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Manalive
This classic novel by the brilliant G. K. Chesterton tells the rollicking tale of Innocent Smith, a man who may be crazy-or possibly the most sane man of all. Arriving at a dreary London boarding house accompanied by a windstorm, Smith is an exuberant, eccentric and sweet-natured man. Smith has a positive effect on the house-he creates his own court, brings a few couples together, and falls in love with a paid companion next door. All seems to be well with the world.
Then the unexpected happens: Smith shoots at one of the tenants, and two doctors arrive to arrest him, claiming that he's a bigamist, an attempted murderer, and a thief. But cynical writer Moon insists that the case be tried there-and they explore Smith's past history, revealing startling truths about what he does. Is he the wickedest man in Britain, or is he "blameless as a buttercup"?
Beautifully written, mixing the ridiculous with the profound, full of hilarious dialogue and lushly detailed writing, Chesterton's main character Innocent Smith somehow manages to restore joy to all the dull and cynical lives around him. In this delightfully strange mystery, Chesterton demonstrates why life is worth living, and that sometimes we need a little madness just to know we are alive.
Then the unexpected happens: Smith shoots at one of the tenants, and two doctors arrive to arrest him, claiming that he's a bigamist, an attempted murderer, and a thief. But cynical writer Moon insists that the case be tried there-and they explore Smith's past history, revealing startling truths about what he does. Is he the wickedest man in Britain, or is he "blameless as a buttercup"?
Beautifully written, mixing the ridiculous with the profound, full of hilarious dialogue and lushly detailed writing, Chesterton's main character Innocent Smith somehow manages to restore joy to all the dull and cynical lives around him. In this delightfully strange mystery, Chesterton demonstrates why life is worth living, and that sometimes we need a little madness just to know we are alive.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
About the author
G.K. Chesterton
3,592 books5,265 followersGilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.
He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.
Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.
He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.
Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.
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February 2, 2024
This book manages to be always proclaiming “everyone just have fun” yet simultaneously shouting “get off my lawn!” CK Chesterton’s 1912 novel, Manalive, is a plea for living life with joy, to wake ourselves up from the drudgery and social formalities and enjoy the one life we have to live while also spreading that joy to others. Central to the story is a mysterious stranger who arrives with the wind, an archtypal holy fool that frequently feels like a prototype for Mary Poppins, character that feels like whimsicality personified as he breaks all conventions in pursuit of joy and bringing others along with him. A comedic work marred by a bit of a clunky style that feels a bit overwritten—but then suddenly shines with some rather spectacular quotes—and an unfortunate dose of misogyny and racism as casual norms throughout the text, Chesterton’s tale is often considered his closest text to a treaties on how to live life by embracing joy despite a perception of mental instability.
‘I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him–only to bring him to life.’
This was our recent read for my book club and I was excited to finally see what Chesterton was all about, though I can’t say that I’m all too eager to try another anytime soon. It is rather inspiring and lighthearted—I can’t help but enjoy the idea that giving in to whimsy and joy to live a more fulfilling life even at the expense of being a social outcast. I love the idea that just breaking from convention can unlock a vaster, richer life, and idea that has been used frequently in shows and films (I kept thinking of the Seinfeld episode where George becomes successful by doing the exact opposite of what he would normally do). It does hit with very blunt religious overtones—which aren’t always my favorite thing but I’m also reading Chesterton so it is to be expected—and Chesterton sees this more free life of joy as one better fit to serve God.
The story begins Innocent Smith blowing into town dressed loudly, performing flips and general tomfoolery that is a sharp juxtaposition to the drab life of those staying in the boarding house Beacon House. There is almost a dark millennial humor of the tenants asking each other things such as ‘do you have any friends’ in a comical caricature of drab, depressing life to which Smith serves as a foil. And while Smith’s path of whimsy is one against social norms, many of which are oppressive, it is also positioned as antithetical to “worldly” logic and science, which Chesterton shows as mortal weights holding people down from the glory of God’s kingdom.
In his autobiography, Chesteron writes that ‘the object of the artistic and spiritual life was to dig for this submerged sunrise of wonder; so that a man sitting in a chair might suddenly understand that he was actually alive, and be happy’ and Manalive is his expression of that. Smith’s antics are intended to wake people up to this, though firing a gun at people to make them embrace life still seems a bit uncool. Though maybe I’m just a curmudgeon for not having properly enjoyed having a gun pulled on me before, and that whole scene reminded me so much of a similar moment and dialog in Fight Club that I’m curious if it was an inspiration for it. It is all very silly and I enjoyed the second half where the trial for all of Smith’s crimes turns out to be a misunderstanding where Smith has robbed his own home and had an affair with his own wife as part of their romantic role-playing.
Sure its all fun and games that the guy can be viewed as breaking social rules and celebrated for it but at the same time women were being tossed into asylums on claims of "hysteria" simply for having an opinion without so much as a trial like Smith receives. Chesterton's idea of "insanity as freedom and joy" by disregarding social conventions seems a bit exclusive to white men at the time. The causal racism is there to remind you of that, though even white folks like the Irish or people with albinism get rather disparaging depictions and comments as well.
‘there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say that at certain strange epochs it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet.’
