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by: G. K. Chesterton
Amazon.com's Price: $8.95 Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780486288055
ISBN: 0486288056
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: November 22, 1995
Publisher: Dover Publications
Sales Rank: 185625
Studio: Dover Publications
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Chesterton's second novel chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, a Roman Catholic, and an atheist, whose fanatically held opinions inspire a host of comic adventures. The story's allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism. Introduction by Martin Gardner.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Chesterton at his best
Evan MacIan and James Turnbull. Once you have read this novel, they are part of you: their thoughts are yours; their blood flows through you. But it is not just the two incredible protagonists that stay with you for ever. Father Michael, Professor Lucifer (like it or not): you begin to see the world through all of their eyes, and your own sight is all the clearer for it. This is Chesterton at his best.
Whatever your doctrine, whatever your mind, your spiritual life will be transformed ... Read More
Rating:  - Religious and Philosophical Inquiry - and Whimsy Too.
The Ball and the Cross, (1906), G. K. Chesterton's second novel, both entertains and intellectually challenges the reader. Early in the story two diametrically opposed protagonists, Evan MacIan, a devout Catholic and James Turnbull, a passionate atheist, are interrupted by the secular authorities before they are able to carryout a traditional duel by swords. They escape with their swords, but become subjects of a countrywide manhunt and the center of media attention.
Chesterton's absurd ... Read More
Rating: - Exceedingly good: both witty and profound
When I first began this book, I thought it was a bit boring and rather absurd. By the time I reached the middle I though it was rather witty and absurd. Now that I have reached the end of the book I think that it is extremely witty, profound, and wonderfully absurd. It was one of the most wonderfully rediculous books which I have ever read, ranking only with Chesterton's The Flying Inn in the level of absurdity. Chesterton manages to turn a very serious plot into a very rediculous plot (an attempted ... Read More
Rating: - Marvelous
Entertaining and thought-provoking, the Ball and the Cross delivers a nice punch of Chesterton in a thoroughly amusing satire. I am continuously amazed at the genius of these beleaguered Englishment - Chesterton, Lewis, Belloc, Tolkien, et al. While the Ball and the Cross doesn't quite rival Lewis' Screwtape Letters in sheer creativity, it does tackle a more subtle theme.
Chesterton's comedic conflict in the triad of Christian/Atheist/Society is heavily relevant to today's Christian/Muslim/Secularist ... Read More
Rating:  - Uneven
Someone (Belloc?) said only Catholics and atheists are willing to play their beliefs all the way out. All other spiritual postions are compromise. This amusing novella illustrates the point. The main characters, an ardent Catholic and a committed atheist, wish to engage in a duel to the death in defense of their beliefs. They are continually interrupted by a stream of characters representing all sorts of moral types. Although the subject is interesting, the narrative doesn't flow well: first you have pages of philosophical ... Read More
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