Reviews for In the Midst of Our World

The average rating for In the Midst of Our World based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-05-08 00:00:00 Chris Walters G.K. Chesterton does in his Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton: The Autobiography what few autobiographers do. He actually takes a stab at conveying to us the meaning of life: "The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciatingthings; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them." As simple and direct as the man himself! At a time when I am very uncertain and disturbed about the route my country is taking, I need the optimistic strength of a Chesterton to help keep me on an even keel. Chesterton can make one laugh, can make one think deeply, even, with his paradoxes. But most of all, he can make one understand that appreciating it is what it's all about:To keep the capacity of really liking what he likes; that is the practical problem which the philosopher has to solve. And it seemed to me at the beginning, as it seems to me now in the end, that the pessimists and optimists of the modern world have alike missed and muddled this matter; through leaving out the ancient conception of humility and the thanks of the unworthy. This is a matter much more important and interesting than my opinions; but, in point of fact, it was by following this thin thread of a fancy about thankfulness, as slight as any of those dandelion clocks that are blown upon the breeze like thistledown, that I did arrive eventually at an opinion which is more than an opinion. Perhaps the one and only opinion that is really more than an opinion.At this stage of my life, I would have to say that Chesterton is the one author whom I read that makes me feel thankful for the experience. The edition I read is Volume XVI in Ignatius Press's excellent The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. Included are numerous photographs which, as far as I know, have not been published elsewhere.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-08-29 00:00:00 Fire Stick I can't believe it took me so long to read this book (I began it in 1993!) and how much I enjoyed it when I finally finished it. I've learned tons more about GKC since 1993, which all added to my enjoyment of finishing this book. (Subscribing to Gilbert! Magazine helped as well!) The first sentence remains my favorite, where Chesterton pokes fun at those who dismissed him as a non-thinker because of his love for Roman Catholicism: Bowing down in blind credulity, as is my custom, before mere authority and the tradition of the elders, superstitiously swallowing a story I could not test at the time by experiment or private judgment, I am firmly of opinion that I was born on the 29th of May, 1874, on Campden Hill, Kensington. The rest of the book is punctuated with similar droll observations, and remains one of the most complete autobios ever written, as Chesterton finished it mere weeks before his untimely death at the age of 62 in 1936. While not heavy on personal details (if you want to get the full picture of GKC's life, read the excellent Wisdom and Innocence by Joseph Pearce), it is the remarkable commentary of a very humble man trying to assess his own life.