The Note Books Of Samuel Butler

by Samuel Butler

The Note Books of Samuel Butler is a collection of thoughts, observations, and musings written by the English author Samuel Butler. The book is divided into several sections, each containing a different topic or theme. Some of the topics covered in the book include science, literature, philosophy, and art. The Note Books of Samuel Butler is a fascinating insight into the mind of a brilliant thinker and writer. Butler's writing style is engaging and thought-provoking, and his observations on a wide range of subjects are both insightful and entertaining. Throughout the book, Butler's wit and humor shine through, making for an enjoyable and engaging read. The Note Books of Samuel Butler is a must-read for anyone interested in the works of this great writer, or for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking and entertaining writing.The whole life of some people is a kind of partial death--a long, lingering death-bed, so to speak, of stagnation and nonentity on which death is but the seal, or solemn signing, as the abnegation of all further act and deed on the part of the signer. Death robs these people of even that little strength which they appeared to have and gives them nothing but repose.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Nonfiction, 19th Century

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

For the author of Hudibras, see Samuel Butler.

Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works, including the Utopian satire Erewhon and the posthumous novel The Way of All Flesh, his two best-known works, but also extending to examinations of Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

See also: Samuel H. Butcher, Anglo-Irish classicist, who also undertook prose translations of Homer's works (in collaboration with Andrew Lang.

Reviews

[Lisa of Troy]

On September 19, 1919, F. Scott Fitzgerald inscribed his copy: "The most interesting human document ever written."

[W.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aphoristic, brilliant, ironic. The author of Erewhon and The Way of All Flesh was a keen, and sardonic, reader and observer. Besides skewering pretense and selfishness in all its forms, he offers unusual takes on inantimate objects. Illustrative snippet: "[Such] a tool as a locomotive engine, apparently entirely separated from the body, must still from time to time, as it were, kiss the soil of the human body and be handled, and thus become incorporate with man, if it is to remain in working order." Butler was a bit of a misanthrope, but slectively so, justifiably so.

[daily fifi poetry books (fatima) · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is an amazing story shows you how much pain the battle can be between your heart and mind , amazing how it ended i just like it

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Samuel Butler's ideas about technology that he expressed in Erewhon. I was curious what other kinds of things he thought about. The answer is, he thought a little about everything. He was a dabbler in every subject. He had a lot of intelligent things to say about painting, and in fact intended to become a painter as a young man. He wrote about buying a Rembrandt. He preferred Handel to Beethoven. He was one of the first to take seriously Darwin's ideas and grapple with them. He was trying to understand how memory and inheritance of traits worked, and thought they might be connected-- an idea which was almost, but not completely wrong. (I would like to have highlighted my favorite passages as I read but as this was a 1912 edition I didn't feel it would be a good idea.) He was skeptical of everything about the society he lived in, but not too skeptical.
He wrote as someone who expected to be quoted. He was always on the lookout for a way to say something so that it would make a good quote. He wrote poems about future critics considering his writing. I think he would have gotten more readers if he had concentrated on really learning to write well, instead of just stringing together whatever clever ideas he came up with and tossing it off to be published.

[Pollypollack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this after reading that F Scott Fitzgerald
considered this book a major influence for his own writing habits. A good nightstand book to flip through rather than read all at once.

[Michael Simsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, lots of meh, and a unique format. Can’t imagine many people finish this