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Lädt ... Der Held von Notting Hill (1904)von G. K. Chesterton
Lädt ...
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. When I was deeply into the process of becoming a “lapsed Catholic,” two of the priests at the University of Notre Dame (where I was a student) recommended two works by Gilbert Keith Chesterton: Heretics and Orthodoxy. While neither was sufficiently compelling to keep me in the fold, I found both books to be stimulating and illuminating. Moreover, Chesterton had a reputation of being witty and clever if not necessarily profound. Thus I optimistically looked forward to reading the Wordsworth Classics edition of The Napoleon of Notting Hill. Unfortunately, the book itself was quite a disappointment. Part of the problem is that it is quite dated. In addition, it seems to require a detailed understanding of the nuances of different neighborhoods of early 20th century London to understand many of the references, puns, and irony. Finally, the story just isn’t that good. Perhaps old G.K. can be forgiven since this was his first novel. He got better with time, as his Father Brown novels attest. But this one is a hard slog, recommended only for Ph.D. candidates compelled to master his entire oeuvre. (JAB) A rather odd, but amusing novel set in a future London (1984, ironically, 80 years after the novel's publication), where democracy has given way to a cynical system whereby a random individual is chosen to be king for a period of time. The story is full of wry observations, reflecting the author's own views, but does get a bit dull and repetitive. Worth a look. keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Gehört zu VerlagsreihenIst enthalten inThe Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, Vol. 06: The Club of Queer Trades, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Man Who Was Thursday von G.K. Chesterton A G.K. Chesterton omnibus,: Containing The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The man who was Thursday, The flying inn von G.K. Chesterton Napoleon z Notting Hillu ; Létající hospoda ; Návrat Dona Quijota (The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Flying Inn, The Return of Don Quixote) von G.K. Chesterton The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, Volume 1: The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Flying Inn, The Trees of Pride von G.K. Chesterton Bemerkenswerte Listen
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
Science Fiction.
HTML: The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a futuristic novel set in London in 1984. Chesterton envisions neither great technological leaps nor totalitarian suppression. Instead, England is ruled by a series of randomly selected Kings, because people have become entirely indifferent. The joker Auberon Quin is crowned and he instates elaborate costumes for every sector of London. All the city's provosts are bored with the idea except for the earnest young Adam Wayne - the Napoleon of Notting Hill. .Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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Below this is all me rambling incoherently I don't really know what I mean
i mean, it's weird because the implication seems to be that manufactured patriotism and nationalism that leads to war and death is good because it reinvigorates people (which is obviously kind of fascist) but i think that's mostly an uncharitable interpretation of mine - hopefully the ending is intended to show that empires fall because they oppress people and the conflicts would stop. but i don't know
Like I mean I guess I'm not 100% sure what his "point" was because although he's sometimes clear about it the plot confuses things (and I feel it's fair to take the "point" pretty seriously because without the somewhat philosophical stuff the plot is kind of dull). I mean some stuff is clear - Wayne's speeches, especially the one at the end about holding on to things, are pretty decent defences of a sort of Little Englander conservative mindset. But like, the book ends with
It's also weird that he's seemingly critical of the "rotating despotism" thing but then makes it the system for each mini city and doesn't criticise it any more. And the suggestion that in a way this created patriotism is "natural" because people get attached to where they live even though only one person took it up and it required someone making a "joke" for it to be started. And then apparently everyone taking it up because Notting Hill had a minor victory. I realise that this is sort of plot convenience and skipping out a lot of boring stuff but it does feel kind of contradictory and confusing. Like, I'm not looking for some ridiculous alt history ~saga~, just for the out of plot commentary and the plot itself to sync up a little. The speech Wayne gives about not letting
I feel I'm both overthinking irrelevant things and completely missing the obvious and have awful reading comprehension so it's fair to accuse me of those things. Just trying to articulate my very confused thoughts about it. Maybe in the future I'd come back to it and like it more or at the very least have a more coherent criticism of it. ( )