Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “What's Wrong with the World” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

What's Wrong with the World

by G.K. Chesterton

4.05 · Rating details · 1,283 Ratings · 140 Reviews

In the aptly titled treatise What's Wrong With the World, one of the twentieth century's most memorable and prolific writers takes on education, government, big business, feminism, and a host of other topics. A steadfast champion of the working man, family, and faith, Chesterton eloquently opposed materialism, snobbery, hypocrisy, and any adversary of freedom and simplicit ...more

Get A Copy

Or buy for

Paperback, 224 pages

Published June 5th 2007 by Dover Publications (first published 1900)

More Details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about What's Wrong with the World, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about What's Wrong with the World

Lists with This Book

What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton

An Essay on the Restoration of Property by Hilaire Belloc

Toward a Truly Free Market by John C. Medaille

Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching by Anthony M. Esolen

Distributism

10 books — 5 voters

Must Read Non-Fiction

1,829 books — 1,963 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30)

filter | sort: default (?) | Rating Details

Jun 03, 2016 Majenta rated it it was amazing

"...to begin everything with the weather is a sort of pagan way of beginning everything with prayer." ("Location 746" on my Kindle.)

That character from FRASIER springs to mind when I see "G.K. Chesterton"--Gil Leslie Chesterton, snooty restaurant critic at Frasier's radio station. If that's what attracts you to G.K. Chesterton, try him out, you might like him.

Thanks for reading.

flag 36 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2017 Darwin8u rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, religion

"The mind that finds its way to wild places is the poet's; but the mind that never finds its way back is the lunatic's."
- G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World

description

Written 107 years ago, Chesterton's 'What's Wrong with the World' is dated on several topics, primarily regarding women. But even if it wasn't dated, that wouldn't change the essentials of why I am always simultaneously thrilled and frustrated by G.K. Chesterton. I may not agree with what he says, but I always adore how he says it. In that way he is like another English writer Christopher Hitchens. I would read Hitchens and practically yell and the book in parts, but God how I loved the gift of Hitch's words. Chesterton, if born 75 years later, may have had a sparing partner in Hitch. They seem very similar in rhetorical boldness.

Chesterton genius was (and probably still is) found in his playful use of paradox. He, I believe, is the master of rhetorical paradox. He doesn't just want to argue the point. He wants to twist the argument, reframe the debate, make a tangle of both sides, and show the world a third-way. He approaches issues of politics, class, sex, education and tries to show how often both sides of the argument are blind. He looks at a chessboard where both black and white pieces are stuck in a perpetual check and instead of suggesting a draw, he adds a couple pieces, or suggests billiards.

What is surprising is not how often I disagree with Chesterton, but how often I agree with a text that was written 107 years ago. It is also surprising (the math is easy here because he was born almost 100 years before me) to discover he was 35 when he wrote this book. It seems a bit curmudgeonly written for a 35 year-old. But that is also one of the charms of Chesterton. Even as a youth, his witty writings and his conservative attitudes seemed like those of a sarcastic, slightly drunk old sage than a haughty young intellectual. I may admire Charles Darwin more, but I'd probably want to drink with G.K. Chesterton. ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2008 Emilia P rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: real-books, churrrch

Oh Chesterton.
You are pretty freaking clever guy, and I love how much you love the poor and think women are glorious generalists and men have sort of a rotten lot in life and that democracy can only take us so far and it is ok to drink and be dirty if that is what you want to do sometimes. I would have come to some different conclusions about stuff (like maybe everybody should be more like ladies, not that ladies shouldn't vote), but basing your commentary on the idea that every person is unique ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2007 Fr.Bill M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christian-apologetics-polemics

This book provides near to irrefutable evidence that Chesterton was a prophet, a seer of the future. The truth, however, is more pedestrian -- that Chesterton could immediately recognize the foibles, follies, and lies that eventually poison and kill a culture.

So, in this work, Chesterton repeatedly startles and shocks us, for he reads as if he were commenting on the latest issue of the New York Times rather than the press of his day (early 20th Century). Sex, education, feminism -- his trenchan ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 29, 2012 booklady rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, family, philosophy, books-on-books, education, non-fiction, worth-reading-over-and-over, 2012

What is wrong with the world? As James V. Schall points out in his introduction to Chesterton’s collection of essays, the popular Christian writer never hesitated ‘to challenge something because it was popular or widely accepted. Indeed, he suspected that a refusal to consider something as questionable because it was popular was itself a prejudice of the worst sort.’

