"The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler

I enjoyed reading this novel a lot. It was written in the 1870s and 1880s, but not in fact published until 1903 after Samuel Butler’s death. It is best read, as I did, without knowing much about the plot or Samuel Butler’s own life as it is strongly autobiographical and relies for its enjoyment as a novel as it proceeds on several unexpected plot twists.

The first third, in my view, is a touch tedious. It is well-written, but serves no huge purpose beyond I suppose demonstrating human evolution over time through the upwardly mobile social progress of a family over four generations. The significance of this comes later when at long last the central character, Ernest Pontifix, is born and the story starts properly to take off, debating some of the significant theological and metaphysical questions of its time as it proceeds. It is well-worth pushing on through the first hundred pages or so because everything comes alive after that.

The sections concerning the lives of rectors and curates are something of an antidote to Trollope’s much more idyllic portrayal, but just as compelling in many ways. The characters are well-drawn, including some very entertaining minor characters and the plot is interesting once it gets going. Our hero Ernest, largely through naivety and good intentions, stumbles into various mishaps, finally being forced ‘to kiss the soil’, learn from his experiences and start digging himself out of his hole. The book’s most interest though lies in what it says about the expectations of Victorian middle class society, approaches to parenting and the struggle to reconcile the two.

A memorable and enjoyable read.