Overall, not a bad read and one that does make you feel good at the end, though perhaps not one I necessarily enjoyed. I think I enjoyed discussing it with the book club more than actually reading it and we had quite the array of opinions on this one from people who really loved it (so perhaps you will to) to one reader who really hated it. I will say the rather verbose prose (he loves adjectives and stringing them together) makes this one a bit of a slog despite the short length but I also suspect there is a lot to digest on a second or third reading as this feels intended for multiple reads. It won’t be from me though.
3.5/5
‘Grass and garden trees seemed glittering with something at once good and unnatural like a fire from fairyland. It seemed like a strange sunrise at the wrong end of the day.’
‘I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him–only to bring him to life.’
This was our recent read for my book club and I was excited to finally see what Chesterton was all about, though I can’t say that I’m all too eager to try another anytime soon. It is rather inspiring and lighthearted—I can’t help but enjoy the idea that giving in to whimsy and joy to live a more fulfilling life even at the expense of being a social outcast. I love the idea that just breaking from convention can unlock a vaster, richer life, and idea that has been used frequently in shows and films (I kept thinking of the Seinfeld episode where George becomes successful by doing the exact opposite of what he would normally do). It does hit with very blunt religious overtones—which aren’t always my favorite thing but I’m also reading Chesterton so it is to be expected—and Chesterton sees this more free life of joy as one better fit to serve God.
‘If Innocent is happy, it is because he IS innocent. If he can defy the conventions, it is just because he can keep the commandments.’
The story begins Innocent Smith blowing into town dressed loudly, performing flips and general tomfoolery that is a sharp juxtaposition to the drab life of those staying in the boarding house Beacon House. There is almost a dark millennial humor of the tenants asking each other things such as ‘do you have any friends’ in a comical caricature of drab, depressing life to which Smith serves as a foil. And while Smith’s path of whimsy is one against social norms, many of which are oppressive, it is also positioned as antithetical to “worldly” logic and science, which Chesterton shows as mortal weights holding people down from the glory of God’s kingdom.
In his autobiography, Chesteron writes that ‘the object of the artistic and spiritual life was to dig for this submerged sunrise of wonder; so that a man sitting in a chair might suddenly understand that he was actually alive, and be happy’ and Manalive is his expression of that. Smith’s antics are intended to wake people up to this, though firing a gun at people to make them embrace life still seems a bit uncool. Though maybe I’m just a curmudgeon for not having properly enjoyed having a gun pulled on me before, and that whole scene reminded me so much of a similar moment and dialog in Fight Club that I’m curious if it was an inspiration for it. It is all very silly and I enjoyed the second half where the trial for all of Smith’s crimes turns out to be a misunderstanding where Smith has robbed his own home and had an affair with his own wife as part of their romantic role-playing.
Sure its all fun and games that the guy can be viewed as breaking social rules and celebrated for it but at the same time women were being tossed into asylums on claims of "hysteria" simply for having an opinion without so much as a trial like Smith receives. Chesterton's idea of "insanity as freedom and joy" by disregarding social conventions seems a bit exclusive to white men at the time. The causal racism is there to remind you of that, though even white folks like the Irish or people with albinism get rather disparaging depictions and comments as well.
‘there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say that at certain strange epochs it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet.’
Overall, not a bad read and one that does make you feel good at the end, though perhaps not one I necessarily enjoyed. I think I enjoyed discussing it with the book club more than actually reading it and we had quite the array of opinions on this one from people who really loved it (so perhaps you will to) to one reader who really hated it. I will say the rather verbose prose (he loves adjectives and stringing them together) makes this one a bit of a slog despite the short length but I also suspect there is a lot to digest on a second or third reading as this feels intended for multiple reads. It won’t be from me though.
3.5/5
‘Grass and garden trees seemed glittering with something at once good and unnatural like a fire from fairyland. It seemed like a strange sunrise at the wrong end of the day.’
October 26, 2011
The first time I picked up this book, I was working in a library. I flipped it open and found this conversation:
". . . But the cold fact remains: imprudent marriages do lead to long unhappiness and disappointment - you've got used to your drinks and things - I shan't be pretty much longer-"
"Imprudent marriages!" roared Michael. "And pray where in earth or heaven are there any prudent marriages? Might as well talk about prudent suicides ... Unhappy! of course you'll be unhappy. Who the devil are you that you shouldn't be unhappy, like the mother that bore you? Disappointed! of course we'll be disappointed. I, for one, don't expect till I die to be so good a man as I am at this minute - a tower with all the trumpets shouting."
"You see all this," said Rosamund, with a grand sincerety in her solid face, "and do you really want to marry me?"
"My darling, what else is there to do?" reasoned the Irishman. "What other occupation is there for an active man on this earth, except to marry you?"
I was drawn in, and convinced my soon-to-be-husband to read the rest of the book aloud to me for a birthday present. That was, oh, eight or nine years ago? We finally got our own copy last year, and it's been sitting on my TBR shelf ever since - but no more!
I gobbled this up yesterday. Reading Chesterton is always a wild ride, and you're never sure which way is up when you're done. This novel's hero, Innocent Smith, might come the closest to being an incarnation of Chesterton's general philosophy of life of any of his characters - maybe even more than Fr. Brown.
The book starts in a London boarding house the day a wind kicks up, and with that wind comes a man named Innocent Brown, who first energizes everyone, then appears to do something criminally insane. The criminality is investigated, and it turns out that rather than being mad, Innocent Brown is in fact the sanest man that ever lived. He breaks into his own house because he wishes to learn how to covet his own goods. He threatens suicide-fancying men with death so that they can see that they really prefer life. He pretends to meet his own wife for the first time over and over so that he can see her as he knows she ought to be seen. And, as one character says, he did it all "in order to feel the same interest in his own affairs that he always felt in other people's."