What’s Wrong with the World is a collection of essays which can be read independently or as building on and supporting each other. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2010 Skylar Burris rated it really liked it

Shelves: politics, humor, philosophy

G.K. Chesterton is such an amusing and clever writer that I do believe he could convince me of almost anything. Why, he nearly convinced me that women should never have bothered to obtain the right to vote. I am such an obstinate person, and so inclined to disagree with arguments even before I am certain that I disagree with them, that I am completely in awe of the skill of any writer who can make me half-agree with a position I do not, in fact, agree with. I’d say I tremble before the brillianc G.K. Chesterton is such an amusing and clever writer that I do believe he could convince me of almost anything. Why, he nearly convinced me that women should never have bothered to obtain the right to vote. I am such an obstinate person, and so inclined to disagree with arguments even before I am certain that I disagree with them, that I am completely in awe of the skill of any writer who can make me half-agree with a position I do not, in fact, agree with. I’d say I tremble before the brilliance of Chesterton, but he’s far too jovial and entertaining for anyone to ever tremble before him.

I particularly enjoyed what he had to say about modern education, and I was also entertained by his musings on the domestic sphere and the differences between men and women, as rife with stereotypes as they may have been. (Alas, stereotypes arise for a reason, and, despite what it is politically popular to say, that reason is seldom ignorance, but more often experience.)

Not long ago, I read Dr. Laura’s In Praise of Stay-at-home Moms, because I wanted to feel good about my current calling in life. I didn’t like the book because I wasn’t so much interested in watching working moms get torn down as I was interested in watching stay-at-home moms get built up. Fortunately, this one short selection from Chesterton did me more good than that entire book:

“When people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home…But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless, and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors, and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheet cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute, I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.”

I don’t even really know what this book is about. It seems to be all over the map. It’s about men, women, family, marriage, the home, politics, the right to vote, Calvinism, Mr. Shaw, specialism, commerce, Catholicism, tradition, the future, the past, modern education, socialism…oh, I remember what it’s about. “What’s Wrong with the World.”

The thing about Chesterton is that his insights seem surprisingly contemporary. Although he wrote in the early 1900’s, he might as well have been writing today. His barbs are as poignant for our generation as they were for his.
...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Jul 29, 2010 Francis S. Poesy rated it it was amazing

I listened to the Librivox version of this book driving to and from work over the course of a week or so. While the content is everything the other high-raters say it is, the quality of the recordings were mixed with a couple chapters being almost unintelligible because of the accents of the reader. I guess I can't complain too much since the price was right. I'll probably eventually get the hardcopy and re-read this but as a way to get some more Chesterton under my belt during my commute it was ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2014 K.D. Absolutely rated it liked it

Recommended to K.D. by: Lerma of Totus Bookstore

Shelves: religion, essays, collection, totus-bookstore

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

Be as holy as you can be but you can never really tread the same footsteps of Christ. So, this quote from the book is the best for me. If we can all be Christ-like on each day of our lives, it will be utopia. All Christians know that to be a follower of Christ is to know Him and live life according to His plans for each of us. However, we always find ways to sin and so we go astray. We try t “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

Be as holy as you can be but you can never really tread the same footsteps of Christ. So, this quote from the book is the best for me. If we can all be Christ-like on each day of our lives, it will be utopia. All Christians know that to be a follower of Christ is to know Him and live life according to His plans for each of us. However, we always find ways to sin and so we go astray. We try to stay on the right path, only to find ourselves sinning again. It goes on and on until we die. Have we tried? Yes based on our own definition. Our definition based on what the Holy Book and/or our Catholic Tradition say. Simply put, our conscience. It's just that the times are changing and when we go back to the tradition that we used to interpret the Holy Bible, we find that somethings should be changed as they don't seem to apply to the current situations that we find ourselves in.

