Finished reading G. K. Chesterton’s meditation on Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox, and I have to say I’m left somewhat disappointed. I first read Chesterton around 2002 or 2003, a collection of essays whose title I forget, and was very impressed, right from the very first paragraph. Yes, he has a meandering way of making a point, and the sentences tend to run on, but that’s a stylistic quibble that probably reflects more on our contemporary culture’s attention deficit addiction than early-20th century verbosity. I tried to get through Orthodoxy and the Everlasting Man, but just couldn’t for some reason I can quite put my finger on. I did read his meditation on St. Francis and found it enjoyable though regrettably forgettable. I decided to read the slim book on Aquinas because, well, it is slim and I figured it would provide some good background info on the philosopher.
Hmmmm. Yes and no. The book is about a hundred-fifty pages, not that many words to the page. There is no discussion of Thomas’ theology and very, very little of his philosophy. The actual details of his life could be condensed from the book to a five page article and not suffer. What does the remaining 145 pages focus on?
That’s easy. Chesterton’s opinion of Aquinas. How humble he was, how intelligent he was, how pious he was, how unshakable his philosophy is, how he parried his opponent’s mental machinations against his great works defending the faith. A surprising number of words is spent decrying the state of civilization c. 1935 as compared to Thomas’ medieval world (an opinion I happen to agree with, but it felt out of place in this work). All well and good, but somewhat misleading when you realize that the a good majority of readers will pick this book with the same intentions I had: an overview of the life and work of a unique man.
So I feel I have to review two books here. As far as an overview of the life and work of a unique man, well, the book fails here. But it’s not really the intention of the author. Probably more likely due to the way the book is marketed. If you are interested in Chesterton’s insightful and well-read opinions on the man and his times contrasted with Chesterton’s contemporaries and their times, this is the book for you. It is engrossing if you allow for that.
So, it seems I’m 0-for-2 when it comes to a simple life of Aquinas.
Just as a side note, I’ve read somewhere that if you took all of Chesterton’s published works over the course of his professional lifetime, it averages to an output of something like 4,000 words a day. Let me repeat that: 4,000 words a day! And that’s not first-draft writing, either, but published words! When I was heavily focused writing my two novels, my goal was 5,000 words a week, about 1,000 words a day, and that was for mistake-laden embarrassingly cloudy first-draft writing. But 4,000 perfect words a day. That prodigious output alone is enough to rank Chesterton as an incredible writer.
Hmmmm. Yes and no. The book is about a hundred-fifty pages, not that many words to the page. There is no discussion of Thomas’ theology and very, very little of his philosophy. The actual details of his life could be condensed from the book to a five page article and not suffer. What does the remaining 145 pages focus on?
That’s easy. Chesterton’s opinion of Aquinas. How humble he was, how intelligent he was, how pious he was, how unshakable his philosophy is, how he parried his opponent’s mental machinations against his great works defending the faith. A surprising number of words is spent decrying the state of civilization c. 1935 as compared to Thomas’ medieval world (an opinion I happen to agree with, but it felt out of place in this work). All well and good, but somewhat misleading when you realize that the a good majority of readers will pick this book with the same intentions I had: an overview of the life and work of a unique man.
So I feel I have to review two books here. As far as an overview of the life and work of a unique man, well, the book fails here. But it’s not really the intention of the author. Probably more likely due to the way the book is marketed. If you are interested in Chesterton’s insightful and well-read opinions on the man and his times contrasted with Chesterton’s contemporaries and their times, this is the book for you. It is engrossing if you allow for that.
So, it seems I’m 0-for-2 when it comes to a simple life of Aquinas.
Just as a side note, I’ve read somewhere that if you took all of Chesterton’s published works over the course of his professional lifetime, it averages to an output of something like 4,000 words a day. Let me repeat that: 4,000 words a day! And that’s not first-draft writing, either, but published words! When I was heavily focused writing my two novels, my goal was 5,000 words a week, about 1,000 words a day, and that was for mistake-laden embarrassingly cloudy first-draft writing. But 4,000 perfect words a day. That prodigious output alone is enough to rank Chesterton as an incredible writer.
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