I like this passage, where Smith is arguing with a Russian man about Ibsen:
""The Doll's House"?" he cried vehemently; "why, that is just where Ibsen was so wrong! Why, the whole aim of a house is to be a doll's house. Don't you remember, when you were a child, how those little windows WERE windows, while all the big windows weren't. A child has a doll's house, and shrieks when a front door opens inwards. A banker has a real house, yet how numerous are the bankers who fail to emit the faintest shriek when their real front doors open inwards
". . . I have found out how to make a big thing small. I have found out how to turn a house into a doll's house. Get a long way off it: God lets us turn all things into toys by his great gift of distance."
This book is a romp, and the great giant Innocent Brown jumps and jolts and thunders all through it like a baby elephant. The best part is reading the dialogue that occurs around him, as onlookers try to figure him out. Michael, the man from the first dialogue I quoted, finally comes to the conclusion that Innocent "has distinguished between custom and creed. He has broken the conventions, but he has kept the commandments." He says that it is this complete goodness that makes Innocent so happy.
Michael's friend, Gould, then disagrees with him, saying gravely, "I do not believe that being perfectly good in all respects would make a man merry," to which Michael replies, quietly, "Well, will you tell me one thing? Which of us has ever tried it?"
Loved this book, and love it still.
". . . But the cold fact remains: imprudent marriages do lead to long unhappiness and disappointment - you've got used to your drinks and things - I shan't be pretty much longer-"
"Imprudent marriages!" roared Michael. "And pray where in earth or heaven are there any prudent marriages? Might as well talk about prudent suicides ... Unhappy! of course you'll be unhappy. Who the devil are you that you shouldn't be unhappy, like the mother that bore you? Disappointed! of course we'll be disappointed. I, for one, don't expect till I die to be so good a man as I am at this minute - a tower with all the trumpets shouting."
"You see all this," said Rosamund, with a grand sincerety in her solid face, "and do you really want to marry me?"
"My darling, what else is there to do?" reasoned the Irishman. "What other occupation is there for an active man on this earth, except to marry you?"
I was drawn in, and convinced my soon-to-be-husband to read the rest of the book aloud to me for a birthday present. That was, oh, eight or nine years ago? We finally got our own copy last year, and it's been sitting on my TBR shelf ever since - but no more!
I gobbled this up yesterday. Reading Chesterton is always a wild ride, and you're never sure which way is up when you're done. This novel's hero, Innocent Smith, might come the closest to being an incarnation of Chesterton's general philosophy of life of any of his characters - maybe even more than Fr. Brown.
The book starts in a London boarding house the day a wind kicks up, and with that wind comes a man named Innocent Brown, who first energizes everyone, then appears to do something criminally insane. The criminality is investigated, and it turns out that rather than being mad, Innocent Brown is in fact the sanest man that ever lived. He breaks into his own house because he wishes to learn how to covet his own goods. He threatens suicide-fancying men with death so that they can see that they really prefer life. He pretends to meet his own wife for the first time over and over so that he can see her as he knows she ought to be seen. And, as one character says, he did it all "in order to feel the same interest in his own affairs that he always felt in other people's."
I like this passage, where Smith is arguing with a Russian man about Ibsen:
""The Doll's House"?" he cried vehemently; "why, that is just where Ibsen was so wrong! Why, the whole aim of a house is to be a doll's house. Don't you remember, when you were a child, how those little windows WERE windows, while all the big windows weren't. A child has a doll's house, and shrieks when a front door opens inwards. A banker has a real house, yet how numerous are the bankers who fail to emit the faintest shriek when their real front doors open inwards
". . . I have found out how to make a big thing small. I have found out how to turn a house into a doll's house. Get a long way off it: God lets us turn all things into toys by his great gift of distance."
This book is a romp, and the great giant Innocent Brown jumps and jolts and thunders all through it like a baby elephant. The best part is reading the dialogue that occurs around him, as onlookers try to figure him out. Michael, the man from the first dialogue I quoted, finally comes to the conclusion that Innocent "has distinguished between custom and creed. He has broken the conventions, but he has kept the commandments." He says that it is this complete goodness that makes Innocent so happy.
Michael's friend, Gould, then disagrees with him, saying gravely, "I do not believe that being perfectly good in all respects would make a man merry," to which Michael replies, quietly, "Well, will you tell me one thing? Which of us has ever tried it?"
Loved this book, and love it still.
March 13, 2009
This is quite possibly my favorite book. The "message," storyline, characters, and even simply the choices of descriptive phrasing and wording all champion Chesterton's favorite topic- the complete enjoyment of the "experiment of being."
This is probably not the best choice for an introduction to Chesterton- the book is more enjoyable if you already know Chesterton's opinions and worldview. It felt like he wrote it not to prove anything or make a great earth-shattering statement, but to celebrate joy and life; a celebration which is better enjoyed by one who understands that Chesterton viewed joy and life as ways to praise God rather than simply ways to please yourself. The characters are better understood if you understand the character of the author.
