Joy101 reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
None
(not provided)
Paperback, 306 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2017 by Penguin Books.
Gulliver's Travels
A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer telling insights into the nature of man and society. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.
Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver's final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire - in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy …
A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer telling insights into the nature of man and society. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.
Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver's final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire - in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who bear a disturbing resemblance to humans. This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all the original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin.
Cindaren reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Review of "Gulliver's Travels" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Interesting characters but most of them are not relatable or likeable. Granted, I haven't read the previous books. I love Bloom though. I give this one a 3.5 plus a lil extra for that freakin cover model, goodness gracious.
Interesting characters but most of them are not relatable or likeable. Granted, I haven't read the previous books. I love Bloom though. I give this one a 3.5 plus a lil extra for that freakin cover model, goodness gracious.
Lyteraria reviewed Los viajes de Gulliver by Jonathan Swift
"Los viajes de gulliver"
Disfruté mucho de la relectura de esta novela, después de tantos años.
Decía Borges que la caracterización de Swift como un escritor para niños, basada sola y exclusivamente en el caracter adorable de los liliputienses en la primera parte de la novela, fue una estrategia de la crítica posterior para desviar la atención de la mordaz sátira de la historia y políticas europeas que la novela encarna.
Escrito en los albores del expansionismo británico, cuando el poder global aún estaba en manos de España (Laputa) y el Europa estaba rodeada de regiones desconocidas, la novela critica lo que en los siglos siguientes sería la justificación de la expansión colonialista: la supuesta superioridad cultural del capitalismo liberal y de la monarquía constitucional europea.
Leímos "Los viajes de Gulliver" en las ediciones número 61 a 63 de nuestro Club de #LecturaMastodontica
mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108347745819212627 mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108387358859027172 mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108426995785416148
Disfruté mucho de la relectura de esta novela, después de tantos años.
Decía Borges que la caracterización de Swift como un escritor para niños, basada sola y exclusivamente en el caracter adorable de los liliputienses en la primera parte de la novela, fue una estrategia de la crítica posterior para desviar la atención de la mordaz sátira de la historia y políticas europeas que la novela encarna.
Escrito en los albores del expansionismo británico, cuando el poder global aún estaba en manos de España (Laputa) y el Europa estaba rodeada de regiones desconocidas, la novela critica lo que en los siglos siguientes sería la justificación de la expansión colonialista: la supuesta superioridad cultural del capitalismo liberal y de la monarquía constitucional europea.
Leímos "Los viajes de Gulliver" en las ediciones número 61 a 63 de nuestro Club de #LecturaMastodontica
mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108347745819212627 mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108387358859027172 mastodon.la/@SeverianX/108426995785416148
ruimaio reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
None
5 stars
Antes de mais, agradecer à minha prima por me ter emprestado este livro. Em bom tempo lho devolverei, se Deus quiser.
Este livro é genial. Não encontro outra palavra para tudo o que de bom tem: a coerência do enredo, as aventuras descritas, a sátira imbuída... Impressionante!
A edição original remonta a 1726 e, ainda assim, é perfeitamente possível rever as críticas feitas pelo autor e transportá-las para este nosso tempo.
Vale mesmo muito a pena ler esta obra. Se não a tiverem, peçam emprestada à minha prima.
StoryDragon reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Nice, but more notes than pages.
4 stars
It was quite a nice book to read. It is a satire, though I am quite sure that I did not notice everything. Actually, if it weren't for the introduction and notes, I would not have recognized a lot of things. But that is probably logical, since there are more notes than pages...
It was quite a nice book to read. It is a satire, though I am quite sure that I did not notice everything. Actually, if it weren't for the introduction and notes, I would not have recognized a lot of things. But that is probably logical, since there are more notes than pages...
Cenuel reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Excellent satire
5 stars
I read this book in elementary school; I was a very pretentious child, I guess, and it was laying around the house, so I read it over the course of a few weeks. A lot passed over my head but I enjoyed what I did understand. Reread it years later and got a lot more, and still enjoyed it, understanding now that the horses were not intended to be emulated as the benevolent individuals they portrayed themselves as being.
Zoon70 reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift by Jonathan Swift
None
2 stars
Avoid: censored and only part I and II.
