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The Dark Side of G.K. Chesterton: Gargoyles and Grotesques PDF

222 Pages·2021·21.246 MB·English
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The Dark Side of G.K. Chesterton “Young Chesterton” (painting by John C. Tibbetts). The Dark Side of G.K. Chesterton Gargoyles and Grotesques John C. Tibbetts Foreword by Dale Ahlquist McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina Also by John C. Tibbetts and from McFarland The Furies of Marjorie Bowen (2020) The Gothic Worlds of Peter Straub (2016) All photographs and artwork are by John C. Tibbetts unless otherwise indicated. Excerpt from “The R.B., G.K.C. and G.B.S. Forever Orient Express” from The Cat’s Pajamas by Ray Bradbury, published by William Morrow © 2004 by Ray Bradbury; Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. Excerpts from “O What I’d Give to Hear and See Wry G.B.S., Spry G.K.C.” and “Behold the Beast: Shaw/Chesterton,” published in The Shaw Review, © 1984 Ray Bradbury; Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Names: Tibbetts, John C., author. | Ahlquist, Dale, writer of foreword. Title: The dark side of G.K. Chesterton : gargoyles and grotesques / John C. Tibbetts ; foreword by Dale Ahlquist. Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021 | Includes bibliographical references and index. ♾ Identifiers: LCCN 2021044623 | ISBN 9781476684970 (paperback : acid free paper) ISBN 9781476643977 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936— Criticism and interpretation. | Gargoyles in literature. | Grotesque in literature. | BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh | LITERARY CRITICISM / Mystery & Detective | LCGFT: Literary criticism. Classification: LCC PR4453.C4 Z768 2021 | DDC 828/.91209—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021044623 British Library cataloguing data are available ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-8497-0 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-4397-7 © 2021 John C. Tibbetts. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Front cover: painting of G.K. Chesterton (John C. Tibbetts) Printed in the United States of America McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com Once again my thanks and love go to the Enchanter and Muse of my life, Mary Lou Pagano. “It is their play now … the most monstrous of all monsters are marching across your stage, shaking the earth like dragons and chimeras; the most towering, the most terrible creatures that life ever let loose upon chaos. Stand back—stand out of their way. They are living men.” —G. K. Chesterton, The Surprise (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1953), 45. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgments ix A Note on Chesterton Page References x Foreword by Dale Ahlquist 1 Prologue: “Under a Crooked Sky” 3 Introduction: The Table Is Set 5 Chapter One. Chesterton and His Gargoyles: “A Gnarled Fancy” 13 Chapter Two. “Let the Tale Be Told”: The Weird Tales 21 Chapter Three. “Sometimes I See Things in the Dark”: The Detective Stories 37 Chapter Four. “Will Someone Please Explain the Explanation?” Locked Rooms and Miracle Crimes 87 Interlude: Chesterton and Jorge Luis Borges: “The Precarious Subjection of a Demoniacal Will” 115 Chapter Five. “It is a new planet and it shall bear my name” Chesterton and Science Fiction 120 Chapter Six. Thursday’s Children: Job, The Man Who Was Thursday and The Surprise 146 Epilogue 159 Appendix A. “On the Road to Top Meadow” 161 Appendix B. “The Man Who Knew Too Much”: The Story of Ignatius Press’ Collected Chesterton 168 Appendix C. “A Mastery of Miracles”: G.K. Chesterton and John Dickson Carr (by Douglas G. Greene) 174 vii viii Table of Contents Appendix D. “G.K. Chesterton, Ray Bradbury, and George Bernard Shaw” by Jonathan Eller 181 Appendix E. Father Brown’s S pace-Age Adventure: “The Spear of the Sun” G.K. Ch*st*rt*n 185 Chapter Notes 191 Bibliography 205 Index 209 Acknowledgments My heartfelt thanks go to all those friends, colleagues, and specialists who joined me at Chesterton’s round table and have patiently read portions of this book and generously responded with comments, Michael Dirda, T.E.D. Klein, Greg Bear, Mike (Frances) Nevins, Pasquale Accardo, M.D.; Professors Stephen R.L. Clark, Brian Atterbery, Ralph C. Wood, Nils Clausson, and Stephen Doyle. Special thanks for the unfailing guidance and support of Douglas Greene, who knows more about John Dickson Carr than anyone on (and off) the planet, and whose publishing imprint, Crippen & Landru, carries the torch of the tradition of the “impossible crime” that Chesterton helped pioneer; to Jonathan Eller, Director of the Center for Ray Brad- bury Studies, in Indianapolis; to David Langford, the Hugo A ward–winning science fiction writer who has made available to this book a marvelous Father Brown pas- tiche; to Jon Lellenberg, agent of the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd and historian of the Baker Street Irregulars; to Joel Silver, of the Lilly Library, for permission to include the four Chesterton illustrations to Sherlock Holmes stories; to Cristina Concepcion of Don Congdon and Associates, who arranged permission for the Bradbury quote at the beginning of this book. And, of course, my own friends, associates, and fellow Jayhawks at the University of Kansas—Film Studies Chair Michael Baskett; Professor and Oscar winner Kevin Willmott; Professors Matt Jacobson, Tamara Falicov, Cathy Preston; Department Executive Secretary Karla Conrad; and Pam Lerow (who once again has shepherded this manuscript to completion); Kij Johnson, Chris McKitter- ick and James Gunn from the KU Center for the Study of Science Fiction. More for- mer Jayhawks are Brian Faucette, Rodney Hill, Baerbel Goebel. I want to acknowledge the following editors and personnel at McFarland for their assistance and support throughout the complicated gestation of this book.  First of all, Natalie Foreman, who initially gave me the “g o-ahead,” and then, Beth Cox, Dré Person, David Alff, Kristal Hamby, and Lori Tedder.  Finally, this book would not have been possible without the support of Dale Ahlquist, president and c o-founder of the Society of G.K. Chesterton (http://www.chesterton.org), who also serves as the editor of its magazine, Gilbert! Portions of this book appeared in my article, “The Gargoyles of G.K. Chester- ton,” Weird Fiction Review, Vol. 11, Fall (2020). Permission granted by request. ix

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