LibriVox recording of The Ball and the Cross, by G. K. Chesterton. Read by Matthew Heckel and Tricia G.

The Ball and the Cross is G. K. Chesterton's third novel. In the introduction Martin Gardner notes that it is a "mixture of fantasy, farce and theology." Gardner continues: "Evan MacIan is a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed Scottish Highlander and a devout Roman Catholic.... James Turnbull is a short, red-haired, gray-eyed Scottish Lowlander and a devout but naive atheist.... The two meet when MacIan smashes the window of the street office where Turnbull publishes an atheist journal. This act of rage occurs when MacIan sees posted on the shop's window a sheet that blasphemes the Virgin Mary, presumably implying she was an adulteress who gave birth to an illegitimate Jesus. When MacIan challenges Turnbull to a duel to the death, Turnbull is overjoyed. For twenty years no one had paid the slightest attention to his Bible bashing. Now at last someone is taking him seriously! Most of the rest of the story is a series of comic events in which the two enemies wander about seeking a spot for their duel." MacIan and Turnbull become friends as they protect each other from interference from the modern world, which has trivialized their views over life's most important question (the existence of God) and outlawed their honorable duel. The irony is heightened when they both fall in love with ladies who happen to hold to their opponent's deepest convictions. Professor Lucifer and a Bulgarian monk also play important roles in this perennially relevant story. (Summary by Matthew Heckel)

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Artist/Composer: G. K. Chesterton
Date: 2010-01-28
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; audiobook; fiction; fantasy; religion; atheism; theology; Catholicism; duel; insanity

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

1    01 - A Discussion Somewhat in the Air            40:16
2    02 - The Religion of the Stipendiary Magistrate  30:40
3    03 - Some Old Curiosities                        26:21
4    04 - A Discussion at Dawn                        28:26
5    05 - The Peacemaker                              14:32
6    06 - The Other Philosopher                       28:10
7    07 - The Village of Grassley-in-the-Hole         20:21
8    08 - An Interlude of Argument                    15:33
9    09 - The Strange Lady                            33:34
10   10 - The Swords Rejoined                         38:14
11   11 - A Scandal in the Village                    31:31
12   12 - The Desert Island                           18:18