The Napoleon of Notting Hill Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9781374848436 Books
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The Napoleon of Notting Hill Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9781374848436 Books
G. K. Chesterton's (1874-1936) _The Napoleon of Notting Hill_ (1904) was his first novel. It was subtitled "A Fantasy of the Future" and was set in 1984. But modern readers looking for obvious science fictional trappings in Chesterton's future world are likely to be disappointed. It is not a progressive scientific future of the sort that H.G. Wells wrote about. Nor is it an anticipation of Aldous Huxley's _Brave New World_ (1936). Like George Orwell, Chesterton did fear the dangers of an authoritarian state. But after that, any similarity of vision between Orwell and Chesterton comes to an end. Chesterton's vision of the future, by the time we are finished with it, will have an oddly masculine and medieval flavor to it.We are introduced to an England run by only a skeleton crew of government officials and police. One of these officials, Barker, gives his rationale for the use of "alphabetical monarchies" to run the country:
"Suppose he is a tyrant-- he is still in check on a hundred tyrants. Suppose he is a cynic, it is to his interest to govern well. Suppose he is a criminal-- by removing poverty and substituting power, we put a check on his criminality. In short, by substituting despotism we have put a total check on one criminal and a partial check on all the rest." Barker goes on to say: He may not be a good man. But he will be a good despot. For when he comes to a mere business routine of government he will endeavor to do ordinary justice. Do we not assume the same of a jury?" (24)
But shortly afterward, another government official named Lambert has this response (which I hope is the same as yours):
Lambert suddenly faced round and struck his stick into the ground in a defiant attitude.
"Auberon," he said, "chuck it. I won't have it. It's all bosh." (28)
Well, it may be bosh. But society operates by that bosh and Auberon Quin is elected the new king; he is next in line alphabetically. Quin, who has heretofore treated all life as a massive joke, sees no reason to change his behavior now that he is king. Humor, Quin says, is the new religion of mankind. Almost nobody dares to question your humor for fear of appearing a fool.
But an old, foreign king has warned that Quin is "a dangerous man". What does he mean by this? "Every man is dangerous... who cares only for one thing" (25). A truly sane person is one who can entertain more than one contradictory mode of thought: the scientific thinker who is also a theosopher, for example. Religious fanatics, suicide bombers, radical political idealogues are _consistent_... but insane and dangerous. Quin's obsession with jokes soon leads to trouble.
The king (for a joke) divides London up into charters or municipalities with their own uniforms and coats of arms. This leads to strife between sections of London where there was no strife before. No sooner has Quin instituted his policy than _another_ madman named Adam Wayne comes on stage and initiates a revolution against it. This being a Chesterton novel, as you might imagine, all the different factions end up collapsing together at the end.
Perhaps some closing attention should be given to the influence of _Notting Hill_ on George Orwell's _1984_. Orwell had certainly read the novel; he wrote several essays on Chesterton. But it would certainly be a massive stretch to argue that Orwell's dystopia was a "reaction" to Chesterton's little comedy. Aside from the year in which they are set, there is no similarity between the two novels.
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The Napoleon of Notting Hill Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9781374848436 Books Reviews
Having previously only known of G.K. Chesterton from the Father Brown series, I was entranced to learn this was his debut novel.
The witty humor and descriptions of types of men set the stage beautifully for his commentary on the ludicrous aspects of war, politics, business interests...and kings.
While at times I found myself picturing Peter Sellars in "The Mouse That Roared" combined with ridiculously operatic themes, I enjoyed the presentation of the "big picture" (in this case war) being comprised of vignettes or "what is old is new" or that when businessmen agree...the non-seller must be mad and (mis)treated as such.
I thought it did get bogged down some in the middle but continued to appreciate the tongue-in-cheek observations about many aspects of life. How can you argue with sentences like "People strike dignified attitudes and pretend that things matter."
Gilbert Keith Chesterton would seem to underlie a good part of his novel in his own quote "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."
He appears to be quite optimistic in this, as otherwise his humor would seem that more of the cynic than of any other sort.
Without trying to give too much of the plot away, Democracy of England has been dispensed with to lessen problems, but an elected King, a rather pompous and silly admirer of the past, has set up a system of fragmented states that cannot work well together. Shortly thereafter a civil war erupts in London with mayhem and mortality.
The attempt to preserve the past ultimately destroys it and many of its defenders as well as a good number of its attackers.
