Tremendous Trifles
GK Chesterton
A wonderful and whimsical collection of short essays on everything from sketching on brown paper and building toy theatres to the nature of Englishness and faith.
"Tremendous Trifles contains simply some of the best essays Chesterton ever wrote. They originally appeared in the Daily News, which Chesterton contributed to from 1901 to 1913, and which explains why people bought that paper.
Which is an idea so large it spills over into another essay, “A Piece of Chalk.” Here Chesterton describes how he has set out to do some drawing with his chalks, but is distressed to find that he has forgotten his white chalk. White is essential. White is a color. It is not merely the absence of color. It is “a shining and affirmative thing…it draws stars.” As white is to art, so is virtue to religion. Virtue is a positive thing; not merely “the absence of dangers or the avoidance of moral dangers…Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.”
In this book, Chesterton looks at the ordinary, common things and asks us to see how extraordinary and uncommon they are. The things in his pockets, the objects in a railway station, the people in the street. With these simple, random things he can defend Christianity, Western Civilization and Democracy. “Whatever is it that we are all looking for?” he asks at the beginning of an essay entitled “A Glimpse of My Country.” He suggests that what we are looking for lies very close; we just don’t manage to see it. It is a theme throughout the book, and throughout Chesterton’s writings that what appears to be a trifle is actually tremendous. In the title essay Chesterton crystallizes this truth in a perfect sentence that would go on to be inscribed on buildings and quoted by popes: “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
-- Dale Ahlquist, lecture for Chesterton University
Duration - 5h 59m.
Author - GK Chesterton.
Narrator - Charles Featherstone.
Published Date - Monday, 22 January 2024.
Location:
United States
Networks:
GK Chesterton
Charles Featherstone
Chesterton's Essays
Brimir & Blainn
English Audiobooks
Findaway Audiobooks
Description:
A wonderful and whimsical collection of short essays on everything from sketching on brown paper and building toy theatres to the nature of Englishness and faith. "Tremendous Trifles contains simply some of the best essays Chesterton ever wrote. They originally appeared in the Daily News, which Chesterton contributed to from 1901 to 1913, and which explains why people bought that paper. Which is an idea so large it spills over into another essay, “A Piece of Chalk.” Here Chesterton describes how he has set out to do some drawing with his chalks, but is distressed to find that he has forgotten his white chalk. White is essential. White is a color. It is not merely the absence of color. It is “a shining and affirmative thing…it draws stars.” As white is to art, so is virtue to religion. Virtue is a positive thing; not merely “the absence of dangers or the avoidance of moral dangers…Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.” In this book, Chesterton looks at the ordinary, common things and asks us to see how extraordinary and uncommon they are. The things in his pockets, the objects in a railway station, the people in the street. With these simple, random things he can defend Christianity, Western Civilization and Democracy. “Whatever is it that we are all looking for?” he asks at the beginning of an essay entitled “A Glimpse of My Country.” He suggests that what we are looking for lies very close; we just don’t manage to see it. It is a theme throughout the book, and throughout Chesterton’s writings that what appears to be a trifle is actually tremendous. In the title essay Chesterton crystallizes this truth in a perfect sentence that would go on to be inscribed on buildings and quoted by popes: “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” -- Dale Ahlquist, lecture for Chesterton University Duration - 5h 59m. Author - GK Chesterton. Narrator - Charles Featherstone. Published Date - Monday, 22 January 2024.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:09
Preface
Duration:00:02:00
I tremendous trifles
Duration:00:08:15
II a piece of chalk
Duration:00:09:43
III the secret of a train
Duration:00:09:16
IV the perfect game
Duration:00:08:27
V the extraordinary cabman
Duration:00:08:24
VI an accident
Duration:00:09:21
VII the advantages of having one leg
Duration:00:09:38
VIII the end of the world
Duration:00:08:56
IX in the place de la bastille
Duration:00:08:51
X on lying in bed
Duration:00:08:44
XI the twelve men
Duration:00:08:39
XII the wind and the trees
Duration:00:08:38
XIII the dickensian
Duration:00:08:01
XIV in topsy turvy land
Duration:00:08:24
XV what i found in my pocket
Duration:00:08:08
XVI the dragon's grandmother
Duration:00:09:33
XVII the red angel
Duration:00:09:13
XVIII the tower
Duration:00:08:32
XIX how i met the president
Duration:00:10:00
XX The Giant
Duration:00:10:32
XXI a great man
Duration:00:08:11
XXII the orthodox barber
Duration:00:08:38
XXIII the toy theatre
Duration:00:10:15
XXIV a tragedy of twopence
Duration:00:08:34
XXV a cab ride across country
Duration:00:10:27
XXVI the two noises
Duration:00:06:57
XXVII some policemen and a moral
Duration:00:09:03
XXVIII the lion
Duration:00:07:46
XXIX humanity an interlude
Duration:00:10:52
XXX the little birds who won't sing
Duration:00:08:31
XXXI the riddle of the ivy
Duration:00:08:37
XXXII the travellers in state
Duration:00:09:26
XXXIII the prehistoric railway station
Duration:00:08:49
XXXIV the diabolist
Duration:00:10:26
XXXV a glimpse of my country
Duration:00:09:44
XXXVI a somewhat improbable story
Duration:00:11:11
XXXVII the shop of ghosts
Duration:00:10:39
XXXVIII the ballade of a strange town
Duration:00:10:03
XXXIX the mystery of a pageant
Duration:00:09:58
Ending Credits
Duration:00:00:20