Gilbert Chesterton. Creativity of the writer

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 2003 Gilbert Chesterton's autobiography was published under the title The Man with the Golden Key. In this book, he, the generally recognized author of the polemic, talks about himself and his beliefs. But no matter what Chesterton praised in the past, no matter what he wrote or ridiculed, he suffers about the present. No matter how we feel about his conclusions and advice, one thing is important - it's hard not to fall in love with someone who sincerely loved people, worried about them and really wanted to help them.

Short biography

English writer Chesterton Gilbert Keith was born in 1874 in London. His father was a real estate agent. The family had three children, but Gilbert's sister died when he was two years old. Three years later, brother Cecil was born. The father painted watercolors, engraved, composed books for his children and bound them himself.

In 1881, Gilbert Keith Chesterton went to preparatory school, and in 1887 he entered St. Paul's. FromIt differed from others in that it was located in the center of London, and the students lived at home. Continue education at the University Chesterton stubbornly did not want him to study somehow, they found a compromise - he went only to lectures on English literature at the University of London. Nevertheless, Gilbert constantly attended classes at the painting school. He wanted to become an artist, but soon left painting. He was fascinated by literature.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton became a writer not by chance, as he wrote from an early age. He began his career in this field at the age of twenty at the Bookman publishing house as a reviewer, then moved to the T. Fisher Unwin. Gilbert's notes on books were so brilliant that he was noticed in literary circles.

Chesterton was helped to publish his first essays and poems. Kipling and Shaw became interested in him as soon as his name appeared in print. Within a year, Chesterton became famous, and five years later he became one of the best authors in England. As a writer, Gilbert was very prolific. He wrote more than a hundred volumes of compositions.

Chesterton's essays and notes are impossible to count, only the Illustrated London News published about 1600 of them, and he was published not only there. Chesterton became famous in all genres. Gilbert Chesterton has written seven collections of poetry, ten biographies, six novels and eleven collections of short stories.

Chesterton died of heart disease in 1936.

What is characteristic of his works?

Chesterton's thoughts often had a paradoxical and eccentric form. At the coreThe author's work is based on an optimistic view of life, based on a deep faith in God and common sense. Chesterton's paradox as a writer is not to complicate reality, but to simplify it.

Most of his biographical works are written not as a writer-researcher of the personality and creativity of authors, but as a Chesterton-reader. The biography, as it were, recedes into the background, and the work of these authors is for Chesterton an occasion for discussions on the topics of politics, art, religion.

It is this combination of journalistic and lyrical beginnings that forms the characteristic artistic style of Chesterton's biographies. What makes them attractive to readers, since the image recreated by the author looks accurate and convincing. It is no coincidence that Chesterton's "Charles Dickens" is recognized as one of the best works about the great novelist.

As a rule, in the work of many writers, due to some events in their lives, there comes a turning point. What can not be said about Chesterton. A good-natured, talented person, he was distinguished by some kind of “childishness”. Gilbert Chesterton looked at the world as if it were a miracle - with admiration and amazement. And the attitude of those around him was the same.

Reading his autobiography, one gets the impression that his whole life, like childhood, was cloudless. But still, there are two memorable events that somehow influenced his work.

First, very important for the writer, is his marriage to Frances Blogg in 1901. Chesterton courted the girl for a long time, but the wedding day was not appointed. This is probably due to the unwillingness of Gilbert's mother to see Francis as her daughter-in-law. The long-awaited, happy day for the young came, and after that Chesterton turned from articles and essays in newspapers to more serious works. He began to write fiction - stories and novels.

The second event that influenced his work was far from joyful. In 1914, the writer Chesterton Gilbert suffered a serious illness, for several months the writer was in an unconscious state. After that, Chesterton's worldview changed, which is noticeable in his works. The theological themes are characteristic of the writings of this time. Chesterton's ideas have gained depth and brilliance.

Creativity of Chesterton

Literary career Gilbert Chesterton began with poetry. But the first collection of poems "Playing Old Men" did not bring success. The second collection, The Wild Knight, although noted by Kipling, also went unnoticed. Much more successful was the fate of collections of essays.

The first book, The Protector, was compiled from essays published in The Speaker and the Daily News. Both newspapers were inundated with letters from readers, and the articles had to be published as a separate publication. By the time the second collection was published, Chesterton's fame had become accustomed to.

The most popular were the "Heretics" published in 1905, the collection "For All That" published in 1908 and the essay "Twelve Types" published in early 1912.

In addition to biographies published in separate books, Gilbert Chesterton wrotedozens of biographical essays. The first collection "Twelve Portraits" included essays about poets, artists, historical figures, prose writers. Biographical books of Chesterton: "Robert Browning", printed in 1903, "Charles Dickens", published in separate essays from 1906 to 1909, and then published in one collection. He wrote wonderful works about B. Shaw and W. Blake, about R. Stevenson, whose works Chesterton re-read many times.

Chesterton's historical writings include two works - "A Brief History of England" and "The Crimes of England", a verse poem "The Ballad of the White Horse" and about twenty essays. Here, just as in biographies, he was a true romantic. Even at school, the writer surprised everyone with the maturity of historical characteristics. In these works, he managed to capture the essence of historical events and convey them with his characteristic common sense, which distinguished Gilbert Chesterton.

Books on religious topics written by this great man raise questions and issues that are understandable to a wide range of readers. They attracted the attention of clerics. In 1908 the essays "Orthodoxy" were published. The treatise "Saint Francis of Assisi", published in 1923, was highly appreciated by the Pope. In 1925, Chesterton wrote the treatise The Eternal Man on a theological topic. G. Green, an English writer, called this work "one of the greatest books of the century."

Chesterton owns novels:

• Napoleon of Notting Hill, published 1904
• The Man Who Was Thursday, published in 1908year.
• "Orb and Cross", printed in 1910.
• "A Man Alive", released in 1912.
• The Flying Tavern, published in 1914.
• published in 1927 "The Return of Don Quixote", etc.

Chesterton Detectives

But the most popular works of Chesterton were stories about a Catholic priest who was more skillful than Sherlock Holmes in unraveling crimes:

• The first book, Father Brown's Ignorance, was published in 1911.
• In 1914 the second book, The Wisdom of Father Brown, was published.
• Father Brown's Incredulity was published in 1926.
• The Secret of Father Brown published in 1927.
• The final book, The Scandalous Incident of Father Brown, was published in 1935.

The storyline of his works is original and unique. They are written in a relaxed and easy style. In addition, they bribe with the fact that the main character of the cycle is a Catholic priest, whose main weapon is logic. Talented and at the same time modest, Father Brown unravels the most incredible stories.

Chesterton's contribution to the detective genre was highly appreciated by both critics and readers. The stories about Father Brown are deservedly recognized as classics of this genre. An entertaining plot of stories about a Catholic priest is perfectly complemented by aphoristic style, humor and a deep knowledge of human nature. Chesterton became the first chairman of the Detective Writers' Club, then A. Christie replaced the writer in this post.