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Title: An uninspired, overpraised and self-indulgent trudge
Review: The main character, Ernest Pontifex,is a pathetic weakling, variously oppressed and exploited by his parents and acquaintances. He fails at everything and relies on others to get him out of difficulties. The other primary character, Ernest's godfather (another "voice" for the author) spends his time despising Ernest's parents and saving Ernest. Yet, since this is an autobiographical novel, the author would have you believe that Ernest is actually a brilliant iconoclast whose writings disturb Victorian society. Humbug! Butler demonizes his parents so heavyhandedly (all the characters are cardboard, etched with bile) and is so smug about it, that he, not they, comes across as the Monster. Of Human Bondage, by H. S. Maugham, touches on some similar themes and is a vastly superior work. Anything by George Eliot would also be a vastly better read from 19th C. English literature.
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