My first time to read a book of Catholic essays by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936). A former friend introduced me to his works. I even gifted him two copies of his books. I am not sure if he read those already. Since he is not lending me those books, I bought myself copies of them and this one. I found reading this a bit archaic and there are phrases and words that probably pertain to the time in England when he wrote these essays. So, although the messages can still be applicable to our current times, I found some of his points either wordy, difficult to understand. Overall, though, even if it took me a longer time to finish this book compared to the time I read his The Man Who Was Thursday (4 stars), I thought I grew up more reading this book because of Chesterton's stark reminders of what's wrong with this world that we are living in.

My favorite part is the Homelessness of Man where Chesterton says that we, rich and poor alike, can only be free when we are at home. Even rich people when they are in a posh or expensive hotel cannot do anything they want. When they are at home, however, they can replant the shrubs and flowering plants in the garden, they can walk in tiptoe in their sala or stand upside down in their bedroom. Nobody would care. I also liked that part when he said that sins stem from money. When you have a lot of money, you buy alcohol or go to casino or to entertainment houses. You pay for sex. You spend money to escape boredom and you sin.

104 years have passed since this book was published and that question and those answers are still relevant.

You can buy your copy of this book from:

Totus Bookstore
2nd Flr. Missouri Square Bldg. Connecticut cor. Missouri Sts., Greenhills, San Juan City

Telephone no: 723-43-26

Email Address: info@totusbookstore.com ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 04, 2010 Mortimus Clay rated it it was amazing

Marvelous -- right up there with Christopher Lasch's, Haven in a Heartless World and Huxley's, Brave New World. Obviously very different in many repects from those writers. His insight into the structural connections between captialism and socialism (the Yin and Yang of modernity) is spot on. Now if we could only get the message out to the mindless minions on Left and Right. We need a complete overhaul -- a return to the Household as the intergrating, universal institution -- fundamentally a pol ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 23, 2010 Noël DeVries rated it liked it

The wife is like the fire, or to put things in their proper proportion, the fire is like the wife. Like the fire, the woman is expected to cook: not to excel in cooking, but to cook; to cook better than her husband who is earning the coke by lecturing on botany or breaking stones. Like the fire, the woman is expected to tell tales to the children, not original and artistic tales, but tales—better tales than would probably be told by a first-class cook. Like the fire, the woman is expected to ill The wife is like the fire, or to put things in their proper proportion, the fire is like the wife. Like the fire, the woman is expected to cook: not to excel in cooking, but to cook; to cook better than her husband who is earning the coke by lecturing on botany or breaking stones. Like the fire, the woman is expected to tell tales to the children, not original and artistic tales, but tales—better tales than would probably be told by a first-class cook. Like the fire, the woman is expected to illuminate and ventilate, not by the most startling revelations or the wildest winds of thought, but better than a man can do it after breaking stones or lecturing. But she cannot be expected to endure anything like this universal duty if she is also to endure the direct cruelty of competitive or bureaucratic toil. Woman must be a cook, but not a competitive cook; a school mistress, but not a competitive schoolmistress; a house-decorator but not a competitive house-decorator; a dressmaker, but not a competitive dressmaker. She should have not one trade but twenty hobbies; she, unlike the man, may develop all her second bests. This is what has been really aimed at from the first in what is called the seclusion, or even the oppression, of women. Women were not kept at home in order to keep them narrow; on the contrary, they were kept at home in order to keep them broad. The world outside the home was one mass of narrowness, a maze of cramped paths, a madhouse of monomaniacs. It was only by partly limiting and protecting the woman that she was enabled to play at five or six professions and so come almost as near to God as the child when he plays at a hundred trades.

...the world must keep one great amateur, lest we all become artists and perish. Somebody must renounce all specialist conquests, that she may conquer all the conquerors. That she may be a queen of life, she must not be a private soldier in it.

It seems really to be supposed that a Trimmer means a cowardly person who always goes over to the stronger side. It really means a highly chivalrous person who always goes over to the weaker side; like one who trims a boat by sitting where there are few people seated. Woman is a trimmer; and it is a generous, dangerous and romantic trade.

When people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home…But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless, and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors, and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheet cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute, I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.

Modern education means handing down the customs of the minority, and rooting out the customs of the majority.

