Product Description

Perhaps the most light-hearted of all Chesterton’s "serious" works, Manalive pits a group of disillusioned young people against Mr. Innocent Smith, a bubbly, high-spirited gentleman who literally falls into their midst. Accused of murder and denounced for repeatedly marrying his wife and attempting to live in various houses (all of which turn out to be his own), Smith prompts his newfound acquaintances to recognize an important idea: that life is worth living.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98083 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486414058
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
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About the Author
G K Chesterton has been described as one of the most unjustly neglected writers of our time. Born in 1874, he became a journalist and later began writing books and pamphlets. His work includes novels, literary and social criticism, political papers and spiritual essays in a style characterised by enormous wit, paradox, humility and wonder.

He converted to Catholicism in 1922 and he explores the nature of spirituality in many of his books and essays, including the mighty Orthodoxy.

Chesterton is one of the few authors who are genuinely timeless and whose work has as much relevance today as when it was written

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Customer Reviews

Man, O Manalive
This is my favorite GKC novel. Chesterton writes a grown up novel about those who must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of God. Chesterton treats each mundane moment as momentous and the repetitious as startlingly new. Life for him is adventure and joy and he can't stand to see anyone not joining him.

The Spirit of God is the wind that moves throughout the entire book and stirs up the lives of all it touches.

I'd love to see this book as a play.

Ridiculous, Hilarious and Profound!
This was my first read of Chesterton. After seeing him quoted and referred to in so many other books I had been reading, I decided it was time to check out his actual work. I was not disappointed, and feel like I have discovered some hidden treasure!

Beautifully written, mixing the ridiculous with the profound, I found myself underlining many times in this book. G.K. Chesterton's main character Innocent Smith managed to restore so much joy to even my life. Such is the goal of this character, to restore the joy of being alive. He manages to achieve this in a manner that many consider childlike or quite certainly insane! Innocent Smith aids other members of the tale in discovering the meaning of death; "It isn't only meant to remind us of a future life, but to remind us of a present life, too." A reader walks away from this work, realizing the beauty of the birds, the sweet smell of the flowers and the delight of one's own romantic love. I find myself indebted to this work for helping to restore my joy of living.

I did discover one difficulty in starting this read. I am so accustom to reading such easily digested material, it took me several attempts to actually get past the first three pages. I thought to myself, 'how many adjectives does he need!' After crossing this hurdle, I was so delighted by the rich descriptions as one viewing a fine piece of art.

I highly suggest this work with 5 out of 5 stars and am looking forward to reading more of Chesterton.

Great fiction
Other people have already written on what this book is about, so I will write on why this book is so good simply taken as fiction. I find this passage, from the Warden's account of the occurences at Brakespeare College, sums it up quite well:

"There is something pleasing to a mystic in such a land of mirrors. For a mystic is one who holds that two worlds are better than one. In the highest sense indeed, all thought is reflection.

"This is the real truth in the saying that second thoughts are best. Animals have no second thoughts; man alone is able to see his own thought double, as a drunkard sees a lamp-post. Man alone is able to see his own thought upside down as one sees a house in a puddle. This duplication of mentality, as in a mirror, is (we repeat) the inmost thing of human philosophy. There is a mystical, even a monstrous truth in the statement that two heads are better than one. But they ought both to grow on the same body."

This is the glory of well-written fiction. Good fiction provides an engaging, lovely story full of themes both mundane and sublime, and it also acknowledges that the story is in essence a reflection of the original world and story God created. The clearer a writer's reflection of the majesty and beauty of this earthly world, the more wondrous the story. Chesterton realized that "a puddle repeats infinity, and is full of light; nevertheless, if analyzed objectively, a puddle is a piece of dirty water spread very thin on mud." And though earthly fiction might be but a thin puddle, it repeats infinity. Manalive reflects this infinity especially well because Chesterton was truly "Manalive."

Definitely one of my top 5 all-time favorite books.