The Ball and the Cross

The Ball and the Cross Review

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 plot thinly disguises a witty, profound, and provocative religious and philosophical inquiry, one that resonates with today's readers as well as it did with readers a century ago. (I suspect that not that much has really changed. In our contemporary context non-believers still distrust sincere believers, perhaps even more so given the growth in Moslem extremism, the Arab-Jewish conflict, and Christian activism in American politics.)

The duel is continually postponed due either to the untimely appearance of police, or to unexpected encounters with an eclectic mix of characters, all apparently allegorical representations of one type or another. As the story proceeds, we readers find that the two duelists are more alike than different, as they both hold firm beliefs, in contrast to the secular world around them which has largely embraced relativism and more passive religious convictions.

I suggest that you also visit the other reader reviews as they offer nsightful and interesting perspectives. Chesterton brings out the best in a reader. His stories encourage us, even prod us, to consider and reflect upon profound issues and matters - although he does so in a witty, amusing, even whimsical context. Perhaps Chesterton is saying that religious and philosophical inquiry is simply too serious not to enjoy.

The Ball and the Cross Overview

G.K. Chesteron was born in 1874, and educated at St Paul’s School, where, despite his efforts to achieve honourable oblivion at the bottom of his class, he was singled out as a boy with distinct literary promise. He decided to follow art as a career, and studied at the Slade School, where, while ‘attending or not attending to his studies’, he met Ernest Hodder-Williams, who encouraged Chesterton in his writing. At his request he reviewed a number of books for the Bookman and found himself launched on a profession he was to follow all his life.

Probably his most famous stories are those of ‘Father Brown’, but he wrote much about every conceivable subject under or beyond the sun. The best accounts of his life are to be found in his own Autobiography, published soon after his death in 1936, and in Miss Maisie Ward’s Life of him.

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