...the prime truth of woman, the universal mother: that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

In resisting this horrible theory of the Soul of the Hive, we of Christendom stand not for ourselves, but for all humanity; for the essential and distinctive human idea that one good and happy man is an end in himself, that a soul is worth saving.

"Do you want to keep the family at all?" [Then] he must be prepared for the natural restraints, distinctions and divisions of labor in the family. He must brace himself up to bear the idea of the woman having a preference for the private house and a man for the public house. He must manage to endure somehow the idea of a woman being womanly, which does not mean soft and yielding, but handy, thrifty, rather hard, and very humorous. He must confront without a quiver the notion of a child who shall be childish, that is, full of energy, but without an idea of independence; fundamentally as eager for authority as for information and butter-scotch. If a man, a woman and a child live together any more in free and sovereign households, these ancient relations will recur; and [he] must put up with it. He can only avoid it by destroying the family, driving both sexes into sexless hives and hordes, and bringing up all children as the children of the state—like Oliver Twist. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 17, 2009 Brett rated it really liked it

Again, never disappointed. He has been called "The Apostle of Common Sense" and "The Prince of Paradox" - and rightfully so. What may be maddening for some is that Chesterton does not give a straightforward argument from science or reason. His style is the argument from fairy tales. He draws on things that ring true and smell right.

In this book, he takes on the problems with liberalism and conservatism. Essentially, he argues the problem with both of them is that they lack an "ideal." Without a ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2013 Jay Miklovic rated it it was amazing

I don't know if I have read anyone who writes so clearly and winsomely as Chesterton. In this book the subject matter itself is a bit of a drag, but Chesterton makes it all worth reading. I swear he could write about wall paneling and leave you believing that all of society hinges upon its importance.

In this book Chesterton takes aim at both conservative and socialistic ideas that were driving forces in England at his time, and instead of comparing them, he simply lumps them together. Political ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2016 Carol Apple rated it it was amazing

This is actually my second reading of What's Wrong With the World?. If a book is worth reading once it's worth reading at least twice. After two years or ten years you are a different person who has hopefully learned a thing or two, so you necessarily see new things in the book on your second reading.

In reading What's Wrong I realized I pretty much still agree with GKC's version of the Catholic point of view. But since my last reading I've learned some new things about Church history and I thin ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Bryana Johnson rated it really liked it

In his title, Chesterton asks a probing and universal question that has been associated with his literary image ever since. It is important to note that, rather uncharacteristically, he seeks to answer this question without reference to particulars of dogma or doctrine. He explains in another place why he chooses to do so. In fact, this essay titled What’s Right With The World should be treated as an introduction to the text of the book, as apart from it a reader may not be able to understand th In his title, Chesterton asks a probing and universal question that has been associated with his literary image ever since. It is important to note that, rather uncharacteristically, he seeks to answer this question without reference to particulars of dogma or doctrine. He explains in another place why he chooses to do so. In fact, this essay titled What’s Right With The World should be treated as an introduction to the text of the book, as apart from it a reader may not be able to understand the full import and implication of the longer work.

Here is a portion of that explanation:

"What is wrong with the world is the devil, and what is right with it is God; the human race will travel for a few more million years in all sorts of muddle and reform, and when it perishes of the last cold or heat it will still be within the limits of that very simple definition. But in an age that has confused itself with such phrases as ‘optimist’ and ‘pessimist’, it is necessary to distinguish along more delicate lines."

These “more delicate lines” make up the structure and backbone of the book, What’s Wrong With The World. They are summarized at the beginning of the book as follows

"It is the whole definition and dignity of man that in social matters we must actually find the cure before we find the disease… Exactly the whole difficulty in our public problems is that some men are aiming at cures which other men would regard as worse maladies; are offering ultimate conditions as states of health which others would uncompromisingly call states of disease."

In other words, what is wrong with the world is not only that no one can agree on what would set it right, but that everyone has a conflicting view of what right even looks like. Building on this intriguing premise, Chesterton then presents a fascinating collection of related essays exploring social issues from feminism to education to class warfare to divorce to home ownership.

