Learned Priest

I just got back from a retreat, and at that retreat we had daily Mass. Each day there was a new priest, but on Tuesday we had a REALLY STUPENDOUS priest. He had a good, interesting homily, and...drumroll please...HE QUOTED GKC!!!!!!! The quote, actually, has always been beloved to me, and I was so happy when he used it!!!! It just topped off the week!!!!

"The greatest thing about miracles is that they happen."

The Shadow of the Bear

Furor asked about The Shadow of the Bear, so I am going to try to summarize it, but if anyone has more to add please do.

The story is centered around two teenage girls, Rose and Blanche Brier, and their widowed mother who recently moved to New York city. One stormy winter evening a strange visitor comes to their door. They make friends with this mysterious young man who calls himself Bear, and over the course of the winter they have many visits consisting largely of long talks. They are all well-read and particularly enjoy G. K. Chesterton who often comes into conversation.
Bear does not say much about himself except that he was in Juvenile detention for drug possession and that he is into the same kind of books as the girls such as Chesterton and Shakespeare. Then in the spring Bear's visits become less frequent and finally cease. Rose, aided by Blanche, after hearing more and more stories about Bear's past, is determined to find out about him, and to prove that Bear was not involved in drugs. However these things are not always safe, as the girls are soon to learn, in fact in the adventure that ensues the girls' lives, as well as those of Bear and his brother, are at stake.

There, that's the best I can do, not very good, but you can learn more about it here (the author's website) and here ( a review by Bethlehem Books, the publisher.) Also I hope that we will get at least one alternate review on here. There is also an audio drama which you can listen to samples of and purchase here.

Another Introduction

I am a sixteen year old girl whose interests are rather wide and varied, but include music, sailing, and reading—especially reading Chesterton.
My first introduction to Chesterton when one of my friends and I took turns reading aloud a Father Brown story to each other. Since then I’ve read all the Chesterton fiction I could get a hold of, and a couple of his non-fiction works too.
There are far too many good Chesterton quotes for me to pick my favourite, but here are a couple good ones:

“Journalism consists largely in saying “Lord James is dead” to people who never knew Lord James was alive.”

"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it."

There are also the quotes that I suggested on the theme quote post.

The Ballad of the White Horse

I love The Ballad of the White Horse, it is some of the best poetry I have ever read. It is nearly impossible to read to yourself, it begs to be read outloud. Not only is the rhyme scheme wonderful, the story is too, at least once you get the hang of the language enough to understand the story. It can be very difficult to understand but it can be done. There is a book, a very easy chapter book, King Alfred of the Wessex by Frank Morris, which tells the same story in easier language which I found very helpful. Like many other Chesterton books, it can be read, and enjoyed, as a whole or in pieces. Many wonderful quotes can be taken out and appreciated without having read the book, like the one below.
I love this quote from The Ballad of the White Horse, in fact it was the first Chesterton I read ( Thanks to The Shadow of the Bear), other than The Scandal of Father Brown which doesn't really count
a. Because I didn't read it.
b. Because I didn't know it was Chesterton at that point.
Anyways here's the quote:

"The men of the east may spell the stars
And times and triumphs mark
But the men signed with the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark."

Theme Quotes

We are looking for several theme quotes for this blog (preferably from Chesterton) up to 12(one per month). If anyone has suggestions please comment.
What's your favorite Chesterton quote???????? Would it go well as a theme quote???????? Please comment.

A Voice That Made Men Drop Drawn Swords

That's a great quote from the book that my mom is reading outloud to my brother and I, The Man Who Was Thursday By G.K. Chesterton.
It describes the voice of the leader of the supreme anarchist council, an organization into which a police detective has intruded, having been elected to it by a very strange circumstance. Each of the members is known by the name of one of the days of the week. So Gabriel Syme is now in the awkward position of being on the supreme Anarchist council without any friends and unable, due to an oath of honor, to inform any policeman of his predicament. But perhaps he is not as alone as he thought.....
He begins to make friends and together they decide to attempt to stop the orginization of anarchists who are on their way to ruling the world.

We are in the midst of this unusual novel right now, and it really keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I really like it so far and I highly recommend it.

Introducing...myself!!!

Hi!!

Allow me to introduce myself as a fourteen year old Chesterton aficionado.

I got interested in Chesterton by reading The Shadow of the Bear By Regina Doman, when I was...hmmm...between ten and eleven. I casually dove into a collection of Father Brown mysteries, and found, when I emerged into the real world again, I discovered (not much to my surprise) that I was addicted. I've completed Father Brown, read The Everlasting Man, and recently Charles Dickens, the Last of the Great Men, for Chestercon 2006. I've been scavenging Chesterton-Lover blogs to find quotes, like the following:

Daybreak is never-ending Glory; getting out of bed is a never-ending nuisance.

Isn't that true????? This particular gem I got from Margaret. It comes in very handy.

WELCOME!

Welcome, this is my new blog. I hope that I will soon be joined by other Chesterton loving teens
This is going to be fun!!!!!