A review by rosekk
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell

3.0

The sarcastic humour of the book kept it from being too much of a trial to read. Unfortunately, it was still a bit of a slog. It was too repetitive in stating it's arguments. The same ideas were stated in almost the same words every few chapters. They also weren't presented very subtly, and often opportunities to weave themes into the story more nearly were ignored. For instance, Owen often lectures his fellows on Socialist principles (and he's no great orator - I'm not surprised few of his companions are convinced), and the narrator frequently offers the same views. Both tell us that the root cause if inequality is the system everyone lives within, and not one person or policy. At one point we're even told by the narrator to sympathise with the otherwise villainous Hunter, because anyone in his position would be driven to act in the same way. I can envision an alternate version of the novel where Owen (our socialist hero), is put in a similar position to Hunter and is forced to put his principles against the crushing system he hates. It would have made for a more interesting story, and would have given more dimension to his character. Instead, we just get told these things and never see it play out.

The book had a lot of potential. Since it was written by someone who had worked in the industry he wrote about, it offered detail and understanding of the characters lives & livelihoods. It was amusing in places, but never lost sight of the dire circumstances most of the characters existed in. Sadly, it seemed the writer didn't trust his audience to understand him without spelling out simplistic arguments over and over, which damaged the quality of the book both as a story and as a persuasive political piece.