This is probably not the best choice for an introduction to Chesterton- the book is more enjoyable if you already know Chesterton's opinions and worldview. It felt like he wrote it not to prove anything or make a great earth-shattering statement, but to celebrate joy and life; a celebration which is better enjoyed by one who understands that Chesterton viewed joy and life as ways to praise God rather than simply ways to please yourself. The characters are better understood if you understand the character of the author.
December 19, 2015
I prefer Chesterton's non-fiction to his fiction, but this was still fun. His fiction tends to be more scattered that it needs to be, but it was still worthwhile reading. His pithy way of putting things is always present, and the plot/conceit was great. He just needed an editor who 1. understood him; 2. had great moral authority; 3. had strong editorial chops, and 4. who was a lot of fun himself. Alas, Chestertonian editors are as rare as Chestertonian writers.
Read
August 16, 2018"L'unico scopo reale di una casa è quello di essere la casa di una bambola"
Sono arrivato a questo libro, scritto da Gilbert Chesterton nel 1912, grazie ai molti commenti positivi e ho iniziato a leggerlo senza sapere bene ciò che ci avrei trovato. Un errore, ahimè.
Il romanzo, che si può definire "filosofico", è complesso ed è ricco di humor inglese (che non amo particolarmente) difficilissimo da rendere in un'altra lingua. Purtroppo la traduzione, a mio parere approssimativa oltre che datata, banalizza e rende buffo un testo che sicuramente non lo vuole essere affatto.
Le situazioni grottesche e surreali, la logica religiosa (peraltro ricca di gioia e di vita), lo stile (peculiare ma per me odioso) e l'inconcludenza hanno fatto il resto.
Ho letto su un sito le regole per leggere Chesterton:
1. Prendetelo a piccole dosi;
2. leggete il resoconto di un amico e collega;
3. godetevi un suo saggio;
4. trascorrete del tempo con chi lo ama;
5. mettetevi comodi con un suo libro.
Mi accorgo a posteriori di avere saltato le prime 4 regole. Poco male, non valuto il libro, che lascio ai molti estimatori, passo oltre e dimentico (velocemente) Chesterton.
May 8, 2017
Re-read in 2017
The first time I read this book, it took me several weeks. I struggled with the writing style and characters. As this was my pick for my book club this month, I prepped for a long, heavy read...
Only to fly through it in a little over an hour. How different this book reads when you know where it is going and that it is worth getting there!
This book is so powerful. I can't wait to lead a discussion on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2013 Review
Finished this one a while ago but haven't marked it as read. Incredibly good. Totally recommend, a must read at least once in your life. Challenges and yet readable and fun.
The first time I read this book, it took me several weeks. I struggled with the writing style and characters. As this was my pick for my book club this month, I prepped for a long, heavy read...
Only to fly through it in a little over an hour. How different this book reads when you know where it is going and that it is worth getting there!
This book is so powerful. I can't wait to lead a discussion on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2013 Review
Finished this one a while ago but haven't marked it as read. Incredibly good. Totally recommend, a must read at least once in your life. Challenges and yet readable and fun.
July 21, 2008
Chesterton is definitely my favorite author - he has brought life to my Christian walk. He has a fantastic understanding of the abundance of life that is present in creation, does a great job pointing out the falsity of modern nihilist thought, and is a genius as he uses paradox to illustrate many of his points. Stick it out through the first few chapters, and you will be grateful you read this book.
November 28, 2014
Absolutely brilliant. MANALIVE manages to be touching, heartfelt, and incredibly life-affirming without resorting--not even for an instant--to saccharinity or melodrama. Of all Chesterton's works, this book perhaps best encapsulates his personal outlook on life, and the amount of wit required for writing a novel like this is mind-boggling. MANALIVE is utterly jam-packed with the sort of delicious paradoxes and unconventionally conventional wisdom I've come to expect from Chesterton, but this is the first time that the brilliance of his writing has actually given me the chills...
The closest comparison I can make is that this book feels like a cross between Charles Dickens (flawless characterizations and prose) and Lewis Carroll (inspired lunacy that is so reasonable-sounding, you begin to think YOU are the one who's crazy). It's a crying shame this book has been mostly forgotten. Without a doubt, Innocent Smith is one of the most endearing characters I've encountered in all of literature. Furthermore, I consider it one of Hollywood's biggest failures that a movie adaptation starring Robin Williams was never produced. (And *gasp* probably not even considered!)
My only criticism is that, on one or two occassions, Chesterton employs such racially-charged language as is anathema in our modern PC society. Which isn't to say he was racist--simply a product of his time.
The closest comparison I can make is that this book feels like a cross between Charles Dickens (flawless characterizations and prose) and Lewis Carroll (inspired lunacy that is so reasonable-sounding, you begin to think YOU are the one who's crazy). It's a crying shame this book has been mostly forgotten. Without a doubt, Innocent Smith is one of the most endearing characters I've encountered in all of literature. Furthermore, I consider it one of Hollywood's biggest failures that a movie adaptation starring Robin Williams was never produced. (And *gasp* probably not even considered!)
My only criticism is that, on one or two occassions, Chesterton employs such racially-charged language as is anathema in our modern PC society. Which isn't to say he was racist--simply a product of his time.
November 20, 2021
Re-read 2018-08-02
As a Chesterton fan Manalive is one of my all time favorite novels of his and really one of my all time favorite novels. This story Innocent Smith seems to me to often be the story of G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton was a man deeply thankful for all things and would go beyond stopping and smelling the roses, but stopping and noticing he had two legs. This novel also reminds me of some aspects of his The Napoleon of Notting Hill in the court that occurs in the house. His idea of neighborhoods becoming sovereign translates in to the same for homes.