While I found just about every one of these little essays enjoyable, some of the ones I especially appreciated were those dealing with feminism – what Chesterton calls, “the mistake about women.” Although his views would be considered radical and archaic by most Westerners today, Chesterton is no chauvinist. On the contrary, his gentle arguments against the movement for women’s suffrage and the push for women to join the workforce are based entirely on his very exalted opinion of the female and of her grand purpose in the scheme of things. In fact, when Chesterton gets done talking about feminism, everybody ought to want to be a girl! Even if you disagree with him, you are forced to respect his kindly and deferential manner of stating his case.

Another cause he champions valiantly and well is that of “wild domesticity” – the importance of home ownership and children and responsibility and autonomy to men and women. A man who owns a home is a free man during at least some part of his day, Chesterton asserts. He has a kingdom to rule over and the probability of adventures and the right to paint his front door green with purple spots if he wants to.

Chesterton is characteristically sweeping in his statements. When a good idea hits him, he doesn’t pause to deliberate over the details, but lays out his theory in whole, and in a grand and masterly fashion. Whether or not he is always right is, of course, up to the reader to determine. However, it can be safely said that he often is not satisfactorily exhaustive in his explanations of stunning generalizations.

Mainly for this reason, I give What’s Wrong With The World 4 out of 5 stars. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 26, 2010 Erunion rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, 20th-century, essays, own

Chesterton is Quite Wrong here, but he is quite wrong in an interesting way. Most of his problems revolve around his conclusions concerning women, but the bases for his conclusions are quite interesting in themselves.

He believes that women are naturally generalists, whereas men are specialists. A specialist is one who must perform a trade, whereas a generalist is one who should rule the home. To ask a woman to perform a trade is something that is inherently unjust and would destroy society as a Chesterton is Quite Wrong here, but he is quite wrong in an interesting way. Most of his problems revolve around his conclusions concerning women, but the bases for his conclusions are quite interesting in themselves.

He believes that women are naturally generalists, whereas men are specialists. A specialist is one who must perform a trade, whereas a generalist is one who should rule the home. To ask a woman to perform a trade is something that is inherently unjust and would destroy society as a whole. Chesterton of course uses many wonderful metaphors to illustrate what a universalist is.

I'm not sure his analysis holds out in real life, however. I have met far too many men who function better as univeraslists and women who were, interestingly, definitely specializing in one thing. I rarely meet, for instance, a man who is supremely good in accounting alone, or a lady who can engage moderately well in all of the prerequisites in keeping a home. It would seem that this specialist/universalist distinction is borne more from upbringing than natural proclivities.

But his reasons for asserting this are interesting. He begins the book with emphasizing that each person needs a home - a place to call their own, and a place they shoot out from. A home is the only true place in the world where anarchy can reign. If one lives a riotous lifestyle of wandering from bar to bar and hotel to hotel, one must certainly abide by certain rules. One must drink in a certain way, observe certain hours, and even obey traffic laws. Whereas, at home, one my certainly elect to put the carpet on the ceiling and the drapes on the floor.

Thus, the home is the universal good for the person, and all other things, the state, the working life, and even voting rights, are merely attenuations that exist for the good of the home. They are, as we would say nowadays, necessary evils.

Chesterton, on this basis, asserts that thrusting women into such necessary evils makes no sense. But his conception of the home - that is the only place in the world where anarchy(in the sense of freedom) may dwell - is quite interesting.

It is also anti socialist - it implies property rights. But it is also anti corporation; Chesterton strongly implies that large plots of land ought be broken up and given to individuals.

And that latter point is what makes Chesterton so interesting. He is conservative, but not conservative enough for conservatives. And liberal too. But not liberal enough for liberals. The only real question is if Chesterton is moderate or really a thinker caught out of time. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2011 Michael rated it liked it

The Times of London once invited a number of well-known authors to write essays on the theme “What’s Wrong With the World?” G.K. Chesterton wrote his reply in the form of a letter. It read “Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton.” It is a letter that showcases his genius; humble, honest, humorous, with a profound understanding of the seriousness and far-reaching effects of individual sin. Apparently, though, Chesterton was not satisfied with just that letter, for he went on to write a The Times of London once invited a number of well-known authors to write essays on the theme “What’s Wrong With the World?” G.K. Chesterton wrote his reply in the form of a letter. It read “Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton.” It is a letter that showcases his genius; humble, honest, humorous, with a profound understanding of the seriousness and far-reaching effects of individual sin. Apparently, though, Chesterton was not satisfied with just that letter, for he went on to write a book dedicated to the topic of what is wrong with the world.

