Can't say I'm a huge fan of the recording (Ray Clare's style simply isn't mine), but this is what my book club is reading this month. Feel free to join us and give it a listen. You can download in different formats and chapter-by-chapter at the source,
Librivox.
by
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
While the novel is humorous (one instance has the King sitting on top of an omnibus and speaking to it as to a horse: “Forward, my beauty, my Arab,” he said, patting the omnibus encouragingly, “fleetest of all thy bounding tribe”), it is also an adventure story: Chesterton is not afraid to let blood be drawn in his battles, fought with sword and halberd in the London streets, and Wayne thinks up a few ingenious strategies; and, finally, the novel is philosophical, considering the value of one man’s actions and the virtue of respect for one’s enemies. (Summary from Wikipedia)
Just in case you were running low on audio,
here you can find some G. K. Chesterton audiobooks:
.
 | Eugenics and Other Evils
Gilbert Keith Chesterton | "Eugenics and Other Evils," by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I think G.K. Chesterton explains his book rather well in his introduction, but it might help to start with a sense of the time in question. Chesterton started work on Eugenics and Other Evils in about 1910, but it was not completed and published until 1922. In his own introduction he talks about the period before and after "The War." The war he refers to is now called World War One. We now have a distaste for the word Eugenics,... |
 | Heretics
G.K. Chesterton | "Heretics," a series of essays by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. First published in 1905. Read by David "Grizzly" Smith. Chesterton had a sense of humor, had a sense of drama, and had sense. He was a man of strong opinions, and quite willing to argue vehemently for his own opinions, even with his friends -- and they remained his friends -- like George Bernard Shaw and Rudyard Kipling. Seems to me that is hard to find anymore. He wrote prolifically. He wrote humor. He wrote mystery novels,... |
 | Orthodoxy
G.K. Chesterton | "Orthodoxy," a series of essays by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. First published in 1908. Read by David "Grizzly" Smith. "The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge. Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel." This is how Chesterton explains "Orthodoxy," the sequel to Heretics. "I have attempted in a vague and personal way, in a set of mental pictures rather than in a series of deductions, to state the philosophy in which I have come to believe. I... |
.
Unbeknownst to me, the folks over at Chesterton.org
have a podcast! (Sidenote: IMHO, Chesterton would be horrified at the isolationism that the Earbud Culture breeds, but, redeemingly, would likely enjoy Podcasts as smalltalk writ large.)
The Podcast is called Uncommon Sense (
libsyn here) and starts with a few of the usual suspects: Dale Ahlquist, Mark Shea, etc. They have over 40 episodes now -- check 'em out.
Here are a few just to whet your appetite:
I haven't been disappointed by any lectures from
maclaurin.org in the past, so here are some more. Understand that these are not all given by Catholics, so I'm not vouching for theological accuracy...just interesting stuff...
The Innocence of God, Udo Middelmann, MacLaurin Institute (Francis A. Schaeffer Fellow).
Pacifism in the Old and New Testaments: What Did Moses Teach That Inspired Jesus's Nonviolence?,
Philip Friesen, Galilean Center (Fellow).
Wedded Bliss: What Makes for Happy Marriages,
Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia (Assistant Professor of Sociology).
From Da Vinci to Dan Brown: The skeptic as the new cultural authority, Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, MacLaurin Institute (Fellow).
...
And finally, the lecture which made me post this...and this one I CAN vouche for......
Dueling with Darwin: A Night with GK Chesterton,
Dr. Chuck Chalberg, Normandale College (Professor of History) and
Dale Ahlquist,
American Chesterton Society (President).
UPDATE: Here's another Dale Ahlquis lecture -- The Spiritual and Intellectual Delight of G. K. Chesterton
This article by Murray Hill chronicles a reporter's attempts to secure an interview with G.K. Chesterton during his lecture tour of the US in that year. Funny stuff. Also provides a backstage peek at Chesterton's family, manager, and staff.
Founded in 1982 by physicist-theologian Dr. William Monsma (PhD, University of Colorado), the Institute offered a learning context where Christian faith and academic concerns were integrated. In its first decade, the Institute sponsored lectures by Christian academics, while also helping Christian graduate students and faculty at the University of Minnesota to thoughtfully engage academia from a distinctly Christian vantagepoint.
Since the mid 1990s, the Institute's horizons have also included international students and scholars, efforts which culminated in the Institute's first major conference, the
World View for World Healing Conference, in May 1998, with some 300 participants from across North America, as well as 40 speakers and facilitators from around the world.
Each year, the Institute records most of our 15-20 events.
All of these files are copyrighted by the MacLaurin Institute, unless otherwise noted. Please
contact the Institute to receive permission to use any of these recordings for large-group settings.
- May 1st, 2003 - Daniel Taylor
Leaving a Spiritual Legacy: Telling the Master Stories of Your Life
- April 3rd, 2003 - Peter Kreeft
Tolkien's Worldview: How the Greatest Book of the Century is a Religious Book
- March 6th, 2003 - Drs. Monsma and Macosko
Intelligent Design From Different Angles
- February 6th, 2003 - Andrew Fellows
U2 and the Search for Spiritual Reality
- January 2nd, 2003 - Gannon Murphy
God and the Problem of Evil
- December 19th, 2002 - Dr.William Monsma
Star of Bethlehem
- December 5th, 2002 - Dale Ahlquist
The Spiritual and Intellectual Delight of G. K. Chesterton
- May 16th, 2002 - Don Bierle
A Biologist Asks, "Where's the Evidence for God?"
- April 4th, 2002 - Vishal Mangalwadi
Two Enlightenments and One Light
- January 2nd, 2002 - Daniel E. Ritchie
Reconciling the Heart With the Head
- November 1st, 2001 - Dr. Walter Sundberg
The Danger of Sacred Politics
- February 1st, 2001 - David Clark
Is Morality Possible if There Is No God?
- January 4th, 2001 - Mary Ellen Ashcroft
Lost for Words: Reclaiming Meaning in an Age of Sound Bites
- April 6th, 2000 - Denis Haack
The Truth Is Out There
- March 2nd, 2000 - Walter Sundberg
Reshaping the First Amendment: A Point of No Return?
- January 6th, 2000 - J. Budziszewski
Written on the Heart? The Case for Natural Law
- April 1st, 1999 - Daniel E. Ritchie
Battle of the Books at Century's End
NOTE: Some of these speakers are not Catholic, and I haven't listened to all of these lectures (yet). I'll vouch for Peter Kreeft (on Philosophy), J. Budziszewski (on Natural Law) and Dale Ahlquist (on Chesterton) -- they're the some of the top Catholic folks in their respective fields -- but I simply don't know about the others. If you know better, please feel free to comment and let everyone else know.
This blog is dedicated to bringing you free orthodox Catholic audio. If you have a tip or would like to report a broken link, please e-mail me by clicking the link above.
"Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ."
Rom 10:17(DRV)
