''Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His Son'' (1901) is a satirical novel by Samuel Butler, forming a belated sequel to his ''

Erewhon ''Erewhon: or, Over the Range'' () is a utopian novel by English writer Samuel Butler (novelist), Samuel Butler, first published in 1872, set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist. The book is a satire on Victorian ...

'' (1872). '' The Cambridge History of English and American Literature'' judges that it "has less of the free imaginative play of its predecessor…but, in sharp brilliance of wit and criticism, in intellectual unity and coherence, it surpasses ''Erewhon''". ''Erewhon'', set in a thinly disguised New Zealand, ended with the escape of its unnamed protagonist from the native Erewhonians by

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

. In the sequel, narrated by his son John, the reader is told that the hero's name is Higgs. Higgs returns to Erewhon and meets his former lover Yram, who is now the mother of his son George. He discovers that he is now worshipped as "the Sunchild", his escape having been interpreted as an ascension into heaven, and that a church of Sunchildism has sprung up. He finds himself in danger from the villainous Professors Hanky and Panky, who are determined to protect Sunchildism from him. With George's help Higgs escapes from their clutches and returns to England. The Swiftian device of setting his satire in a fictional culture enabled Butler, as the critic Elinor Shaffer has written, "to analyse the phenomena of religion from their point of genesis, while disclaiming all responsibility for their uncanny parallels to certain known religions." It did not however make the road to publication any easier. When Butler submitted the manuscript to the respectable and long-established house of

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

, who had in recent years become his regular publishers, they rejected it for fear of offending their

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

clientele, even when Butler offered to pay the costs himself. On March 24, 1901, he wrote to

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, conceding that the book was "far more wicked than ''Erewhon''", and asking for his advice. Shaw replied recommending his own publisher, Grant Richards, and lost no time introducing Butler to him. The book duly came out under the Grant Richards imprint.Anthony Matthews Gibbs ''A Bernard Shaw Chronology'' (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001) p. 150.

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External links

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''Erewhon Revisited''
at

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1901 British novels 1901 science fiction novels 1901 fantasy novels British science fiction novels British fantasy novels British satirical novels British philosophical novels Science fantasy novels Utopian novels Lost world novels Sequel novels Novels set in fictional countries Religion in science fiction Novels by Samuel Butler (novelist) {{satirical-novel-stub