This is my second read of the novel and even though I was quite aware of how the plot would resolve itself, it was still great fun chocked full of Chesterton's wisdom and his view of life. Innocent Smith is such an interesting character who shows that he is not the oddball and the one crazy, but ourselves as we settle down to life not seeing things afresh.
I listened to the just released Audiobook version of Manalive as put out by Ignatius Press. Chestertonian and actor Kevin O'Brien is wonderful as usual as once again he acts as a whole cast of players and gives us a version of Manalive I think Chesterton would have liked.
As with most of Chesterton's books they are available on Project Gutenberg.
As a Chesterton fan Manalive is one of my all time favorite novels of his and really one of my all time favorite novels. This story Innocent Smith seems to me to often be the story of G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton was a man deeply thankful for all things and would go beyond stopping and smelling the roses, but stopping and noticing he had two legs. This novel also reminds me of some aspects of his The Napoleon of Notting Hill in the court that occurs in the house. His idea of neighborhoods becoming sovereign translates in to the same for homes.
This is my second read of the novel and even though I was quite aware of how the plot would resolve itself, it was still great fun chocked full of Chesterton's wisdom and his view of life. Innocent Smith is such an interesting character who shows that he is not the oddball and the one crazy, but ourselves as we settle down to life not seeing things afresh.
I listened to the just released Audiobook version of Manalive as put out by Ignatius Press. Chestertonian and actor Kevin O'Brien is wonderful as usual as once again he acts as a whole cast of players and gives us a version of Manalive I think Chesterton would have liked.
As with most of Chesterton's books they are available on Project Gutenberg.
January 29, 2013
G.K. Chesterton really outdoes himself in this book.
"I must be sent down,' Smith said, 'and the people must not be told the truth.'
"'And why not?' asked the other.
"Because I mean to follow your advice,' answered the massive youth, 'I mean to keep the remaining shots for people in the shameful state you and I were in last night-I wish we could even plead drunkenness. I mean to keep those bullets for pessimists-pills for pale people. And in this way I want to walk the world like a wonderful surprise- to float as idly as the thistledown, and come as silent as the sunrise; not to be expected any more than the thunderbolt, not to be recalled anymore than the dying breeze. I don't want people to anticipate me as a well-known practical joke. I want both my gifts to come virgin and violent, the death and the life after death. I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him- only to bring him to life. I begin to see a new meaning in being the skeleton at the feast."
___
"'What I mean is that I caught a kind of glimpse of the meaning of death and all that-the skull and cross-bones, the ~Memento mori~. It isn't only meant to remind us of a future life, but to remind us of a present life too. With out weak spirits we should grow old in eternity if we were not kept young by death. Providence has to cut immortality into lengths for us, as nurses cut the bread and butter into fingers.'
"Then he added suddenly in a voice of unnatural actuality, 'But I know something now, Eames, I knew it when I saw the clouds turn pink.'
"What do you mean?' asked Eames. 'What did you know?'
"'I knew for the first time that murder is really wrong.'
Nothing speaks quite as well as the book itself.
"I must be sent down,' Smith said, 'and the people must not be told the truth.'
"'And why not?' asked the other.
"Because I mean to follow your advice,' answered the massive youth, 'I mean to keep the remaining shots for people in the shameful state you and I were in last night-I wish we could even plead drunkenness. I mean to keep those bullets for pessimists-pills for pale people. And in this way I want to walk the world like a wonderful surprise- to float as idly as the thistledown, and come as silent as the sunrise; not to be expected any more than the thunderbolt, not to be recalled anymore than the dying breeze. I don't want people to anticipate me as a well-known practical joke. I want both my gifts to come virgin and violent, the death and the life after death. I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him- only to bring him to life. I begin to see a new meaning in being the skeleton at the feast."
___
"'What I mean is that I caught a kind of glimpse of the meaning of death and all that-the skull and cross-bones, the ~Memento mori~. It isn't only meant to remind us of a future life, but to remind us of a present life too. With out weak spirits we should grow old in eternity if we were not kept young by death. Providence has to cut immortality into lengths for us, as nurses cut the bread and butter into fingers.'
"Then he added suddenly in a voice of unnatural actuality, 'But I know something now, Eames, I knew it when I saw the clouds turn pink.'
"What do you mean?' asked Eames. 'What did you know?'
"'I knew for the first time that murder is really wrong.'
Nothing speaks quite as well as the book itself.
February 28, 2013
I keep thinking I need to read more Chesterton, and especially his fiction. And then I read a book like this and I think, “I’m not smart enough to read Chesterton.” The premise behind this book is one that seems normal, and maybe even dull, on the surface. Carried out through the novel, though, it was for me first confusing and then intriguing.
What if we didn’t live as though we were happy? What if we were really happy? What if every day was new and the joy in life was not in finding the new but in appreciating the mundane as though it were new and novel and wonderful?
The thing I loved most about this book was that it could be read just for entertainment, but the enjoyment didn’t stop there. It wasn’t easy reading, necessarily, but it wasn’t imposing, either. I liked it. A lot. And, however unsmart I may be, I will keep trundling through Chesterton here and there. It’s worth it for the delight factor.