His answer to that question is not immediately clear. It unfolds slowly, and even obliquely because his answer, by itself, makes no sense. Chesterton argues, in short, that what is wrong with the world is that the world is always trying to solve the most basic problems by treating only the symptoms. In other words, he says, we are always starting at the wrong end. The most startling example he cites in support of his argument is a movement among the intelligentsia of his time to eradicate an infestation of lice among the poor by shaving the heads of the children. Yes, Chesterton acknowledges, that would alleviate the symptom of the lice, but it does nothing to address the ultimate cause: that people are living in conditions of abject poverty that are conducive to the spread of lice. Address the issue of poverty and the symptom of lice will take care of itself.

Chesterton illustrates his argument by examining the mistakes society makes about men, women, children and their proper place in the world and in relationship with each other. He repeatedly shows how those in power nearly always mistake a symptom for the problem, and frequently make things worse when they start “helping”. His observations are profound and incisive, in the most literal sense of the word. They cut into the reader who, if honest, sees his or her own folly reflected back from the pages.

Overall, this is a good book and one worth reading. I must admit, however, that some parts seem dated. Chesterton addresses issues that are specific to his time and place in history. Some of the evils he cites are no longer going concerns. Having said that, the general principles remain relevant, and we ignore him at the risk of committing what he referred to as “chronological snobbery.” There is much to be learned from Mr. Chesterton, and we would all do well to allow him to educate us. The sooner, the better.

...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2013 Ann rated it really liked it

Love GK Chesterton's wit and clarity of thought. In this collection of essays, I love PART III "Feminism, or the Mistake About Woman". I especially love his comments on the importance of "motherhood" ... one such example is the following:
" ... children ... require to be taught not so much anything as everything. Babies need not to be taught a trade, but to be introduced to a world. To put the matter shortly, woman is generally shut up in a house with a human being at the time when he asks all t ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 26, 2007 Jason rated it liked it

Recommends it for: serious Chesterton fans

Shelves: churchy-stuff

Chesterton's wit is in top form, but the content was somewhat disappointing. I tend to agree with Chesterton's overall worldview, so I was excited to get his take on family values and gender roles. Good points here and there, but much of it is somewhat dated -- even for the traditionalist. Much of the discussion is concerned with woman's suffrage, which has long since been settled.

Chesterton does make an interesting distinction between the domestic realm and the professional realm, classifying h ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2011 Brian rated it it was amazing

Rather than a collection of various essays, What's Wrong with the World is an attempt to answer that question. It introduces GKCs stand-ins for Big Government and Big Business, Hudge and Gudge. As with many of his books, it's important to remember that is was written in the early to mid 1900s in a British culture, therefore some things will sound a little strange to contemporary American ears. But this a brilliant and challenging look at where we got off track on education, government and family ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 17, 2009 Maggie rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

reading chesterton is always an abrupt awakening into clear thinking (and away from uber-postmodern relativism). whereas some of his thoughts are out of date, such as 1) his reflections on the validity of educating women 2) his subtle class snobbery and 3) his hidden racism, the worst we can truly say is that he was not mean-spirited so much as a man of his times and not of ours. thank goodness society (by and large) has moved on from those narrow ways of "seeing" gender, class, and racial/natio ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 19, 2012 Stephen Brooke rated it really liked it

Shelves: essays

Chesterton may occasionally be wrong about what’s wrong, but he is more frequently on target. And one thing’s for certain — his Misters Hudge and Gudge are still at it today.

This book of related essays may not act as the best introduction to his ideas and arguments, being, of necessity, fairly brief. The fact that a century separates us from the age in which they were written does not help. Some of the prejudices of his time (particularly as they apply to gender) do make their appearances.

