I Have An Inkling: The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut: Great Introduction to G. K. Chesterton

Monday, July 13, 2009

The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut: Great Introduction to G. K. Chesterton

Author and freelance writer Paul Nowak has begun a new publishing company, Eternal Revolution. The name is based upon a quote from G. K. Chesterton (more about him below) from the book Orthodoxy:

To the orthodox there must always be a case for revolution; for in the hearts of men God has been put under the feet of Satan. In the upper world hell once rebelled against heaven. But in this world heaven is rebelling against hell. For the orthodox there can always be a revolution; for a revolution is a restoration. At any instant you may strike a blow for the perfection which no man has seen since Adam. No unchanging custom, no changing evolution can make the original good any thing but good.

As the "Fantasy Editor" for Hollywood Jesus, I focus most of my effort on authors JRR Tolkien (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) and C S Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia). G K Chesterton was part of the generation just prior to Tolkien and Lewis, both of whom name him as a significant influence. Chesterton was a prolific author and conservative Catholic apologist, who is probably best known as the creator of the Father Brown detective series.
Nowak recently published The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut, a book written on the sixth grade level based on the life and works of Chesterton. "Uncle Chestnut" was a nickname given by to the real Chesterton by a neighborhood child. The book contains fictionalized accounts of a young boy named "Jack" and what he learns from Uncle Chestnut. Nowak intends to write other accounts for an Uncle Chestnut series.
This is a great book to introduce children to G K Chesterton, who was able to use everyday events to teach about life. Adults who are unfamiliar with his writing will also find this a good introduction to the author. I know it has piqued my interest in exploring Chesterton's writings.
The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut is available online through Amazon.com or BarnesnandNoble.com.
Follow me on Twitter: InklingBlogger

1 comment:

Paul said...: There's a video on the legacy of Chesterton here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnQWQKMAtek

Since he was the common ground of the group (as well as others) Chesterton could be referred to as the "Father of the Inklings"; July 15, 2009 at 12:00 PM

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Favorite C. S. Lewis Quotes

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if their isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.” --Puddelglum to the Witch in The Silver Chair

Some people when they say that a thing is meant "metaphorically" conclude from this that is is hardly meant at all. They rightly think that Christ spoke metaphorically when he told us to carry the cross: they wrongly conclude that carrying the cross means nothing more than leading a respectable life and subscribing moderately to charities. They reasonably think hell "fire" is a metaphor--and unwisely conclude that it means nothing more serious than remorse. They say the story of the Fall in Genesis is not literal; and then go on to say ... that it was really a fall upwards--which is like saying that because "My heart is broken" contains a metaphor, it therefore means "I feel very cheerful." This mode of interpretation I regard, frankly, as nonsense. ---Miracles

Favorite JRR Tolkien Quotes

"If we are indeed the Eruhin, the Children of the One, then He will not suffer [allow] himself to be deprived of His own, not by any Enemy, not even ourselves." spoken by Finrod in "Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth" (The Debate of Finrod and Andreth), found in the book Morgoth's Ring, by JRR Tolkien edited by his son Christopher

"In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell!" Aragorn to Arwen at his death [Appendix A The Return of the King]

"Mighty are the Ainur,and mightiest among them is Melkor [Morgoth]; but now that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see that no theme may be played that hath not it uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined." -- JRR Tolkien's "Ainulindalë" [The Music of the Ainur] in The Silmarillion