What if we didn’t live as though we were happy? What if we were really happy? What if every day was new and the joy in life was not in finding the new but in appreciating the mundane as though it were new and novel and wonderful?
The thing I loved most about this book was that it could be read just for entertainment, but the enjoyment didn’t stop there. It wasn’t easy reading, necessarily, but it wasn’t imposing, either. I liked it. A lot. And, however unsmart I may be, I will keep trundling through Chesterton here and there. It’s worth it for the delight factor.
May 8, 2019
Not G.K. at his best.
I'm almost sorry not to give any work of Chesterton less than five stars, because I have loved Father Brown, been blown over by The Everlasting Man, and delighted in his essays, which I am still exploring. That said, I patiently plodded my way through this book hoping for the usual GKC's brilliance to peek out from the verbiage, and had it not been Chesterton 's work, I probably would not have had the patience to finish it. I found the characters unappealing and tedious, and the prose too turgid for what should have been a lighter read. I will go back to the essays.
I'm almost sorry not to give any work of Chesterton less than five stars, because I have loved Father Brown, been blown over by The Everlasting Man, and delighted in his essays, which I am still exploring. That said, I patiently plodded my way through this book hoping for the usual GKC's brilliance to peek out from the verbiage, and had it not been Chesterton 's work, I probably would not have had the patience to finish it. I found the characters unappealing and tedious, and the prose too turgid for what should have been a lighter read. I will go back to the essays.
June 6, 2024
I can’t decide between 4 & 5 stars, so I’ll go with 5 for now.
I’m not sure if this is a re-reader. Probably, when I’ve forgotten Smith a little too much.
The message of the book? 10/10
Perhaps next time I feel constrained by a phrase such as “it simply isn’t done!”, I’ll pull a Smith and cartwheel away.
I’m not sure if this is a re-reader. Probably, when I’ve forgotten Smith a little too much.
The message of the book? 10/10
Perhaps next time I feel constrained by a phrase such as “it simply isn’t done!”, I’ll pull a Smith and cartwheel away.
August 5, 2013
Another strange but funny and (at moments) poignant allegory. I loved Innocent Smith and the havoc he wreaked simply by being an optimist in a pessimistic world. :D
November 24, 2019
Enjoyed it but a few parts where confusing at first but did get explained later on
May 20, 2024
As brilliant with fiction as he is with non, G.K. Chesterton strikes again with a comedic masterpiece of epic proportions. A hilarious narrative with characters I fell in love with instantly. Manalive is definitely to be considered one of my favourite books. I highly recommend it.
February 22, 2021
Stippled with genius; and stippled is the word. Between each dazzling idea are floods of completely ordinary prose. Nothing awfully poor or redundant, but an unspectacular comedy of contrasts. And then, every other page or so, inspiration itself. A man who walks the entire circumference of the world to get home by the fastest route (without turning back); a man who drifts in with the wind (much alike Mary Poppins, to my bedraggled mind); a man who shoots at you to save your life. A man alive! I find this novel entirely life affirming, not so much in the sense of prevailing anarchy but rather the total joy that spills from every seam. In the winds that course through London terraces; in the symphony of chimneys, each spewing a different shade of smoke; in the pink of a passing cloud, and the light bestowed on all. It is made clear that Innocent’s accusants describe the world in a certain shorthand. They do not bother with the extraneous because the extraneous is extraneous. Innocent, his defenders, and his author are all in total opposition. For Chesterton there is no point but the beauty of conveyance: this is a novel that doesn’t develop or grow so much as reveal its innards. It is wonderful because it is wonderful. We should not eschew such wanton tautologies but revel in them. A novel that chases its own tail in the belief that chasing a tail can be a very virtuous thing.
February 14, 2012
I want to live in the world of G. K. Chesterton stories, where everyone sits around in awkward predicaments discussing the human condition. In Manalive, we get to talk about morality and mortality--when is a thief, a bigamist, a murderer, and a deserter of wives none of those things and yet all? In a G. K. Chesterton book, that's where. There's also this giddy delight in being a man, alive, with two legs, which is a pretty good thing to be, all things considered. If the last chapter is a little less awesome, it's only in comparison to the rest of the book.
August 13, 2013
Extremely funny, witty and hilarious book. The author writes a novel about a man's quest for pure happiness in a world steeped in creed and custom while projected British humor at its fullest. The author's skill as a writer is presented as he creates each character so completely unique in themselves that you almost feel the book was written by many different people.
March 3, 2024
Main character is a Victorian Wooton on steroids. Entertaining and philosophically substantive.
May 15, 2013
There is a fine line between genius and insanity. GK Chesterton likes to play hopscotch down that line. Manalive is about a VERY eccentric person named Innocent Smith who acts something like a mix of Willie Wonka and Buddy from the movie Elf. He is happy and playful and energetic - like a giant hyperactive kid. But he is smart and philosophical and likes to point his gun at folk. He comes into town like a cool and wild breeze and turns everyone's lives upside down. Love and passion is stirred and people feel compelled to do things they would not normally do. But while he is there, he gets arrested for some serious crimes such as polygamy, kidnapping of women, and murder. The rest of the story is told through flashbacks during his trial. Not all is as it seems. Everything is funny. I laughed a lot! Now, it's not modern - Hollywood style pacing. Sometimes I want it fast and modern, myself. But Manalive is awesome for those other times.
