The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
The Way of All Flesh is another example of a 100 Best book that has me scratching my head. It was an interesting story, reasonably well presented. The main characters were engaging. It took a long time to get to the main character as it started with his grandfather, but once it got there it marched along. I just don’t know what was so special about it.
Ernest is an average, put-upon kid until his Aunt takes an interest in him. Then he inherits some money, although he doesn’t know it, and goes through various trials and tribulations, including landing himself in jail, before taking possession of his inheritance and going on to lead a boring but nice life. The moral of the story seems to be that you’re bound to be stupid when you’re young but that some people grow out of it and don’t give them money until they do. Really, it was just sort of a gossipy family tale, something like what Jane Austen might write except that the solution was money, not marriage.