Old Thunder [Paperback]

Joseph Pearce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2003

The subject of this biography, Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953), was one of the most prolific and thought-provoking writers of his age. Well known for his literary collaboration and friendship with G.K. Chesterton, Belloc continues to fascinate, both as a social commentator and a master of finely crafted prose and verse. As President of the Oxford Union, he immersed himself in historical studies and championed Catholicism. Later, as a Liberal Member of Parliament, he became disillusioned with party politics, expressing his sentiments on both Socialism and Capitalism in his novels and pamphlets. He was and is admired for his understanding of modern England. Belloc's romantic and solitary character is found in his verse, and in the powerful love story of his long courtship of Elodie Hogan and his desolation after her death.

Editorial Reviews

Review

That Joseph Pearce refers to this as 'a life' and not 'the life' hints sufficiently at the complicated individual examined in these pages. From the Hammer Horror-style thunderstorm which raged as Belloc entered the world in 1870 - and which inspired his mother to name him 'Old Thunder' - to his death over 70 years later, no stone is left unturned. Pearce has been helped greatly by the co-operation of several of Belloc's grandchildren and the availability of previously unpublished letters and photographs. Strangely, such photos only make the book's jacket, and we are not given the opportunity to see them for ourselves. Nevertheless, this is a revealing look at one of the 20th century's most significant characters, someone who would be remembered as 'the man who wrote a library'. That library now amounts to a veritable mountain of words on topics as diverse as history, two world wars, social commentary, essays, travel and verse, both serious and comic. Despite an undeniably privileged background, Belloc's life was never easy. His antipathy to all things German began early - he was born during the Franco-Prussian War and his family were forced into English exile. His father died when he was two, his wife died early and the world wars of which he wrote each claimed one of his sons. He never really recovered from the second death, and wrote no more between 1940 and his own death 13 years later. Belloc has been the subject of biography before but this analysis is informed with an enthusiasm that is hard to knock. It is both a joyous and earnest look at the life of a man who moved among some of the most significant political, religious and literary figures of the past hundred years and left his own unique mark. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author

Joseph Pearce is the author of many books, including Small is Still Beautiful, Solzhenitsyn, and Tolkien: Man and Myth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Pb (July 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002740966
• ISBN-13: 978-0002740968
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,392,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating reading, March 16, 2003

By 

Meredith (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc (Hardcover)

I am 17 years old, and I had just discovered Belloc (in The Path to Rome - lucky me!) when my grandma gave me this biography for Christmas. So it was all news to me; I've never read another biography of him. I loved all the quotes and anecdotes, and the prose is outstanding. It was often very sad, especially towards the end...

Here I have to say something about the reviewer who gave it two stars. I understand his feelings, I think, but his view of history is somewhat distorted: I'm sure he'd agree that the Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation were even more energetic with "intelligence and activity" than the Catholic Revival - with all of the saints, missionaries, scholars, artists and composers who worked to bring Europe and all the world to Christ. That said, the Catholic revival (literary and otherwise) was a unique and exhilarating period in the Church. It was not a "last twitching" before a "long decline" - the revival began in the early 19th century and continued about 60 years into the 20th. The decline was not long and slow but sudden and catastrophic - it has been going about 35 years. Every empirically measurable statistic in the 20th cen. Church - Mass attendance, vocations, converts, belief in key doctrines, etc. - shows either a high, constant rate or a steady upward trend - until the 1960's, when there is a sudden, almost exponential drop. The Church just hits a wall. It can't be wholy blamed on "sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll"; there is no equivalent collapse in Protestant denominations. Everything was just different after the council and the new Mass and all that. It's a good thing that Belloc didn't have to see this - it would have broken his heart. On the other hand, we need his fighting spirit now more than ever...

The "atmosphere of English Catholicism". I think Pearse does convey some of this. What struck me when I began to read English Catholic literature was this overpowering sense of elegy, and an awareness of injustice past and present that was almost too painful to read - but all of it balanced by levity and satire and soldierly faith. It was quite intoxicating to someone young and idealistic, and unaccustomed to it. It is found in many writers - you could almost tell that JRR Tolkien was an English Catholic just by reading "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarilion". It even turns up in Chesterton's detective stories...

I think that Pearse does give us some of this atmosphere, but he is not really relating Belloc to the post-conciliar Church. A lot of Catholic authors today just don't want to think about this disparity - Pearse included? I hope not. Anyway, this is a very enjoyable biography with many stories of Belloc's life - his travels to Rome and America, his exploits in Parliament (with excerpts from his very provocative speeches!) his friendships with Chesterton and Maurice Baring... I still wish that Pearse would put photographs in his books through. Oh well.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Thunder - Evangelical Catholicism, January 5, 2003

By 

"davidarcher10" (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc (Hardcover)

For Catholic Converts, "Old Thunder" is a must read. I am certain it is not the most well researched nor scholarly work on Belloc or the period of Catholic literary rennasaince. But as an introduction to the period and the players it is an excellent book.

Historians and biographers such as Joseph Pearce seem to be held in low regard by their peers. Nonetheless, in bringing charaters such as Belloc to the less well read they are invaluable.

The value of this book is also multiplied by Mr. Pearce's prose. Few writers of non-fiction are so preasurable to read. Old Thunder is an extraordinary biography.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No One Can Top Pearce On Belloc, February 21, 2003

By 

Hunter Baker "Hunter Baker" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc (Hardcover)

Joseph Pearce has carved out a niche for himself as the primary biographer of Catholic Literary Greats. His volumes on Chesterton, Tolkien, and other literary figures are well worth reading. Although he has written of Hillaire Belloc in many of his other works, "Old Thunder" finally gives Belloc his due. The man who is remembered by many as a writer of children's verse is revealed to us as a powerhouse of journalism, fiction, and poetry. At the same time, we see a man of intense Catholic piety and devotion making his way through struggles with finances and the early loss of his greatly beloved wife.

If you enjoy literary biography, you'll find Pearce is a master. Jump in with "Old Thunder" and make the rounds through all of Pearce's work.