The Importance of Chesterton - Spuceerth
There are now many articles on newspaper websites about holidays at home for British people this year. I was looking out for something relevant and saw this one which refers to the writing of G.K. Chesterton.
Whilst the main aim of my blog is to promote the re-opening of The Three Cups Hotel because of its long association with J.R.R. Tolkien, we should not ignore the connection with G.K. Chesterton for a number of reasons.
The first and most obvious is that the fame of Chesterton although sadly less than that of Tolkien would help to attract visitors to Lyme Regis if the hotel were open and publicising its connection with him.
Secondly, Chesterton gives a philosophy of holidays in one's own country and explains how we can see the familiar in a new light. I will not attempt to expound this here. I would recommend reading some of the great man's many books and let him explain the ideas with his great wit. However, some of the ideas relate to myth and fantasy and seeing things from the inside rather than the outside.
I would suggest that a visitor to Lyme Regis from beyond the West Country of England will be charmed by the archetypal rolling English countryside and the beautiful seaside at first sight. But for those with an appreciation of the fiction which has been written in and about this area, their imaginations would illuminate all they see with a magic to thrill them more than all the vast expanses of far flung continents. That fiction includes the works of Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and John Fowles as well as Tolkien. And, as mentioned previously, one of Beatrix Potter's stories (Little Pig Robinson) was set in Lyme Regis.
As for not being being on the outside, Chesteron remarked how different the world would look if one were on the inside of a coffee room looking out rather than the other way round. One would see the words "Mooreeffoc" in the window for one thing. How much different Lyme Regis would appear if one were enjoying a drink in the same bar as Chesteron and Tolkien took their refreshment while on holiday. One couldn't help be moved to consider what imaginative and creative thoughts had whirled around inside The Spuceerth as you looked out on the beatiful old town buildings from the charm of a refurbished Georgian hotel.
Whilst the main aim of my blog is to promote the re-opening of The Three Cups Hotel because of its long association with J.R.R. Tolkien, we should not ignore the connection with G.K. Chesterton for a number of reasons.
The first and most obvious is that the fame of Chesterton although sadly less than that of Tolkien would help to attract visitors to Lyme Regis if the hotel were open and publicising its connection with him.
Secondly, Chesterton gives a philosophy of holidays in one's own country and explains how we can see the familiar in a new light. I will not attempt to expound this here. I would recommend reading some of the great man's many books and let him explain the ideas with his great wit. However, some of the ideas relate to myth and fantasy and seeing things from the inside rather than the outside.
I would suggest that a visitor to Lyme Regis from beyond the West Country of England will be charmed by the archetypal rolling English countryside and the beautiful seaside at first sight. But for those with an appreciation of the fiction which has been written in and about this area, their imaginations would illuminate all they see with a magic to thrill them more than all the vast expanses of far flung continents. That fiction includes the works of Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and John Fowles as well as Tolkien. And, as mentioned previously, one of Beatrix Potter's stories (Little Pig Robinson) was set in Lyme Regis.
As for not being being on the outside, Chesteron remarked how different the world would look if one were on the inside of a coffee room looking out rather than the other way round. One would see the words "Mooreeffoc" in the window for one thing. How much different Lyme Regis would appear if one were enjoying a drink in the same bar as Chesteron and Tolkien took their refreshment while on holiday. One couldn't help be moved to consider what imaginative and creative thoughts had whirled around inside The Spuceerth as you looked out on the beatiful old town buildings from the charm of a refurbished Georgian hotel.
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To find out more about G.K. Chesterton and his writings, visit these websites:
www.gkchesterton.org.uk
http://chesterton.org/
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/index.html
J.R.R. Tolkien refers to Mooreeffoc or Chestertonian Fantasy in his essay "On Fairy-Stories" in the section on the uses of fairy-stories, about "Recovery" which "includes return and renewal of health".
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