G.K. Chesterton is one of those authors I always thought I should read but never really have. So I was delighted when I saw this collection of Chesterton's writing in ABCs of the Christian Life: The Ultimate Anthology of the Prince of Paradox. As promising as the title was, I didn't love it, and didn't fall in love with Chesterton's writing.
He's supposed to be a great writer, and I'm sure he is, but I was thinking this book was like taking the crown jewels, taking all the precious stones from their settings, arranging them by size, and calling the new arrangement "the ultimate display of the crown jewels." The editors have pulled selections from a variety of Chesterton's work and arranged them in A to Z fashion. (Asceticism, Bethlehem, Catholicism, Charles Dickens, etc.) The result is twenty-six unsatisfying chapters, arranged arbitrarily. Sure, there are some gems there, of varying brilliance, but apart from the settings of the craftsman, they lose their luster.
I don't like Chesterton less than I did before reading ABCs of the Christian Life. But as an introduction and homage to Chesterton's brilliance and insight, I was rather disappointed in it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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