CHESTERTON
SIR,—May one suggest that although most of the qualities attributed to G. K. Chesterton by Mr. Paul Jennings arc not to be denied, Mr. Kingsley Amis may still be right?
At this distance,. Chesterton surely is revealed as the great dilettante par excelsis, the jack of all trades who never truly mastered any, with the possible and dubious exception of belles leures.
As a novelist, he had splendid vigour and imagination, but no real insight into character. His world was a fantasy world. As a religious apologist, he has probably offended more people than he has converted—his tolerance, in particular, is of the insidious 'some of my best friends . variety. His poetry jingles pleasantly. As a critic, he was loo often. led away by his own ebullient style into mere firecracker displays of virtuosity. Finally, as a social and political thinker, had he much more to offer than an urban sentimen- tality for the countryside and a hopeless nostalgia for the Middle Ages, when everybody .kept the Faith, drank beer instead of tea, and hand-carved his own furniture? — Yours faithfully, •
33 Newton Road, W2
BRIAN F. GLANVILLE
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