'Pevsner describes the exterior of St Andrew’s as being
‘unfortunately so vigorously restored by Thomas Butler that little of its
original surface remains’. This Thomas Butler, vigorous restorer, was the
Rector of Langar – and father of the late-Victorian writer Samuel Butler.
Thomas, the son of a very distinguished father – headmaster of Shrewsbury
School and Bishop of Lichfield – had been pressed into the Church against his
inclinations and had a far from stellar ecclesiastical career. He would be
quite forgotten today, had he not had the misfortune to be immortalised in his
son’s autobiographical novel, The Way of
All Flesh.
This is one of the
most savage accounts of an oppressed childhood ever written, and Butler Senior,
a physical and emotional bully, comes out of it very badly indeed, as does his
wife, Samuel’s mother. The author considered both of them ‘brutal and stupid’,
and wrote of his father that ‘he never liked me, nor I him; from my earliest
recollections I can call to mind no time when I did not fear him and dislike
him’. The unhappy Thomas Butler might well have been taking out the
frustrations of his own failed life on his son, re-enacting his own father’s
dominance over him in still harsher form – but that, of course, was no
consolation to the son on the receiving end, who was never reconciled with his
parents.
Surprisingly, the
young Samuel Butler allowed himself to be steered towards the same career as
his father and grandfather. However, after Cambridge, his religious doubts
began to prevail – much to his father’s wrath – and, to make a radical break
with his parents and the future that had been laid down for him, Samuel
emigrated to New Zealand, where his experiences inspired his first literary success,
the satirical novel Erewhon.
The Way of All Flesh was considered too incendiary to be published
in his lifetime, but after its posthumous publication came to be seen as a
minor classic. As a novel, it’s a bit of a mess, but the earlier chapters offer
an unforgettably vivid picture of the life of gloomy and stultifying piety,
reinforced by brutal punishment, that was once lived in Langar rectory.
Platonic England, house of solitudes, had – no doubt still has – its dark side.'
My good friend nige, I've just bought Halifax memoir, fullness of days. It cost me a quid( five reais) good bargain?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is Ricardo – but what is it this Halifax memoir?
ReplyDeleteWhen I finish I can tell you. My wife ask me the same question...
DeleteSo sorry I forget the s when my wife asked ,last comment kkkk
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteشركة نقل عفش بالرياض وجدة والدمام والخبر والجبيل اولقطيف والاحساء والرياض وجدة ومكة المدينة المنورة والخرج والطائف وخميس مشيط وبجدة افضل شركة نقل عفش بجدة نعرضها مجموعة الفا لنقل العفش بمكة والخرج والقصيم والطائف وتبوك وخميس مشيط ونجران وجيزان وبريدة والمدينة المنورة وينبع افضل شركات نقل الاثاث بالجبيل والطائف وخميس مشيط وبريدة وعنيزو وابها ونجران المدينة وينبع تبوك والقصيم الخرج حفر الباطن والظهران
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