussions intersperced througout the book, Chesterton provides many, many very humerous scenes and conversations as well. The whole story is centered around a pub-owner and a sailor/Naval officer who travel around England with a barrel of rum and a wheel of cheese (the sale of alcohal had been banned under the new government) which pass out to citizens to keep up the spirits of the common man. They are chased all over the country by the police, always managing to stay a step ahead through a hilarous sequence of events. He includes a number of drinking songs in this book, all of which are very fun to read and had me laughing.

This is definitely a book worth reading. It's probably hard to find, but it's worth the effort.

Overall grade: A

"The Flying Inn" is neither Chesterton's best novel nor his worst. It is not his funniest novel, but it may be the one that hits the widest variety of topics. One might summarize the plot of "The Flying Inn" (two lovable rogues run around with a keg of rum after alcohol is outlawed in England), but that would be like saying that "The Odyssey" is about a guy on a boat. The best I can do is to say that "The Flying Inn" is a travelogue. For a certainty, Captain Dalroy and Humphrey Pump are involved in a real battle against England's enemies, both external (Islam) and internal (rich people). But on their march to war, they have plenty of time to sit back with a cup of ale, sing a drinking song or two, and enjoy life. And also to take some swipes at the irksome facets of modernity, such as timid newspapers and non-rhyming poetry.

"The Flying Inn" sells itself. Anyone who's read and loved Chesterton will have to pick it up, and anyone who reads the first few chapters will be hooked. There's nothing more I can say to encourage you to read it. I will say that Chesterton's fiction supports his non-fiction, and vice versa. Read his essays and you'll better understand the themes of his novels. Read the novels and you'll see the ideas behind the eassys presented in all their glory. You really can't get enough of this guy, but "The Flying Inn" comes close.

Even fans of Chesterton's fiction like Martin Gardner have reservations about this story. It's not subtitled "a nightmare" as is The Man Who Was Thursday, but in some ways it is, moreso than Thursday. Written as a serial, it's full of short bits, laced with slapstick and undisguisedly attacks GKC's favorite hobby horses.

But there's method to his madness, and by the end it almost seems like a different book. Along the way, parts of it are almost non-fiction. For instance, the text is sprinkled with light-hearted poems, such as Song of Quoodle, ostensibly about a dog, but likely about something else. There's also a line "cocoa is a cad" which GKC reveals in his autobiography referred to Cadbury's chocolate, GKC at once expressing his preference for beer and making a political point.

The beginning of this book seemed to me so odd that I just kept reading without trying to figure it out. Some ninety years after he wrote it (1914) this story seems prescient. One asks oneself what about Victorian England could inspire a tale that so resonates with the changing world of today.

The plot initially seemed to me rather thin, but, as I ought to have known, it was merely a tributary of the real plot. "Flying" in the title means "moving", and the Inn consists solely of a wheel of cheese and a keg of beer. From that Chesterton not only weaves a light-hearted and entrancing story, but also makes salient points about what is really important. All of which made me want to fly into the local inn and raise a toast to GKC.

Don't let an absurd plot to frighten you. As is his custom, Chesterton knows to sharpen the message of his fiction by a generous touch of absurd and paradox.The result is a book wise,light and full of poetry (both in literal and figurative sence). It's my favorite Chesterton's novel and the first I've read. It was in my childhood after multiple nice Father Brown stories and the book produced a strange effect: without understanding the plot or the idea, I got a very definite and deep sensation that I did love it. This feeling made me pick it up in the University Library years after my first experience, and so my adult aquaintance with Chesterton began. I keep loving it ever since, even if I know it to well to be surprised by wise paradoxes, snug romantics of home and subtle observations.

This story is about the collision between east and west and how a westernized society, perhaps out of appeasement, capitulates to certain Islamic beliefs, notably prohibition and polygamy. That is the background for the confrontations between Dalroy (protagonist) and Ivywood (antagonist). Almost prophetically, I think, it foreshadows the disaster that was prohibition in this country (it was published in 1914-five years before prohibition), as well as perhaps our own clashes and confrontations with the Muslim religion.

A satirical and humorous romp? Yes, but I give it only three stars because it tends to drag in parts. In other words not quite as entertaining as some of his other books (The man who was Thursday, Paradoxes of Mr. Pond, Manalive, Club of Queer Trades, etc).