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Title: Poetry in Prose
Review: Rather than summarise the plot of this book, I will try to convey the flavor and appeal of it. "The Napoleon of Notting Hill" is a whimsical and humorous tale, and yet not frivolous. Chesterton's wit is delightful, but repeatedly and unexpectedly you will find a joke that catches you with humor at first and then drives home the point, artfully and naturally. Chesterton asserts through his characters that commonplace things are noble, but far from merely stating this, he makes you _feel_ it. "Napoleon" is a prose work, but written with such grace and art as to carry poetic power. The dialogue of the President of Nicarague especially is capital stuff. An example: "You have good authority," answered the Nicaraguan. "Many clever men like you have trusted to civilisation. Many clever Babylonians, many clever Egyptians, many clever men at the end of Rome. Can you tell me, in a world that is flagrant with the failures of civilisation, what there is particularly immortal about yours?"
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