Gulliver's Travels (Illustrated)
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This edition includes more than 100 black-and-white illustrations by Charles Edmund Brock.
Jonathan Swift
Born in 1667, Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer and cleric, best known for his works Gulliver’s Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Journal to Stella, amongst many others. Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity in February 1702, and eventually became Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Publishing under the names of Lemeul Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, and M. B. Drapier, Swift was a prolific writer who, in addition to his prose works, composed poetry, essays, and political pamphlets for both the Whigs and the Tories, and is considered to be one of the foremost English-language satirists, mastering both the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift died in 1745, leaving the bulk of his fortune to found St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles, a hospital for the mentally ill, which continues to operate as a psychiatric hospital today.
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Reviews for Gulliver's Travels (Illustrated)
26 ratings86 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jonathan Swift must have been smoking opium when he wrote this because it is wackadoodle. It is also weird to have a female read the book when the main character is a man. I don't think I would have read the physical book.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Far more interesting than I'd hoped, given how old it is. I see both why it has historically been praised, and why I'm glad to say I've read it and now never pick it up again.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Got around to read this classic. Book is essentially a collection of author's imaginations on what people will do and act in different strange societies. Author imagines well on social culture and actions based on people but doesn't think through a lot on social and technological environment. All socieities - small people, monsterous people, floating people, horse people - have pretty much that distinction but rest of world - animals, plants, things and inventions - are similar to rest of normal world. Transition from one society to another, through multiple sea voyages, is fast and not dwelt much upon. Lots of people found this work of Swift to be satire on modern world, and it kind of is, but very peripheral one. For instance religion and politicians can be arbitary and foolish and that's mentioned as such without really understanding depth of things. In the end, excitement of new world goes away from readers and long monologues of narrator's experiences and discourse within those society becomes boring. It's readable but forgettable book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swift's ideas about human nature and government are timeless. Gulliver's Travels is a must read!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5would not wish upon my worst enemy
also made me feel really uncomfortable about horses - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swift's ideas about human nature and government are timeless. Gulliver's Travels is a must read!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apparently, one must know their history very well to understand satire. This was an entertaining work -- creative, subtle, and poignant, though slow in parts (somewhat due to the length of time required to "read" the proper nouns properly). The horse kingdom was my favorite of the four, due to what it said about the advantages and disadvantages of a society based purely on reason.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Written in 1727, a critique of our industrial policy in 2014: In these colleges the professors contrive new... tools for all trades and manufactures; whereby, as they undertake, one man shall do the work of ten; a palace may be built in a week, of materials so durable as to last for ever without repairing. .... The only inconvenience is, that none of these projects are yet brought to perfection; and in the mean time, the whole country lies miserably waste, the houses in ruins, and the people without food or clothes. By all which, instead of being discouraged, they are fifty times more violently bent upon prosecuting their schemes, driven equally on by hope and despair.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I went into this story having no idea what it was about and I found it to be very fun to read. The story is told in a straight forward, easy to understand way and the author's bluntness makes it easy to follow and not get bogged down.Books 1 and 2 felt almost like a children's story, with fantastical creatures. Books 3 and 4 dealt with more advanced themes, and I felt like each book held its own.My favorite part was book 3 when Gulliver was touring through the academy and visiting with the various types of academics. I sometimes had to remind myself that this book was written in the 1700s. Lawyers clearly haven't changed a bit!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For something written in 1735, the humor is surprisingly applicable to today's audience. It is the tale of Lemuel Gulliver's journeys to several distant lands and is rife with hilarious satire and biting wit. I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of English government. I was also amazed at how much influence on modern language it's had, from lilliputian to big-endian. There are so-called classics of which I don't understand the attribution, but this is one comedy that is sure to be timeless as long as there are human societies.