[A premise of a full attack is made, where practitioners of such battles as are to be recreated here were more long-held sieges. The events of the story confirms why those past warriors chose wisely in a wait and starve-them-out strategy.
The author comes out with a rather farcical conclusion, which is likely from the outset all that can be had of any government to Chesterton's judgement.
As he also wrote "Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated."
So, if you thought he was not the cynic from his first quote, think again.
Please note, this is not likely to be to the taste of many.
meet Auberon Quin. he is a man to whom the world is a punchline; a dangerous man, for he cares for nothing but a joke. and meet Adam Wayne-to whom the joke is quite serious. When Quin is appointed King of England, he proposes to divide England into medieval city-states-purely for the sake of the ever-important joke. when Adam Wayne is appointed Provost of Notting Hill, he proposes to be patriotic about it. amidst the chaos of confusion, the stirring speeches, the epic battles, and the all-pervading Chestertonian wit, The Napoleon of Notting Hill is(besides an awesome story) a cry for renewed life in a deadened world-a call that compels mankind to fight for the small things, if only for the sake of fighting for something. this is a book that argues to make mountains out of mole-hills, for the single and compelling reason that a mole-hill is only a heap of dirt, but a mountain is a stairway to the stars.
P.S
like The Man Who Was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill seems to have been written on inspiration, and for the sake of hashing out an idea, more than to expound any particular creed.
G. K. Chesterton's (1874-1936) _The Napoleon of Notting Hill_ (1904) was his first novel. It was subtitled "A Fantasy of the Future" and was set in 1984. But modern readers looking for obvious science fictional trappings in Chesterton's future world are likely to be disappointed. It is not a progressive scientific future of the sort that H.G. Wells wrote about. Nor is it an anticipation of Aldous Huxley's _Brave New World_ (1936). Like George Orwell, Chesterton did fear the dangers of an authoritarian state. But after that, any similarity of vision between Orwell and Chesterton comes to an end. Chesterton's vision of the future, by the time we are finished with it, will have an oddly masculine and medieval flavor to it.
We are introduced to an England run by only a skeleton crew of government officials and police. One of these officials, Barker, gives his rationale for the use of "alphabetical monarchies" to run the country
"Suppose he is a tyrant-- he is still in check on a hundred tyrants. Suppose he is a cynic, it is to his interest to govern well. Suppose he is a criminal-- by removing poverty and substituting power, we put a check on his criminality. In short, by substituting despotism we have put a total check on one criminal and a partial check on all the rest." Barker goes on to say He may not be a good man. But he will be a good despot. For when he comes to a mere business routine of government he will endeavor to do ordinary justice. Do we not assume the same of a jury?" (24)
But shortly afterward, another government official named Lambert has this response (which I hope is the same as yours)
Lambert suddenly faced round and struck his stick into the ground in a defiant attitude.
"Auberon," he said, "chuck it. I won't have it. It's all bosh." (28)
Well, it may be bosh. But society operates by that bosh and Auberon Quin is elected the new king; he is next in line alphabetically. Quin, who has heretofore treated all life as a massive joke, sees no reason to change his behavior now that he is king. Humor, Quin says, is the new religion of mankind. Almost nobody dares to question your humor for fear of appearing a fool.
But an old, foreign king has warned that Quin is "a dangerous man". What does he mean by this? "Every man is dangerous... who cares only for one thing" (25). A truly sane person is one who can entertain more than one contradictory mode of thought the scientific thinker who is also a theosopher, for example. Religious fanatics, suicide bombers, radical political idealogues are _consistent_... but insane and dangerous. Quin's obsession with jokes soon leads to trouble.
The king (for a joke) divides London up into charters or municipalities with their own uniforms and coats of arms. This leads to strife between sections of London where there was no strife before. No sooner has Quin instituted his policy than _another_ madman named Adam Wayne comes on stage and initiates a revolution against it. This being a Chesterton novel, as you might imagine, all the different factions end up collapsing together at the end.
Perhaps some closing attention should be given to the influence of _Notting Hill_ on George Orwell's _1984_. Orwell had certainly read the novel; he wrote several essays on Chesterton. But it would certainly be a massive stretch to argue that Orwell's dystopia was a "reaction" to Chesterton's little comedy. Aside from the year in which they are set, there is no similarity between the two novels.
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