The Way of All Flesh

by Samuel Butler

Overview

Journey into the moral and societal complexities of the late 19th century through Samuel Butler's "The Way of All Flesh." This timeless novel explores the life of Ernest Pontifex, a young man grappling with the rigid conventions of Victorian England. In a world where tradition and expectations reign supreme, Ernest's journey of self-discovery and rebellion challenges the very foundations of society.

Butler's incisive critique of the era's moral hypocrisy and the oppressive influence of family and religion remains as relevant today as it was when first published. Through Ernest's trials and tribulations, the novel delves into themes of personal freedom, the clash of generations, and the struggle for authenticity.

"The Way of All Flesh" invites readers to reflect on their own place within the social framework and question the enduring values that shape our lives. A timeless exploration of individuality and societal constraints, this novel continues to resonate, offering profound insights into the human condition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781396324789
Publisher:	Left of Brain Books
Publication date:	01/30/2024
Pages:	422
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) was an English author whose turbulent upbringing would inspire one of his greatest works, The Way of All Flesh. Butler grew up in a volatile home with an overbearing father who was both mentally and physically abusive. He was eventually sent to boarding school and then St. John's College where he studied Classics. As a young adult, he lived in a parish and aspired to become a clergyman but had a sudden crisis of faith. He decided to travel the world and create new experiences fueling his literary career.

Editorial Reviews

One thinks of it lying in Samuel Butler's desk for thirty years, waiting to blow up the Victorian family and with it the whole great pillared and balustraded edifice of the Victorian novel.”

V.S. Pritchett

[Butler] uses ordinary conversational English idiom, managing to seem perfectly at ease in it, and continually showing how rich in expressive turns and formulations and apt and vivid words it really is…This is the perfection of what one loosely thinks of as the ‘plain’ style and which of course is not ‘plain’ at all, but fashioned with hard labor and the most sensitive and resourceful skill. In writing Butler attained that ‘grace after the flesh’ for which Ernest pined in vain.”

P. N. Furbank

If the house caught on fire, the Victorian novel I would rescue from the flames would be not Vanity Fair or Bleak House but Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh. It is read, I believe, mostly by the young, bent on making out a case against their elders, but Butler was fifty when he stopped working on it, and no reader much under that age is likely to appreciate the full beauty of its horrors, which are not the horrors of the Gothic novel but of family life.”

New Yorker

One of the summits of human achievement.”

George Bernard Shaw

A.A. Milne called THE WAY OF ALL FLESH the second-best novel in the English language, but it remains one of the least known. In this audio version David Timson brings out all of its wit and charm, although some knowledge of Victorian Britain may be necessary to appreciate the extent of its satire. Among the five generations of the Pontifex family, there are a fair number of important characters, but the book eventually concentrates on Ernest and his immediate family, including his godfather, Edward Overton, the novel's narrator. Through accent, tone, and some modest vocal gymnastics, Timson keeps all the major and a great many minor characters alive and individualized, maintaining listeners' engagement all the way to the end. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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