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Was Glubbdubdrib on J.K. Rowling's mind when she envisaged Hogwarts? Swift's deadpan satire is a treat, but so is his earnest advocacy of freedom.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Aargh. Really tedious. The tale of being in Lilliput was fairly humorous, but the rest were just tedious to the point of beating a dead horse (or a Honyhnhnm, as the case may be).The Lilliput saga worked as a story, but none of the others did and I didn't think any of it worked as allegory either. Instead of learning from the civilizations he encountered, he became an unhappy shell of a person who couldn't even stand being in the same room with his wife and children. If there was no hope for the human race, why didn't he just off himself and put the reader out of his/her misery?!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Well, to make it short: I was disappointed. Somehow I expected some kind of "great literature". But it's definitively not. The writing style is much too simple, when the story starts to get "deeper" it mostly says something like "I don't want to talk about this anymore, because the reader could be bored". What the...? I'm not enjoying this one. 2,5 stars just because the story itself is interesting - but could be better written.I know it's world literature, but I really don't know why. Maybe this is because of my edition (or translation).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a fantastical satire that uses the ancient method of a journey (in this case multiple journeys) to foreign lands in the service of social satire and cultural commentary. The motivating force behind Gulliver's Travels is the author's apparent disgust with human folly and pretension; the ideas are embodied in grotesques and fantastic creatures, in the six-inch high Lilliputians, the gigantic Brobdingnagians, the horse-like Houyhnhnms and the disgusting Yahoos. These characters are so memorable that their names have become part of our culture. The journeys provide lessons for Lemuel Gulliver who is an honest if gullible narrator. Whether he learned the right lessons or ones that have value for others is for each reader to decided. However, concluding, he confesses that he could be reconciled to the English Yahoos "if they would be content with those Vices and Follies only which Nature hath entitled them to. I am not in the least provoked at the sight of a Lawyer, a Pick-pocket, a Colonel, a Fool, a Lord, a Gamster, a Politician, a Whoremunger, a Physician, . . . or the like: This is all according to the due Course of Things: but, when I behold a Lump of Deformity, and Diseases both in Body and Mind, smitten with Pride, it immediately breaks all the Measures of my patience."
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I am doing work on masculinity with this book, but even with that interest in mind I did not particularly enjoy Gulliver.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book finally, upto the last page, as a part of a very interesting course on 18th C literature, and I loved the insights into Swift's work the course gave me. Specially amusing was my professor's fascination with the 'scatological fixation' that Swift shows in this work. :D
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is no child's book, but a fantastic display of satire and political statement. I laughed to the point of tears several times after reading how Mr. Gulliver chose to distinguish the palace fire in Lilliput. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I am doing work on masculinity with this book, but even with that interest in mind I did not particularly enjoy Gulliver.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Written about 300 years ago this story has aged very well and Gulliver's adventures are event today very entertaining. Gulliver's Travels was meant to mock the hordes of books about adventurous travels released at the time which often exaggerated the dangers faced and the belitteled the intellect of the natives encountered. And so Gulliver meets giants, tiny people, horses which rule over men and people living on a floating island. In addition to the entertainment value these episodes hold it is also very interesting to see how critical Jonathan Swift was of English society and values. This criticism is never voiced by the main character directly, but surface through the discussions Gulliver has with the people he meets.The Audiobook version published by Alcazar AudioWorks features a terrific Narrator which makes the story a joy to listen to.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not really a review as such. I gave up in reading this book after 80 pages as i simply couldn't get into it. Yes i can see how it was a satire on politics at that time, but quite simpy it bored me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5satire on the political word atthe time can be applyed today
