Erewhon Revisited

1901, from the same volume as Erewhon
Samuel Butler
B-

As with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, once again I remember preferring the sequel and then find that the original holds up better.  Butler felt that the sequel was superior but correctly suspected it would be less popular.  Despite fleshing out the characters more and making the plot more cohesive, the satire is weaker.  The hero returns to Erewhon after almost twenty years and finds that he's become the subject of a cult because of his mysterious escape in a balloon.  This is funny to read so soon after The Wizard of Oz, especially since his last name is revealed to be Higgs, and the Wizard's last name will turn out to be Diggs.  Butler has some interesting insights into cults and religions, but they're less profound than the multiple layers of the first book.

In The Way of All Flesh, illegitimate children are treated sympathetically, and in this book Butler reveals that Higgs unknowingly has a bastard by Yram, his gaoler's daughter.  This son, George (the names aren't all backwards this time), is kind, brave, and wise for his years.  Higgs's legitimate son, John, befriends him when he himself visits briefly.  The book ends with John planning a longer return to Erewhon, which seems to set up another sequel, but Butler died the year after this came out.

This book reveals that Erewhon is located near New Zealand, bordering on Erewhemos (sort of "Somewhere" backwards).  Presumably, there's an Erewhyna out there, too.