Oh, yeah - it's not just a story. It's a philosophical and theological essay. Very deep.
Oh, yeah - it's not just a story. It's a philosophical and theological essay. Very deep.
June 23, 2018
I don’t know what to think of it, but it made me think. And I suppose that’s good. A short book, but it’s not easy to get through.
It keeps setting up expectations, and then subverting them. Makes for a really intriguing way to build a story. But also confusing. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I understood the main idea from the beginning.
The first chapter is hard to get through. But if you keep at it, the book is really rewarding — at the end when he finally puts all the pieces together and explains Innocent Smith’s worldview.
Filled with “Chestertonianisms” — those quippy turns of phrase that are so philosophical yet practical.
The best marriage advice in this book: “Stick to the man who looks out of the window and tries to understand the world. Keep clear of the man who looks in at the window and tries to understand you.”
It keeps setting up expectations, and then subverting them. Makes for a really intriguing way to build a story. But also confusing. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I understood the main idea from the beginning.
The first chapter is hard to get through. But if you keep at it, the book is really rewarding — at the end when he finally puts all the pieces together and explains Innocent Smith’s worldview.
Filled with “Chestertonianisms” — those quippy turns of phrase that are so philosophical yet practical.
The best marriage advice in this book: “Stick to the man who looks out of the window and tries to understand the world. Keep clear of the man who looks in at the window and tries to understand you.”
June 19, 2018
This may be the most enjoyable read that I've ever had. And it's profound especially in 2018 where we read all about the suicide epidemic.
Lovers of Chesterton frequently point to books like Orthodoxy, Everlasting Man, Thomas Aquinas as establishing his genius. I don't argue with this. But I see Manalive, a short easy novel, as also pointing to his great wit and wisdom. This is fun and easy, and almost without realizing it, Chesterton points out that life is simply beautiful. To borrow from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, life is worth living. That's what Innocent Smith does: he loves life.
A book that I should read each and every year.
Lovers of Chesterton frequently point to books like Orthodoxy, Everlasting Man, Thomas Aquinas as establishing his genius. I don't argue with this. But I see Manalive, a short easy novel, as also pointing to his great wit and wisdom. This is fun and easy, and almost without realizing it, Chesterton points out that life is simply beautiful. To borrow from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, life is worth living. That's what Innocent Smith does: he loves life.
A book that I should read each and every year.
December 25, 2023
“If Innocent is happy, it is because he IS innocent. If he can defy the conventions, it is just because he can keep the commandments.”
To be reading Chesterton is to be maturing in thought and laughing out loud. I recommend this book because I recommend this author. Content is always good. One note of advice though would be to make sure you find a really natural stopping point in between reading sessions on this one. Most of the books I read can be put down and picked up just about anywhere but this book did not fit that type.
To be reading Chesterton is to be maturing in thought and laughing out loud. I recommend this book because I recommend this author. Content is always good. One note of advice though would be to make sure you find a really natural stopping point in between reading sessions on this one. Most of the books I read can be put down and picked up just about anywhere but this book did not fit that type.
June 11, 2020
Ένα πολύ όμορφο και έξυπνο παραμύθι ενηλίκων
January 7, 2021
Wow. Love it.
While I think there are a few thin spots in the plot, I'm simultaneously aware that a narrow pragmatism is one of the weaknesses that Chesterton is deriding (and I love me some skillful scorn). So there.
I acknowledge my need of more smithy innocence.
While I think there are a few thin spots in the plot, I'm simultaneously aware that a narrow pragmatism is one of the weaknesses that Chesterton is deriding (and I love me some skillful scorn). So there.
I acknowledge my need of more smithy innocence.
May 31, 2024
Not a favorite Chesterton. I definitely appreciate what he was trying to do, and I was fully on board for awhile, but it became tiresome to play along for the entirety. Maybe a better short story?
November 24, 2017
Uno dei libri più belli che abbia mai letto.
June 25, 2011
G. K. Chesterton was a man who discovered the secret to a happy life—I doubt one can read much of his work without coming to that conclusion. The most natural reaction to his body of work, I think, is amazement: to wonder what secret this man discovered that allowed him to take so much delight in a sheet of brown paper, for example, or where he found the energy to defend his faith in a land growing faithless with so much gusto and wit.
In Manalive, a short novel full of events as improbable as the name of the story's protagonist, Chesterton shares his happy secret with the rest of the world—a world that has grown old and weary because it has grown melancholy.
The novel starts with a gust of strong wind blowing across England, a wind that extinguishes candlelight and plunges a young boy in darkness, and startles a young mother as the clothes she set out to dry dance on the clothesline. But though it shocks everyone it touches, Chesterton tells us not to fear: this is a "good wind that blows nobody harm."
The good wind blows into Beacon House, a boarding house where five people live (inmates, Chesterton calls them, and tells us that although they are young inmates, they are also listless). The wind startles the inmates of Beacon House as it has startled the inhabitants of England; it blows a hat over the fence and into their garden, followed by an umbrella and then a bag, and finally by the owner of these wind-strewn possessions, a man whose name is probably Innocent Smith.