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Most people have seen a cinematic version of this book, right? Most already know the story without actually bothering with reading the book? The book was written nearly 300 years old so some of the little of the language will be a little archaic but it's only a kids book so will be an easy read. Given the age of the story it will have very little relevance with events of today.Well at least that is what I thought beforehand. How very wrong I was!For those of you who do not know the story Gulliver basically visits four islands, one populated by a lot of little people, the next by some giants, then moving on to a flying island before finally landing on one ruled by horses where humens are the savages, something akin to the films Planet of the Apes but with horses rather than chimpanzees. Firstly the title is something of a misnomer. Rather than describing happenings in far off fanciful lands Swift is really only interested in taking a satirical swipe at events and in particular the politics an awful lot closer to home,namely London. Swift's family was originally from England but had backed the losing side in the English Civil War whereupon having lost their lands there were forced to take up residence Ireland. Swift was born and educated in Dublin but moved from his birthplace to London as a young man and there he became very active in the politics of the day,firstly as a Whig sympathiser then as a Tory. However, when the hoped for preferments failed to materialize Swift was virtually exiled back to Ireland making him rather bitter towards the political elite back in London.Some of the satire is fairly obvious, liking peeing on the palace in Lilliput to extinguish a fire there (in fact bodily functions seem to play a large part of the first two sections) but some other referances were I admit quite lost on me. Rather than travel broadening the mind it seemed to make Gulliver's more inward looking, so much so in the end he cannot bear the sight or touch of fellow humans, and this is probably where the book lost me as a fan. Personally I found the part on Laputa rather dull and very long-winded which was followed by the stay with the Houyhnhms which felt merely like the ramblings of a very bitter and disappointed in life man.On the whole I found the book interesting but ultimately a little disappointing and I certainy enjoyed Lilliput the most.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Written nearly 300 years ago, at it's time it must have been a groundbreaking satire. To be fair it is still current in many ways especially regarding the justiciary, the establishment and western mankind in general. However, I found it very dull to read. He goes away, has an adventure and comes back. He does this four times. Heaven knows he wasn't much of a family man and we don't hear much of what his wife thought of it all. I found it quite boring and this was heading for two stars until the final episode with the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. The former representing a superior being which mankind may believe he is and the latter being a mirror to how Swift believes they really are. This part was both insightful and humorous and rescued this book for me.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I actually don't like many of the classics, but this is one of my favorites. It can be a little tedious to start, but once you're into it, it's a great story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The writing is beautiful, the riffs on law, politics and general intellectual attitudes are hilarious, and the structure was great. The third part's a bit tough to get in to, but otherwise, first class. Easy to read, too.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I had mixed feelings about this classic book, first published back in 1726. In case you missed in in your high school literature class, Gulliver's Travels is a tale about Captain Lemuel Gulliver, an Englishman who manages to get stranded in not one but four amazing lands. But this extraordinary travel tale is really a vehicle for Mr. Swift's social commentary and the lands Capt. Gulliver visits are but reflections of 18th Century England and her neighbors. Not being up on my English history, I'm sure I missed the significance of most of the barbs. But a lot of Mr. Swift's message is clear enough, and the story itself is rather entertaining. However I found the book to grow less appealing as it progressed. The last two lands in which Gulliver sojourns seem less fantastic than the first two and so are less entertaining. I don't know if Mr. Swift just runs out of steam or if my ignorance of his society makes me miss out on the subtilties of his satire. Either way, I found this to be only very good waiting room material.--J.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For good reason, this is a must read classic. The book appeals on a superficial level with the author's exotic travels, and yet has a far deeper message about human nature and the society of the day.Prior reviewers (and Wikipedia) summarize its contents, so I will not do so again. However, my favorite section of the book is contained with chapter 4 regarding the land of Houyhnhnms (horses) and Yahoos (uncivilized humans). The author's sometimes graphic depiction of his homeland's princes, lawyers, doctors and military leaders is absolutely hilarious and thought provoking.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure,the story of the big man washed up on the shore surrounded by little people is a cute story we've all seen Mickey Mouse do. But reading this book as an adult was an eye-opener. Swift's tongue is firmly planted in his cheek through the whole book and this is a great one to read aloud.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swift's ideas about human nature and government are timeless. Gulliver's Travels is a must read!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5That was interesting. Just finished. I would say it was written for someone at with a middle school level of reading. Fun easy read. I think I was missing some important info regarding the countries being made fun of to really 'get it'. Swift enjoyed a little too much, the making up of strange names and words to emphasize the differences in the other lands and cultures the charactor 'visited'. One of the points that could be taken from it, are peoples problems and worries are all relative to their perspective.