20th out of 25 books
—
16 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton” as Want to Read:
The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
G.K. Chesterton Here is a special two-in-one book that is both by G.K. Chesterton and about Chesterton. This volume offers an irresistible opportunity to see who this remarkable man really was. Chesterton was one of the most stimulating and well-loved writers of the 20th century. His 100 books, and hundreds of essays and columns on a great variety of themes have made G.K.
...more
Paperback
,
336 pages
Published
April 30th 2006
by Ignatius Press
(first published 1936)
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
,
please sign up
.
Be the first to ask a question about The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
764)
Jun 28, 2010
Regina Doman
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Any lovers of GKC - not a good introduction to the man, though.
I can't believe it took me so long to read this book (I began it in 1993!) and how much I enjoyed it when I finally finished it. I've learned tons more about GKC since 1993, which all added to my enjoyment of finishing this book. (Subscribing to Gilbert! Magazine helped as well!) The first sentence remains my favorite, where Chesterton pokes fun at those who dismissed him as a non-thinker because of his love for Roman Catholicism:
Bowing down in blind credulity, as is my custom, before mere auth ...more
Bowing down in blind credulity, as is my custom, before mere auth ...more
My father loved Chesterton, and introduced me to the Fr. Brown stories when I was in high school. I've been on something of a Chesterton binge in the last couple of years, thanks to some local Chesterterrorists. I laughed out loud several times while reading this memoir, especially when GKC confesses that he intends to ignore the ordinary responsibilities of a biographer in his own case just as much as he did when writing about other authors: "I will not say that I wrote a book on Browning; but
...more
The photo on the front of this book says it all: G.K. Chesterton is a curmudgeon, and I have a weak spot for curmudgeons. Especially when they make me laugh out loud, while making extremely insightful observations. We read this out loud.
In his own initimable way, Chesterton jokes that earlier biographies he wrote on other lives never accomplished the task of telling the story of a person's life. In the same fashion, Chesterton concedes that the story of his own life is not comprehensively told in his autobiography. The outcome of this autobiographical sketch is an introduction into the places, people, and times which shaped G.K. Chesterton. Influential as these fixtures are in the understanding of Chesterton's life, it is the l
...more
Ah, reading this book was like taking a walk through early 20th century London with my favorite author, and hearing him ramble on about people he knew, places he's been en thought's he's had (of which there are many), his stream of words often broken by a low chuckle or raucous laughter, of his own because of memories such as dressing up as cowboys with George Bernard Shaw to star in a cowboy film made by James Barrie (author of Peter Pan), or putting up a satirical play in a toy theatre with H.
...more
Wit and excellent storytelling abound in this book, although the false modesty irritated me sometimes. Chesterton's writing style resembles little eddies in a stream, always swirling around while moving along. The prose flows and is very readable.
No one deploys verbal paradox like Chesterton, but I wonder if his rhetoric doesn’t sometimes outpace his argument. The fireworks can feel like a distraction. I suppose that’s part of what makes him a pleasure to read. You want to trust him, but don’t quite. That said, this is not his best book, though there are some worthy passages, especially in the first two and the very final chapters.
Unfortunately, some of Chesterton’s bigotry comes through. I suppose we need to keep the times in mind. I s ...more
Unfortunately, some of Chesterton’s bigotry comes through. I suppose we need to keep the times in mind. I s ...more
I found out a good deal I didn't know before about Chesterton, which is one of the purposes of an autobiography: for instance, I learned that he wasn't converted until he had written most of his famous novels, that he knew practically everyone of his time, and that he was, presumably, alive until at least 1936, when the book was published (I am dreadfully ignorant as far as timelines are concerned). I also had a few things reinforced about Chesterton which I knew already, which is perhaps the mo
...more
As Autobiographies go this is a terrible one! Not because he is a bad writer but because he doesn't really talk about himself at all. I did get a few great quotes out of this book, but all in all I didn't learn much of anything about G.K.C. I was particularly interested in his conversion and there was virtually nothing of that in there. I will need to find some good biographies on him in order to learn more as I am really interested to learn about the man that had such a huge influence on C.S. L
...more
Talk about God or tell a good anecdote. There seems to be no middle ground.
"Autobiografría" es un lujo. G.K. Chesterton es una gozada de principio a fin. Y en este libro este loco de la sensatez y el sentido común expone su vida desde un ensayo que sirve para realizar un fresco vívido y locuaz de la Inglaterra de la época (política, imperialismo, historia...) sino además de sus ideas, sus amistades... todo hecho con un humor genial y un estilo inconmensurable. Imprescindible. Como todo Chesterton.
