Whether you're new to Chesterton or have read everything else he has written, Manalive cannot be recommended highly enough. It is the best of his more serious allegorical novels--and, unlike some of them, easily understood. Chesterton was always concerned with the problems facing the modern man, and his work is still current today. The increasing societal pressures facing both the Christian and the non-Christian alike were forcing people to view the world with a serious and somber tone, always looking to their survival in a world where absolutes were lacking and authority was no longer looked to for answers. In this dismal worldview it is all too easy for man to get so caught up in the day-to-day struggles that he forgets that he is alive, that he is a living breathing person with a will of his own and not merely an automaton of a crushing society. He is alive, and that is a great thing While the story is rather strait forward and not nearly as interesting in its own light as some of Chesterton's other novels, this book is so full of life that the reader cannot help but want to jump up and down at times at the reemergence of joy in the lives of the characters. While the "irresponsible" lifestyle portrayed in the book should not be taken as a realistic alternative to the monotony of life that has clutched so many, the exposure of stodginess for what it really is should be a warning to anyone who has ever found themselves snearing at the strange behaviors of children or getting too caught up in materialistic culture. While not as overtly religious as some of Chesterton's other books, Manalive is perhaps most applicable to those people who are too religious, regardless of philosophy. Those who have such a low opinion of the world and of man that they have trouble finding the good will appreciate this book. One of Chesterton's most endearing and uplifting classics, a must read for anyone who feels only too strongly the immense weight of the world on their shoulders, and a good reminder of the necessity of having some fun for everyone else.