(no subject)
Friday, November 25th, 2011 11:48 pmFour Faultless Felons is alright, but as the foreword says, GKC could *not* leave the anti-Semitic snidery alone, and it grates. OTOH I almost laughed when a character has a frisson of obscure horror at the sight of a blond Jew, as of something unnatural. The fairest-haired bluest-eyed people of my acquaintance are Ashkenazi Israelis; but if GKC had known any Jews, he might not have been such an ass about them.
And while his heroines are interesting and angular people, they're still only romantic heroines, whose role is to appreciate the wonderful hero. The eccentric felons of the title, the ones with strange and admirable ideas, are men. Saki had individualistic female protagonists in several of his stories, as Shaw did in his plays; so it shouldn't have been so unthinkable for Chesterton. A product of his times and his times are past-- very fortunately.
And while his heroines are interesting and angular people, they're still only romantic heroines, whose role is to appreciate the wonderful hero. The eccentric felons of the title, the ones with strange and admirable ideas, are men. Saki had individualistic female protagonists in several of his stories, as Shaw did in his plays; so it shouldn't have been so unthinkable for Chesterton. A product of his times and his times are past-- very fortunately.
