Chesterton's "Inklings"

Peter J · #1 Mar 16, '12, 7:39 pm

Who were G.K. Chesterton's equivalent of the "Inklings"? (I'm not looking for exact parallels with the Inklings group, of course.) Hilaire Belloc, I suppose? Anyone else?

**Della** · #2 Mar 25, '12, 11:23 am

He belonged to a group of mystery writers that included Dorothy L. Sayers. I forget if they had a name for their group or not. Otherwise, he had a wide variety of friends that included George Bernard Shaw, among many others.

Peter J · #3 Mar 28, '12, 6:20 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Della

He belonged to a group of mystery writers that included Dorothy L. Sayers. I forget if they had a name for their group or not. Otherwise, he had a wide variety of friends that included George Bernard Shaw, among many others.

Interesting. Perhaps the mystery genre was to Chesterton's group what the fantasy genre was to the Inklings.

**Della** · #4 Mar 28, '12, 8:53 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter J

Interesting. Perhaps the mystery genre was to Chesterton's group what the fantasy genre was to the Inklings.

GKC seemed to have no interest in fantasy/mythology. He saw the fantastic in a blade of grass, so I suppose he didn't need elves or wizards to give him that sense of the sublime oddity of life that is the spiritual understanding of it. Mysteries appealed to his way of seeing the world as a divine puzzle, which is, I believe why he was so fond of employing paradoxes.