Althou ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 21, 2013 Phil Chapman rated it liked it

You have to love the part about chain makers in this book as well as the way it ends. Chesterton really is smart although he constantly brings himself to talk on a common level. I think Chesterton said that the first job of an orator is to tell his audience that he is a not a good speaker whereas the first job of every other artist is to try to prove to his audience that he is. The same goes for Chesterton. He is often trying to convince the reader that he is not much more talented or knowledgea ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2016 Valerie Kyriosity rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I didn't understand everything in this (e.g., the ins and outs of British public schools), and there were points where I disagreed (e.g., any time his bigotry against Calvinism raised its silly head), but the book is just so jollily...well...Chestertonian that I couldn't help but enjoy it very much. As always, if I'd read it on paper, I'd have notes and underlinings to support a more substantive review, but since I did it via audio, I have instead a (forgive my immodesty) very pretty afghan crea ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 24, 2008 Andrew rated it really liked it

Oh, how I love Chesterton! When I read him as a 21st century American I can't help but find him a bit stoggy and conservative. But, deeper than his superficial claims is a real gem of true genius. Yes, he is conservative in a sense, in the way that we can mock him for being shocked that women would wear pants. Yet, many of his criticisms of what was becoming modern in his day are now appearing as very real modern disasters. Chesterton, I don't think it's fair to call him conservative, he goes be ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 01, 2011 Alex Stroshine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: christian-thought-and-culture, g-k-chesterton

This is my favourite G.K. Chesterton book (of the three that I've had the pleasure of reading). Chesterton perceptively diagnosed the ills in society, ills that remain to this day. I do not agree with all that Chesterton writes in "What's Wrong With The World", but I can appreciate his arguments. As an aspiring sociologist, I found the book particularly intriguing. I credit Chesterton with making his case not using excessive theology or religious regulations (as these might distract the unbeliev ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Bob rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: christianity-and-culture

I don't think this is the best of Chesterton. On the one hand I deeply appreciated his basic thesis that many of our efforts at social engineering are solutions in search of (or ignorant of) the problem. He argues that we should fit our solutions to the real nature of people rather than making people fit our solutions. On the other hand, I find Chesterton very much a creature of his time in his view of women and his effort to deny them suffrage or access to the workplace because this would dimin ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 25, 2010 Seth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A fascinating critique of not just what is wrong, but also with the ways proposed to right the wrong.
Chesterton's summary of his book: to show that progress ought to be based on principle, while our modern progress is mostly based on precedent.

In seeking progress, we look forward with enthusiasm because we are afraid to look back. The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been tried and found difficult; and left untried.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2011 Brittany Petruzzi rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, theology, philosophy

Chesterton hits the nail on the head with this one, and, as is typical, does it in style. It's also, perhaps quite accidentally, one of the best treatments of the treason of feminism that I've ever had the privilege to come across.

On top of all that, he calls Martin Luther a pagan. What's more, the pagan who was instrumental in the heresies of John Calvin. And that's just funny.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Sandra rated it really liked it

This was an amazing book, I have to admit that it was ver hard at the beginning to read Chesterton's view on women's vote, but the book is totally worth reading and his ideas were even radical. The philosophy behind domesticity is very well explained, as well as the roles of men and women in society and the world. Another one of Chesterton's great works.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 04, 2008 Becky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Though parts were beyond me (he made a lot of references to people, places, and problems very specific to his location and time), I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I particularly loved his thoughts on women. A very interesting read, well worth your time!

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Образцы договоров на оказание разгрузочных услуг	1	1	Sep 04, 2017 06:07PM

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Nonfiction

52 users

Philosophy

35 users

Writing > Essays

19 users

Religion

19 users

Christian

17 users

Religion > Theology

15 users

See top shelves…

About G.K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was born in London, educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, fi ...more

More about G.K. Chesterton...

Books by G.K. Chesterton

The Innocence of Father Brown (Father Brown, #1)

More…

Share This Book

+ Share on your website

Trivia About What's Wrong with...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from What's Wrong with...

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” — 1091 likes

“Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.” — 86 likes

More quotes…

title link	preview: What's Wrong with the World
avg rating	preview: What's Wrong with the World Goodreads rating: 4.05 (1283 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184565.What_s_Wrong_with_the_World?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328864028l/184565.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184565.What_s_Wrong_with_the_World?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton[/url]

See a Problem?

Preview — What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton

What's Wrong with the World

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

About G.K. Chesterton

Books by G.K. Chesterton

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About What's Wrong with...

Quotes from What's Wrong with...