The Napoleon of Notting Hill
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 cover of The Napoleon of Notting Hill |
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| Author | G. K. Chesterton |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Literature |
| Publisher | Bodley Head (first edition) |
| Released | 1904 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 300 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-486-26551-X (recent edition) |
The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly-unchanged London of the late 20th century.
Though the novel deals with the future, it concentrates not on technology nor on totalitarian government but on a government where no one cares what happens, comparable to Fahrenheit 451 in that respect.
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[edit] Synopsis
The dreary succession of randomly selected Kings of England is broken up when Auberon Quin, who cares for nothing but a good joke, is chosen. To amuse himself, he institutes elaborate costumes for the provosts of the districts of London. All are bored by the King's antics except for one earnest young man who takes the cry for regional pride seriously – Adam Wayne, the eponymous Napoleon of Notting Hill.
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.
It is interesting to compare the ending of this book with the second of C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, Perelandra, in which two abstracted philosophical forms engage in a conversation with each other over the nature of life and truth, and then depart into the spiritual plane. C. S. Lewis admitted that the writings of Chesterton had a profound influence on his life, including his conversion to Christianity.
Michael Collins, who led the fight for Irish independence from British Rule, is known to have admired the book.[1] There has been much speculation on the influence of the book on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
[edit] Release details
- 1904, UK, Bodley Head (ISBN NA), Pub date ? December 1904, hardback (First edition)
- 1991, UK, Dover Publications (ISBN 0-486-26551-X), Pub date ? March 1991, paperback
- 1999, UK, Paulist Press (ISBN 0-8091-2096-8), Pub date ? January 1999, hardback
- 2001, USA, House of Stratus (ISBN 0-7551-0017-4), Pub date 16 April 2001, paperback
[edit] Notes
- ^ "This was the man who wrote a novel called The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish Independence." Who is this guy and why haven’t I heard of him?, lecture by Dale Ahlquist, President, American Chesterton Society
[edit] References
- Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers, 77.
[edit] External links
- The Napoleon of Notting Hill etext at G. K. Chesterton's Works on the Web.
- The Napoleon of Notting Hill, available at Project Gutenberg. (with illustrations by W. Graham Robertson)
