Samuel Butler

Erewhon: Or, Over the Range Samuel Butler

Samuel Butler's irreverent satire, 'Erewhon', castigates the hypocrisy of both religion and conventional social mores, and pours scorn on the unthinking acceptance that makes such beliefs possible. In Erewhon (an anagram of 'Nowhere') 'normal' behaviour' consists of hospitalizing fraudsters and chastising the sick; of disregarding genius and praising the insane. Erewhonians are described as "meek and long-suffering, easily led by the nose, and quick to offer up common sense at the shrine of logic" - pointed criticism of both Victorian society and contemporary 'politically-correct' repression. Butler's imaginative tale sparkles with wit and prescient insights: his discussion of the dangers posed by increasingly intelligent machines has more relevance today than when it was first written over 130 years ago.