Chesterton, G.K. Selected Essays of G.K. Chesterton. Ed. Dorothy Collins. London: Methuen, 1955. Print.
This collection of essays was originally printed in 1949; however Chesterton originally published his essays in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. During his life, Chesterton was an illustrator and a journalist, and he wrote thousands of essays. Chesterton is an important British essayist, which is why he makes his way into my sources. From the essays of his that I've read, his writing seems to exemplify the classical British essay as I currently understand it. He maintains a clever and lighthearted tone, which is common among essayists but not universal; his topics are typically mundane, which is also common, ranging from a piece of chalk to idleness to toys to senselessness (which is an abstraction in and of itself, but he goes about it in an amusing way). To demonstrate an example of his charming language, let me favor you with the first sentence from his essay "On Lying in Bed":
"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme example experience if only one had a coloured pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
Because of his tone, subject matter, carefully constructed sentences, and imagery, he is a perfect essayist to study while I'm in London. I will look forward to studying his writing and attempting to learn from his style.
No comments:
Post a Comment