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A review by sleeping_while_awake
Erewhon by Samuel Butler
2.0
Erewhon reminded me of an H.G. Wells story. Compared to The Way of All Flesh by Butler, written about 30 years later, this novel seems rather amateurish.
Erehwon is an undiscovered area in an ambiguous country. The people living there aren't too far behind modern society, but they have a lot of strange customs. The main character happens upon this land by while exploring, and spends time living there and observing.
It's apparent that this type of story was very popular during this time period, in which a white Englishman makes a journey to an undiscovered land and reports about all the strange customs. Luckily, the natives aren't half-naked hunter-gatherers so the modern reader won't need to grimace at the assumptions about race that often plague these types of novels.
There is a non-white sidekick that the main character is just a straight up prude, fancy-pants to. Chowbok was probably rolling his eyes over the pretentiousness of the guy. Of course Chowbok is a good-for-nothing, lying drunk that isn't Christian. Of course.
There isn't a strong plot, nor any strong characters. Butler states in the introduction he's re-written the book, and it's clear what where the original parts and what were the rewrites. The chapters regarding Erewhonian philosophy and religion were more intriguing, and were more reflective of Butler's abilities.
I never realized that the Butlerian Jihad in Dune came out of this book. There's about two chapters in which Butler describes the Erewhonian's fear of machines being sentient, and therefore have stopped scientific progress in that regard. Certainly, Erewhon doesn't make the leap that sentient machines are going to take over the universe in a space opera, but the ideas are the same.
I thought Butler was just a random name, not a reference to Samuel Butler. I guess Butlerian Jihad is a bit easier to say and write than Erewhonian Jihad. In other literature references, there's a planet named Erewhon in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.
There's a lot of satire in this book. The Erewhonians treat sickness as criminal, and criminal actions as sickness. Rather messed up, but in a way it's not entirely bad, considering that maybe some support and emotional rehabilitation for the criminal minded can be helpful.
Vegetarism and veganism are explored - animals in this land become suicidal if they're not eaten, which I found rather amusing. Not that animals are dying, I myself am a vegetarian, but that the animals are just lost without people eating them.
Another amusing part is the thought that dead spirits haunt Erewhonians, and make women pregnant (without their consent) to allow the spirits to live again. Once the infant is born, the friends and family ridicule it for its wanton depravity, and draw up a contract that leaves the child completely liable for its actions:
Plenty of things in this book are humorous and take a nice jab at Victorian society. However, I was disappointed by Erewhon because Butler is a lot more talented than this effort. Granted, there are interesting, satirical ideas here, but this is his first book, and it shows.
If you want to read Butler, read The Way of All Flesh, and then come back for this later. Unless you're looking for something similar to H.G. Wells, then this is a good selection
Erehwon is an undiscovered area in an ambiguous country. The people living there aren't too far behind modern society, but they have a lot of strange customs. The main character happens upon this land by while exploring, and spends time living there and observing.
It's apparent that this type of story was very popular during this time period, in which a white Englishman makes a journey to an undiscovered land and reports about all the strange customs. Luckily, the natives aren't half-naked hunter-gatherers so the modern reader won't need to grimace at the assumptions about race that often plague these types of novels.
There is a non-white sidekick that the main character is just a straight up prude, fancy-pants to. Chowbok was probably rolling his eyes over the pretentiousness of the guy. Of course Chowbok is a good-for-nothing, lying drunk that isn't Christian. Of course.
There isn't a strong plot, nor any strong characters. Butler states in the introduction he's re-written the book, and it's clear what where the original parts and what were the rewrites. The chapters regarding Erewhonian philosophy and religion were more intriguing, and were more reflective of Butler's abilities.
I never realized that the Butlerian Jihad in Dune came out of this book. There's about two chapters in which Butler describes the Erewhonian's fear of machines being sentient, and therefore have stopped scientific progress in that regard. Certainly, Erewhon doesn't make the leap that sentient machines are going to take over the universe in a space opera, but the ideas are the same.
I thought Butler was just a random name, not a reference to Samuel Butler. I guess Butlerian Jihad is a bit easier to say and write than Erewhonian Jihad. In other literature references, there's a planet named Erewhon in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.
There's a lot of satire in this book. The Erewhonians treat sickness as criminal, and criminal actions as sickness. Rather messed up, but in a way it's not entirely bad, considering that maybe some support and emotional rehabilitation for the criminal minded can be helpful.
Vegetarism and veganism are explored - animals in this land become suicidal if they're not eaten, which I found rather amusing. Not that animals are dying, I myself am a vegetarian, but that the animals are just lost without people eating them.
Another amusing part is the thought that dead spirits haunt Erewhonians, and make women pregnant (without their consent) to allow the spirits to live again. Once the infant is born, the friends and family ridicule it for its wanton depravity, and draw up a contract that leaves the child completely liable for its actions:
"...acknowledges that he is responsible for all physical blemishes and deficiencies which may render him answerable to the laws of his country; that his parents have nothing whatever to do with any of these things; and that they have a right to kill him at once if they be so minded, though he entreats them to show their marvellous goodness and clemency by sparing his life."
Plenty of things in this book are humorous and take a nice jab at Victorian society. However, I was disappointed by Erewhon because Butler is a lot more talented than this effort. Granted, there are interesting, satirical ideas here, but this is his first book, and it shows.
If you want to read Butler, read The Way of All Flesh, and then come back for this later. Unless you're looking for something similar to H.G. Wells, then this is a good selection