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Erewhon; Or, Over the RangeSamuel Butler

Erewhon; Or, Over the Range

by OpenStories

Original author: Samuel Butler

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"Erewhon; Or, Over the Range" by Samuel Butler is a satirical novel published in 1872. A traveler discovers a strange fictional country where society operates by inverted rules: illness is treated as crime, while criminals receive medical treatment. The book satirizes Victorian England while pioneering speculations about machine consciousness and artificial intelligence in its famous "Book of the Machines" section. Drawing on Butler's experiences as a sheep farmer in New Zealand, this darkly comic work imagines a world where compassion and punishment are bizarrely reversed, and where machines may evolve beyond human control.

Erewhon; Or, Over the Range, by Samuel Butler. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #1906.

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31 Chapters

  1. 1.Preface: To Second Edition897 words
  2. 2.Preface: To the Revised Edition1,254 words
  3. 3.Chapter I: Waste Lands2,161 words
  4. 4.Chapter II: In the Wool-Shed1,588 words
  5. 5.Chapter III: Up the River1,921 words
  6. 6.Chapter IV: The Saddle2,823 words
  7. 7.Chapter V: The River and the Range2,917 words
  8. 8.Chapter VI: Into Erewhon2,975 words
  9. 9.Chapter VII: First Impressions2,465 words
  10. 10.Chapter VIII: In Prison2,753 words
  11. 11.Chapter IX: To the Metropolis3,627 words
  12. 12.Chapter X: Current Opinions3,691 words
  13. 13.Chapter XI: Some Erewhonian Trials2,517 words
  14. 14.Chapter XII: Malcontents2,721 words
  15. 15.Chapter XIII: The Views of the Erewhonians Concerning Death2,487 words
  16. 16.Chapter XIV: Mahaina1,436 words
  1. 17.Chapter XV: The Musical Banks4,242 words
  2. 18.Chapter XVI: Arowhena2,771 words
  3. 19.Chapter XVII: Ydgrun and the Ydgrunites2,243 words
  4. 20.Chapter XVIII: Birth Formulae1,814 words
  5. 21.Chapter XIX: The World of the Unborn2,750 words
  6. 22.Chapter XX: What They Mean by It2,596 words
  7. 23.Chapter XXI: The Colleges of Unreason2,790 words
  8. 24.Chapter XXII: THE COLLEGES OF UNREASON—Continued3,188 words
  9. 25.Chapter XXIII: The Book of the Machines2,232 words
  10. 26.Chapter XXIV: THE MACHINES—continued3,183 words
  11. 27.Chapter XXV: THE MACHINES—concluded4,633 words
  12. 28.Chapter XXVI: The Views of an Erewhonian Prophet Concerning the Rights2,813 words
  13. 29.Chapter XXVII: The Views of an Erewhonian Philosopher Concerning the2,961 words
  14. 30.Chapter XXVIII: Escape3,732 words
  15. 31.Chapter XXIX: Conclusion3,058 words