- Chesterton, Gilbert K. Heretics. London: John Lane,
[1905] 1914. ISBN 0-7661-7476-X.
- In this collection of essays, the ever-quotable Chesterton
takes issue with prominent contemporaries (including Kipling,
G.B. Shaw, and H.G. Wells) and dogma (the cults of progress, science,
simple living, among others less remembered almost a century later).
There is so much insight and brilliant writing here it's hard to
single out a few examples. My favourites include his dismantling
of cultural anthropology and folklore in chapter 11, the insight in
chapter 16 that elevating science above morality leads inevitably
to oligarchy and rule by experts, and the observation in chapter 17,
writing of Whistler, that what is called the “artistic temperament”
is a property of second-rate artists. The link above is to a 2003 Kessinger
Publishing facsimile reprint of the 1914 twelfth edition.
The reprint is on letter-size pages, much larger than the original,
with each page blown up to fit; consequently, the type is almost
annoyingly large. A free electronic edition is
available.
September 2004 