This is a generally enjoyable read. Chesterton shares a handful of fun anecdotes and ideas. Unfortunately there was quite a bit in between that was mostly meaningless to me. Id est, lots of information about specific people or events or systems about which I didn't have enough capital to appreciate.
(Also I read an old hardcover copy from my library that had a lot of great pictures dispersed through the pages.)
(Also I read an old hardcover copy from my library that had a lot of great pictures dispersed through the pages.)
This is more a series of sketches than an autobiography. But many of them are quite good sketches. And there are some wonderful anecdotes as well. Just imagine Chesterton visiting the infinitely refined Henry James for the first time, and then Hillaire Belloc storming in dressed like a beggar looking for "Gilbert! Gilbert!" If this stuff were made up it wouldn't be realistic.
Tough read - GK is always amusing, and there are some great insights and musings he shared on his life, but much of this went over my head. It would help to be very familiar with turn of the century England to really understand what he's talking about. Fascinating man!
Chestertonian to the hilt. Not all chronological. Not all on definitions or straight lines. But in whimsy and character, insight and humilty-tinged humour, it is unsurpassable.
If you like Chesterton, you can't go w rong. If you don't, you've gone wrong.
If you like Chesterton, you can't go w rong. If you don't, you've gone wrong.
Jul 30, 2008
Cormac
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those interested in the background to happiness
Shelves:
biographies
Shows how Chesterton’s original, and optimistic genius could not have developed without his family background. And reminds one of how the twisted and pessimistic outlook of other geniuses was so often the fruit of a very different family experience.
Mar 14, 2014
Rebekah Pringle
added it
Strategically and artistically placed beginning and ending chapters were beautiful and inspiring; middle chapters lagged, but provided many details about associations, influences, and contexts for his thinking and writing.
Picked this up just to browse through for any help with the Nelly project, but loved his prose - and some of it was pricelessly funny. I couldn't say I'd read every word, some of it was very dated, but some of it was so wise...
Li por aqui, em tom desabonador, que a retórica de Chesterton tende a superar o argumento. Não sei como isso pode ser visto como desabonador, já que boa parte da graça está aí.
So funny, honest and timely! I miss many of his references to current events, but others are right on the money for today.
A slow read, only because of the date of writing. Fascinating portrait of one of the great writers of all time.
This is actually the autobiography of other people, unknown to me, in beautiful as ever poetical form.
Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Bibliography.
This guy has great wit--from the very first page!
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was born in London, educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic
Ballad of the White Horse
, fi
...more
More about G.K. Chesterton...
“But there is a way of despising the dandelion which is not that of the dreary pessimist, but of the more offensive optimist. It can be done in various ways; one of which is saying, "You can get much better dandelions at Selfridge's," or "You can get much cheaper dandelions at Woolworth's." Another way is to observe with a casual drawl, "Of course nobody but Gamboli in Vienna really understands dandelions," or saying that nobody would put up with the old-fashioned dandelion since the super-dandelion has been grown in the Frankfurt Palm Garden; or merely sneering at the stinginess of providing dandelions, when all the best hostesses give you an orchid for your buttonhole and a bouquet of rare exotics to take away with you. These are all methods of undervaluing the thing by comparison; for it is not familiarity but comparison that breeds contempt. And all such captious comparisons are ultimately based on the strange and staggering heresy that a human being has a right to dandelions; that in some extraordinary fashion we can demand the very pick of all the dandelions in the garden of Paradise; that we owe no thanks for them at all and need feel no wonder at them at all; and above all no wonder at being thought worthy to receive them. Instead of saying, like the old religious poet, "What is man that Thou carest for him, or the son of man that Thou regardest him?" we are to say like the discontented cabman, "What's this?" or like the bad-tempered Major in the club, "Is this a chop fit for a gentleman?" Now I not only dislike this attitude quite as much as the Swinburnian pessimistic attitude, but I think it comes to very much the same thing; to the actual loss of appetite for the chop or the dish of dandelion-tea. And the name of it is Presumption and the name of its twin brother is Despair.
This is the principle I was maintaining when I seemed an optimist to Mr. Max Beerbohm; and this is the principle I am still maintaining when I should undoubtedly seem a pessimist to Mr. Gordon Selfridge. The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”
—
1 likes
More quotes…
This is the principle I was maintaining when I seemed an optimist to Mr. Max Beerbohm; and this is the principle I am still maintaining when I should undoubtedly seem a pessimist to Mr. Gordon Selfridge. The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”
Jun 28, 2013 11:49AM