I fell asleep last night reading Chesterton’s book, so I thought I would better know how to articulate my thoughts on it. Not the case. So, my apologies for what seems slightly haphazard. And… I just happen to be horrible at summaries.

Let me just lay out the general idea: Syme, a pronounced poet and intellectual stumbles upon a very uncommon looking policeman in England. Upon questioning, the policeman reveals that he’s no ‘ordinary’ cop, but actually part of the elite undercover force whose quest is to root out the spreading evil of anarchy. Syme’s interest peaks when the cop in question suggests he would be perfect for the squad. So, Syme ends up in a pitch black room with a voice confirming his qualifications to fight evil, though he had no prior training.

Syme happens upon a radical anarchist, whose poetry had captivated an audience on the outskirts of town. And the strange, twisting, unpredictable journey begins. In dreamlike sequence, we follow Syme into the most unlikely of situations as he tries to uncover the destructive plans of the anarchy underground.

I’ve been reading different reviews, and of course the heavy annotations, but I think it will take me the whole book to understand Syme’s journey. Why do the ‘bad’ guys keep being unveiled as ‘good’ guys in disguise? Are all the anarchists actually good guys undercover?

That would be a statement. I guess it’s kind of like being ‘of’ the world to fight the evil of the world, but in the effort you are self-defeating. Like I said, I’m a bad summarizer. I’m an even worse philosopher without a good bit of processing time.

So, I’m just asking: Has anyone else read this marvel, called a nightmare by Chesterton? I know it doesn’t sound like it from my review, but I’ve completely enjoyed it. I’m actually about 100 pages from finishing.

No plot spoilers, but leave your comments!

Not to steal any thunder from Christina… I am waiting with anticipation to see what this mysterious graphic might represent… (just kidding I already know – you don’t think she’d make me wait with the rest of you, do you?)

In the meantime, I’ll give you something good to chew on: literature. I know you might prefer chocolate or tres leches cake or (insert scrumptious saturday afternoon treat). But today the treat are the two books I’m reading: The Man Who Was Thursday and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. In the past, I’ve referred to my love for books like some people’s love for chocolate, except I’m completely convinced it’s much healthier (I’ve tried the chocolate thing many times).

Anyway, back to the present. These two books I’m eating (I mean reading. I literally just wrote that without thinking!!!) are so very different. The former is written by G.K. Chesterton and it follows a man in his nightmare of fighting anarchy while an undercover anarchist. The latter is about a clever African woman who set up the first (and probably only) ladies’ detective agency in Botswana after her father passed away and left over 200 head of cattle as her inheritance.

I picked up the detective book because my counterpart at the school brought two books along to read while we waited for parents at Open House this past Friday. I gratefully jumped into the fiction and will probably finish tonight or tomorrow. The book is part of a series I’ve heard recommended often, so maybe I’ll get into that.

Chesterton’s book, well, it’s severely deep. I somehow picked up the annotated version, which makes it both interesting and annoying (do I really need to find out – when Ludgate Hill is mentioned – that someone edited his periodical at an office there?). In any case, I think I’m getting a much more distinct landscape than I would otherwise. I’m trying to piece together underlying theological meanings along the way and I’m glad to discover in the annotations that others are equally confused.

I am half-way through each book, grateful for days like this one where the rain drowns out the music and leaves me with the words.

Mmm. Delicious!