Magic: A Fantastic Comedy In a Prelude and Three Acts

This is a delightful read. The end is a bit abrupt -- its only weakness -- but the overall play includes some of Chesterton's funniest lines (the whole exchange about Militant Vegetarians had me laughing out loud in the middle of my girlfriend's church) and some excellent observations on human nature. Particular favorites:"The Duke is the kindest of men, and always trying to please everybody. He generally finishes by pleasing nobody.""Killed a policeman? How Vegetarian! Well, I suppose it was, s [...]

I suspect G.K. Chesterton of being the most versatile writer ever to walk the planet. There doesn't seem to have been any literary genre or format he wasn't capable of mastering. MAGIC is an excellent philosophical play about a conjuror whose tricks throw an entire household into turmoil. Chesterton poses this fundamental question: Who is the bigger zealot? Someone who believes in miracles, or someone who goes to whatever lengths necessary not to?

A sharp and vibrant work.

A play -- unusually for him, especially since it's not just a play format, but to be acted.It's at the home of this marvelous Duke. A doctor came to consult, and to ask the Duke to subscribe to his campaign against the proposed model public house. A clergyman, new to town, came to asked him to subscribe to his campaign for it. Result? Smith. [Turning eagerly to the Doctor.] But this is rather splendid. The Duke's given £50 to the new public-house. Hastings. The Duke is very liberal. [Collects p [...]

Chesterton may call his play a comedy, but the climax is brilliantly suspenseful, and almost downright chilling. All the elements of a good story are found here; Chesterton masterfully balances humor with solemnity, romance with despair, and questions with answers. This play is full of mystery, and becomes only more enthralling as you read on.

If you’ve read a lot of Chesterton then you’ve read this story before, a story set in the English countryside where the characters with modern sensibilities are too modern for their own good, and of course there’s a dash of romance. A theme liberally sprinkled throughout Chesterton’s work is encapsulated in a monologue by Reverend Smith; “Does it never strike you that doubt can be a madness, as well be faith? That asking questions may be a disease, as well as proclaiming doctrines? You [...]

More like a mediocre comedy with a few chuckle chuckle moments. I kinda felt like a was listening to a high school student performance.

G.K. Chesterton is my favorite writer, and generally more colorful, humorous, and charitable compared to his contemporaries. However, the man who did intellectual battle with George Bernard Shaw in books and public debates, loses this one when it comes to drama. Shaw couldn't write prose either, but that's another story.Simply put, Chesterton was not a playwright. He was an essayist, novelist, and writer of poetry, along with some very clever mysteries. The man had the ability to create such exc [...]

Supposedly George Bernard Shaw, who was not only a great playwright but also a close friend of Chesterton’s, pestered Chesterton for years to write a play, and Magic was the eventual result. It’s a short play dealing with doubt, faith, skepticism, opposing ideologies, one’s profession, and, of course, magic. The question I found myself asking at the end was, which character am I? Am I the arrogant American who is convinced all spirituality is bunk, the clergyman who is facing his own doubt [...]

I found this work neither magical, nor comical. It is strange, this is the first G.K. Chesterton that I have really not enjoyed. A conjurer enters the house of an appeasing duke, with a sceptical son and a gullible daughter. Argues with the son and performs a feat of magic, which unhinges the son. The others beg the conjurer to admit how he did the trick. In the end, the conjurer admits that he was into spiritualism and the spirits of the dead that he was contacting, turned out to be demons from [...]

One of Chesterton's better works, short, fun, but loaded with some of Chesterton's favorite (and most successful) points. His portraits of different "types" of people strike true, undoubtedly reminding the reader of someone he/she knows for each. I can imagine Chesterton writing this as a skit he could put on with a few friends at one of their houses; it is not William Shakespeare, nor is it intended to be. Chesterton's points remain relevant today, though those he criticizes in the work undoubt [...]

A somewhat dotty old duke has recently gained a pair of young adult, Irish wards, brother and sister: the sister aspires to be a true mystic Celt, and the brother is a confirmed atheist and fanatical debunker. The first time that all three meet at the Duke's home, a magician (or is he merely an illusionist?) appears and works a minor but inexplicable miracle, setting off a short-lived but lively kafuffle.The plays is full of the signature Chestertonian paradox, lively philosophical banter, and s [...]

I'm not really sure what to say about this one. It starts off with a pastor and a doctor visiting a duke. The duke, who is ridiculous and can't even carry a normal conversation without wandering off into something absurd, is waiting for his nephew to come visit. His nephew is an atheist, his niece who lives with him is a firm believer that magic exists. The summary of the rest of the play is that magic does exist and can be potentially dangerous, especially if it's in relation to devils. Which o [...]

A 'fantastic comedy' indeed: the fantasy inheres in pretending it's not fantastic, and the comedy ends up being closer to Dante than to Wodehouse. You can read this play in two hours if you like, and it will leave you both scratching your head and itching to read more Chesterton. It's a good introduction to the man, if you can get your hands on a copy, and it might be a great introduction to Lewis's That Hideous Strength and, ah, the type of discussions about Harry Potter that you might have wit [...]

As a response to a dare from George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton wrote this three act play in 1913. Of course this play never achieved anywhere near the popularity of Shaw's plays. It is just a bit silly, without a serious plot or an engaging story, and the characters are a bit shallow. This is the story of a conjurer who discusses his trade with several other characters. While the play lacks direction or purpose, many of the quotes in this play are pure Chesterton. For that reason, this play is wor [...]

Magic is a short, funny three-act play about a conjurer causing a stir in the house of a Duke. His tricks cause people to want to know how he does his fantastic tricks, but maybe the only explanation is magic.I read (on , I think) that Magic was Ingmar Bergman's favorite play. After reading it, I have no idea why, but it would make an interesting short:gutenberg/files/19094/

I find plays a little bit more challenging to read, but this story is just so neat and enjoyable. The scene notes usually distract from the dialog in most books, yet in this one they just put you right there on stage with the actors. This is such a quick one sitting read that I will add it to the list of books I will read over and over.

Somehow the arguments and paradoxes which Chesterton always deployed so deftly feel more like cheating presented plainly in a play, rather than couched in prose as a story or an essay. But this still summons quite a chill even on the page (well, screen), and I imagine staged well that would be doubly true.

Wow! great dialogue! I am sure this is going to be one of those plays I will read again and again in future ;)Although I began it for the only reason that Bergman's script "The Magician" was "distantly" inspired by this play and Bergman calls this one of his favorites, both are classics in their own ways!

Studded with great dialogue of somewhat amusing arguments with regards to all sorts of confusing topics but which basically pertains to belief and disbelief, of the mundane and the supernatural, between reality and illusion. A nice, quick Chestertonian read.

Magic comes from many sources--imagination, conjurers tricks, love, spirits. Perhaps magic is more real than we realize.

Excellent play!

Delightful, hilarious, and insightful.

A fantastic (in both senses of the word) three-act play on the nature of doubt and belief. As usual, Chesterton's keen insight and rapier wit are on full display. Definitely a repeat read.

Remarkable as always. When you read GKC, you get the sad feeling that you'll never be as smart as he is, but you also grow to love him like an old friend.

Found this while looking for some Chesterton I'd not read.

Dated but pleasantly so- a play with witty banter and a good look at the darker side of the magic we all struggle to believe in.

I really liked this - I'd love to perform it someday.

A delightful, clever, and thoughtful play. Chesterton's work here feels like a cerebrally Christian equivalent of Oscar Wilde's plays.