Smith moves into the boarding house and his presence there is like a bolt of energy that revitalizes the inmates (the day after he moves in, we're told, "there was a crazy sense that it was everybody's birthday.") This happy feeling doesn't last long, though. In a wild and crazy act, Smith asks one of the visitors to Beacon House to marry him; and in another, roaring with laughter, he fires his gun at the doctor called to investigate the mental health of a man who proposes to a woman he met only a few hours before. During the investigation of Smith, it turns out he might not be so innocent after all—criminal at best, in fact, and more than likely a maniac and a monster who has left "a track of blood and tears across the world." As usual with Chesterton, though, things are almost never what they seem at first (or second, or third) glance.
Chesterton isn't always an easy read, especially in his fiction. He's so playful with his language, so light-hearted with his characters and their conversations (and sometimes with plot itself), that an impatient reader might feel compelled to yell, "Get to the point!" But the playfulness is the point. Why do men marry their wives only once? Why do criminals break into other people's homes but no one thinks to break into his or her own house? Why covet your neighbour's possessions, when it's better in every way to covet your own?
If the answers to those questions aren't obvious—or, much worse, if the questions themselves seem silly—Manalive will help us see the world from Chesterton's point of view. That is, we'll see it hanging upside down from the chimney of the world, having broken in through the roof, and if we're lucky we'll be able to say, "You know—I think I'd be happy if I could live here for a while."
(This review first posted as a special recommendation of Manalive on my personal website).
In Manalive, a short novel full of events as improbable as the name of the story's protagonist, Chesterton shares his happy secret with the rest of the world—a world that has grown old and weary because it has grown melancholy.
The novel starts with a gust of strong wind blowing across England, a wind that extinguishes candlelight and plunges a young boy in darkness, and startles a young mother as the clothes she set out to dry dance on the clothesline. But though it shocks everyone it touches, Chesterton tells us not to fear: this is a "good wind that blows nobody harm."
The good wind blows into Beacon House, a boarding house where five people live (inmates, Chesterton calls them, and tells us that although they are young inmates, they are also listless). The wind startles the inmates of Beacon House as it has startled the inhabitants of England; it blows a hat over the fence and into their garden, followed by an umbrella and then a bag, and finally by the owner of these wind-strewn possessions, a man whose name is probably Innocent Smith.
Smith moves into the boarding house and his presence there is like a bolt of energy that revitalizes the inmates (the day after he moves in, we're told, "there was a crazy sense that it was everybody's birthday.") This happy feeling doesn't last long, though. In a wild and crazy act, Smith asks one of the visitors to Beacon House to marry him; and in another, roaring with laughter, he fires his gun at the doctor called to investigate the mental health of a man who proposes to a woman he met only a few hours before. During the investigation of Smith, it turns out he might not be so innocent after all—criminal at best, in fact, and more than likely a maniac and a monster who has left "a track of blood and tears across the world." As usual with Chesterton, though, things are almost never what they seem at first (or second, or third) glance.
Chesterton isn't always an easy read, especially in his fiction. He's so playful with his language, so light-hearted with his characters and their conversations (and sometimes with plot itself), that an impatient reader might feel compelled to yell, "Get to the point!" But the playfulness is the point. Why do men marry their wives only once? Why do criminals break into other people's homes but no one thinks to break into his or her own house? Why covet your neighbour's possessions, when it's better in every way to covet your own?
If the answers to those questions aren't obvious—or, much worse, if the questions themselves seem silly—Manalive will help us see the world from Chesterton's point of view. That is, we'll see it hanging upside down from the chimney of the world, having broken in through the roof, and if we're lucky we'll be able to say, "You know—I think I'd be happy if I could live here for a while."
(This review first posted as a special recommendation of Manalive on my personal website).
March 19, 2011
Similar to Thursday, but very excellent. So queer and living a man.
#3). I have to say, I really am fully convinced that Chesterton was married to a redhead. There's no other reason for all of his heroines to have red hair. I would also like to take this opportunity to laugh at Brooke--if Chesterton married a redhead, then redheads are obviously superior to every other hair colour.
This book is vintage Chesterton: characters that you meet every day with one that no one but he could dream up. The man is a fool, a genius, a man of tremendous size and athleticism, yet of childlike simplicity. Indeed, "childlike" is perhaps the only accurate way to describe him.
I don't really want to give too much away, in case there's anyone out there mentally deranged enough to read me before he reads Chesterton, but it's an extremely worthwhile read. About half of it takes place in an unofficial trial of the main character, Innocent Smith. Just a great book, light, frivolous, full of commonplaces (In short, he undoubtedly had brains; and perhaps it was not his fault if they were the kind of brains that most men desire to analyze with a poker), and very quick. It really is a very fun book, and this is my third (?) time through it.
#3). I have to say, I really am fully convinced that Chesterton was married to a redhead. There's no other reason for all of his heroines to have red hair. I would also like to take this opportunity to laugh at Brooke--if Chesterton married a redhead, then redheads are obviously superior to every other hair colour.
This book is vintage Chesterton: characters that you meet every day with one that no one but he could dream up. The man is a fool, a genius, a man of tremendous size and athleticism, yet of childlike simplicity. Indeed, "childlike" is perhaps the only accurate way to describe him.
I don't really want to give too much away, in case there's anyone out there mentally deranged enough to read me before he reads Chesterton, but it's an extremely worthwhile read. About half of it takes place in an unofficial trial of the main character, Innocent Smith. Just a great book, light, frivolous, full of commonplaces (In short, he undoubtedly had brains; and perhaps it was not his fault if they were the kind of brains that most men desire to analyze with a poker), and very quick. It really is a very fun book, and this is my third (?) time through it.
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