Chapter 8 "David Copperfield" and "The Way of All Living Things"

My book list is roughly chronological, but right now I jump straight to two great novels: And Butler's The Way of All Beings.This is done not only because of their importance in the world of British fiction, but also because, like every book I have mentioned so far, they are as distinctively British as literature.Except for "Biography of Shandy", these books have some common features: firmness, frankness, humor, and health.And these, I think, are the national characteristics of Britain.These great works are not slender, and more or less lacking in elegance—they are the literature of action, not of contemplation.The book tells a lot of common sense, a little sad, but also full of the brilliance of human nature.About, I can't find the words to describe it other than to say it's Dickens's best novel.This book glosses over Dickens' faults while magnifying his strengths.

As for The Way of All Beings, although many novels appeared after it, I think it is the last grand and grand English novel that is not influenced by any French or Russian novelists.The former lexicographers are considered to be typical British people, and Butler has such a temperament. His "The Way of All Beings" has inherited the characteristics of the British novel brilliantly and is a great work.