Description
The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly unchanged London in 1984.
Although the novel is set in the future, it is, in effect, set in an alternative reality of Chesterton's own period, with no advances in technology or changes in the class system or attitudes. It postulates an impersonal government, not described in any detail, but apparently content to operate through a figurehead king, randomly chosen.
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.
Michael Collins, who led the fight for Irish independence from British Rule, is known to have admired the book. There has been speculation that the setting of the book prompted the date chosen for the setting of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The novel is also quoted at the start of Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere.
Both the novel and Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday are referenced in the 2000 video game Deus Ex.
Author: Gilbert K. Chesterton
Publisher: Indoeuropeanpublishing.com
Published: 07/26/2018
Pages: 162
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9781604449617
ISBN10: 1604449616
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | General