Erewhon, or Over the Range - Samuel Butler
First published 1872.
This is one of the earliest 'New Zealand' novels, in that it was written by someone who had lived in New Zealand for a while and is set, in its early chapters at least, on a backcountry station that seems to be somewhere in the South Island. However, this setting is quickly abandoned as the protagonist, Biggs, seeks out new pastures 'over the range' and stumbles across the hidden land of Erewhon.
In a very Victorian style, Butler uses this setting as an excuse to poke satirically at English culture of the day, rather than have much in the way of plot at all. In fact, the plot could be summed up in a few sentences: Biggs believes there might be more land over the ranges, and upon crossing them finds Erewhon. He ends up living with an Erewhonian family, falls for one of the daughters, Arawhina, constructs a hot air balloon and escapes the country with Arawhina at his side. The end.
The rest of the novel outlines the culture of Erewhon and their customs, highlighting the absurdities of various beliefs and practices, and uses them to prod at English beliefs and practices that might be similar. Religion is treated very harshly, with 'the Musical Bank' of Erewhon being its absurd and pointless Erewhonian equivalent. Butler writes from the perspective of someone that obvious has a great deal of cynicism towards much of his own culture, and the novel does have quite a negative slant to it.
I didn't really enjoy this book. Part of it might be that I only was aware of the South Island setting and journey aspect, and was hoping for more of a look at early New Zealand, rather than what I got. The negativity also was a bit much after a while.
Still interesting in some ways, but doubt I'll revisit it.
Completed 13 March 2022.
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