Lewis & Chesterton: Rock Stars
— Saturday, July 25th, 2009 —
My friend David Mills offers a suggested reading list for beginners reading the works of C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. Of the two, Mills writes: “These portly, homely, undramatic men are still the bookish Christian’s rock stars.”
There is, though, a problem, David asserts, for those who would wade in to the Lewis/Chesterton bodies of work:
Their new readers, having become fans, excitedly look up the lists of their books — and stop dead. There’s just too much to read, and too little time, and some of those books look like slow going. Chesterton wrote more than 100 books, Lewis more than 50, including the posthumous collections of essays, letters, and diaries.
David offers his suggestions for the books you should read for both men, and those you can afford to skip. I don’t agree with all of his suggestions (don’t skip Chesteron’s biography of Francis!), but I think it’s a helpful exercise with much guiding wisdom.
Thanks for this info, Dr. Moore. I’m esp. a fan of Lewis. In fact, I’m currently reading his “Great Divorce.”
I bought a copy of Chesterston’s “What’s Wrong with the World” this summer and was a little let down. As with all of his writings, there are some true gems to be found, but for the most part - it seemed a little too flighty for a beginner to really enjoy. His handling of “the Calvinism of today” left quite a bit to be desired as well. Chesterton is typically not one for straw-man arguments, but he uncharacteristically approaches Calvinism in that very way (not only in this book, but peppered in amongst his other writings as well). That being said, he is a “rock star” in his own right, and well worth being read.