G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic.
G. K. Chesterton KC*SG | |
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Chesterton in 1909 | |
| Born | Gilbert Keith Chesterton 29 May 1874 Kensington, London, England |
| Died | 14 June 1936 (aged 62) Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Resting place | Roman Catholic Cemetery, Beaconsfield |
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| Education | University College London |
| Period | 1900–1936 |
| Genre | Essays, fantasy, Christian apologetics, Catholic apologetics, mystery, poetry |
| Literary movement | Catholic literary revival |
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Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown, and wrote on apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognised the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an orthodox Christian, and came to identify this position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting from high church Anglicanism. Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Newman and John Ruskin.
He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, Time observed: "Whenever possible, Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out." His writings were an influence on Jorge Luis Borges, who compared his work with that of Edgar Allan Poe.
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