Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Erewhon rivisitato vent’anni dopo
A chi è rivolto
Readers who enjoy satire about religion, universities and public pretence, and who like a tale of fathers, sons and disguises told with dry wit and real feeling.
Che cos’è questo libro
What if escaping a hidden land turned you into its god? In Erewhon Revisited, Samuel Butler's satirical sequel of 1901, the traveller Higgs returns over the mountains in disguise. He finds that his balloon flight has become a state religion. He is worshipped as the Sunchild, and a vast temple is about to be dedicated in his honour. The tale comes through his son John, who sets down his dying father's notes. It is quick, comic and warm under the satire.
In questo riassunto
- 1A son tells his father's strange storyFree
- 2A disguised traveller meets two professors
- 3He learns he has become a god
- 4A town where vice is taught as virtue
- 5Yram and George piece the puzzle together
- 6Hanky's trap in the new temple
- 7A son turns the tables on the professors
- 8What the satire says about belief and truth
- 9How the story is told and held together
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A son tells his father's strange story
John opens by telling of his father's second visit to Erewhon. After the first book appears in 1872, the public admires it while its author is unknown, then turns on him when he proves to be nobody in particular.
John grows up poor in a London alley, where his father draws chalk pictures on the pavement and his Erewhonian mother speaks only her own language. Then an uncle dies in Australia, and the family becomes wealthy.
John's mother dies of homesickness, and his father, crushed by guilt, sets off for Erewhon again. He comes home worn down and tells his story in short bursts, begging John to take notes and hold back the book until it can do no harm. The frame matters because everything afterward comes through a loving, slightly unreliable filter.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Erewhon rivisitato vent’anni dopo
What is Erewhon Revisited about?
It follows Higgs, the traveller from Erewhon, as he secretly returns twenty years later and finds himself worshipped as the Sunchild. A satire on religion and learning, it is also a story of a father and the son he never knew.
Do I need to read Erewhon first?
It helps, since this book refers to the first one, but the sequel explains its main events, so a new reader can follow the story without difficulty.
Who are Hanky and Panky?
They are Butler's comic names for two Bridgeford professors, Sukoh and Sukop in the original tongue. Hanky is a worldly cynic, and Panky is a man who has to believe his own lies.
Who tells the story?
Higgs's son John tells it, passing on his dying father's story. He steps in with explanations and jokes of his own, which gives the book a friendly, personal voice.
What is the main message of the book?
Butler shows how a simple event can grow into a faith that serves those who run it. He also shows that honesty, family loyalty and humour can survive inside a system of pretence.