Fionnáin reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Review of "Gulliver's Travels" on 'GoodReads'
4 stars
As broad and engaging a satirical adventure as any would expect. Swift is a master of acrid digs at his particular epoch. Great diversion.
sneezypb reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
None
3 stars
My familiarity with Gulliver's Travels really was from books as a child and later a couple television miniseries. Ted Danson in Gulliver's Travels in 1996 comes to mind. So I cracked open this book expecting tiny people and giants.
About a third of the way through, I ran into a former coworker and his fiancee. He said a couple things that rocked my world.
First, the company name Yahoo alludes to a race in this book. Having used Yahoo since late 1995, only not having read part 4 kept Swift's concept of Yahoo out of my internal context. Instead, the corporation was to me associated with the exclamation. But maybe that has more to do with the corp's commercials in the late 90s?
Second, that Swift is the father of modern satire. My "Oh s#!t" moment was realizing he also wrote A Modest Proposal. That may have been my …
My familiarity with Gulliver's Travels really was from books as a child and later a couple television miniseries. Ted Danson in Gulliver's Travels in 1996 comes to mind. So I cracked open this book expecting tiny people and giants.
About a third of the way through, I ran into a former coworker and his fiancee. He said a couple things that rocked my world.
First, the company name Yahoo alludes to a race in this book. Having used Yahoo since late 1995, only not having read part 4 kept Swift's concept of Yahoo out of my internal context. Instead, the corporation was to me associated with the exclamation. But maybe that has more to do with the corp's commercials in the late 90s?
Second, that Swift is the father of modern satire. My "Oh s#!t" moment was realizing he also wrote A Modest Proposal. That may have been my favorite piece in British Literature in high school. Understanding this completely changed the second two thirds. Once I understood it to be a critique of European politics and human nature, I was better able to enjoy it.
TowerOfTheArchmage reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Review of "Gulliver's Travels" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I'm glad that I read this, but it was a bit of a slog by the second half. The story is divided into 4 parts. The first two are the ones that everyone is familiar with: the lands of the little people and the big people (Lilliput and Brobdingnag). These were the most interesting. The third land Gulliver visits is Laputa, the floating island of musicians and mathematicians who can't do anything practical with their knowledge. The last land is the country of the Houyhnhnms, horse people with no understanding of the concept of lying, war, or disease.
What you may not know is that between these visits he returns home to his wife and family, and then opts to once again go to sea. While he is home he tells people about his trips too. Knowing how superstitious sailors were, I can't imagine any of them having Gulliver on …
I'm glad that I read this, but it was a bit of a slog by the second half. The story is divided into 4 parts. The first two are the ones that everyone is familiar with: the lands of the little people and the big people (Lilliput and Brobdingnag). These were the most interesting. The third land Gulliver visits is Laputa, the floating island of musicians and mathematicians who can't do anything practical with their knowledge. The last land is the country of the Houyhnhnms, horse people with no understanding of the concept of lying, war, or disease.
What you may not know is that between these visits he returns home to his wife and family, and then opts to once again go to sea. While he is home he tells people about his trips too. Knowing how superstitious sailors were, I can't imagine any of them having Gulliver on their ship. The real kicker is the forth voyage, where Gulliver is the CAPTAIN?!? Who was dumb enough to give this man a ship?!? Granted he wasn't shipwrecked the last time, his crew mutinied and abandoned him on an unknown island!!
If I was Gulliver, after the first time I was shipwrecked on a weird land, sure, maybe I'd try my luck a second time. But a third and forth time?!? Really?!? What point does one need to reach before giving up on ever successfully completing an ocean voyage?
I also did not realize that this story was as much satire as it was a fantastic story. It was written to make fun of both travel logs of the time and also of his society as a whole. By the end of the book, Gulliver, after living with these nearly perfect horses, can't even stand the company of his family.
I get what Swift was doing, but it's really hard to appreciate almost 300 years later. I haven't read travel logs from the early 1700's, and the satire of his own society was terribly heavy handed, especially at the end.
Stephen Hayes reviewed Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
None
4 stars
When I was at school I used to read it whenever I was feeling particularly misanthropic. The fourth book was my favourite because i liked horses.
