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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I feel cheated. I finally read 'Gulliver's Travels', as printed in the set of Windermere Readers my father had saved from childhood, and I discover that despite it not being marked as such in any way, its abridged! Damn you Eisenhower America! Oh well, if I missed a giant penis joke and a slur against Catholicism here and there I suppose I'll survive. At least I can be assured that the majority of the racism was kept intact.
Lemuel Gulliver sure was a sucker for punishment. Each voyage takes him farther from home and robs him of more of his sanity. By the end of his fourth voyage he is a recluse who, after some years, is finally allowing his wife to be in his presence. This is fierce satire. The small-minded pettiness of the Liliputians, the broad simplicity of the Brobdingnagians, the fruitless academic efforts of Laputa and the wise condescension of the Houyhnhnms sheds an unflattering light on the folly of humanity in the early 18th century - - and can still draw blood today. Don't even get him started on all of those other travel writers. Pure rubbish, only here are you going to get real, honest depictions of life elsewhere.
Even with the abridgement cutting out, at the very least, the physical comedy of the novel, I was still entertained by the first two parts. I don't know if anything could save the third part with its scattered focus and long-winded examples of misplaced scholarly effort, immortality, classical heroes, etc. I liked how Swift kept Gulliver as a fallible human. There wasn't a pitfall he missed - he couldn't help himself. The Houyhnhnms were a little insufferable but that's the problem of perfection, or perhaps the point, after the essential fact of the perfection there's nothing left worth remarking about.
Lemuel Gulliver sure was a sucker for punishment. Each voyage takes him farther from home and robs him of more of his sanity. By the end of his fourth voyage he is a recluse who, after some years, is finally allowing his wife to be in his presence. This is fierce satire. The small-minded pettiness of the Liliputians, the broad simplicity of the Brobdingnagians, the fruitless academic efforts of Laputa and the wise condescension of the Houyhnhnms sheds an unflattering light on the folly of humanity in the early 18th century - - and can still draw blood today. Don't even get him started on all of those other travel writers. Pure rubbish, only here are you going to get real, honest depictions of life elsewhere.
Even with the abridgement cutting out, at the very least, the physical comedy of the novel, I was still entertained by the first two parts. I don't know if anything could save the third part with its scattered focus and long-winded examples of misplaced scholarly effort, immortality, classical heroes, etc. I liked how Swift kept Gulliver as a fallible human. There wasn't a pitfall he missed - he couldn't help himself. The Houyhnhnms were a little insufferable but that's the problem of perfection, or perhaps the point, after the essential fact of the perfection there's nothing left worth remarking about.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Swift is known to be one of the best satirists in the history of literature and I agree. This book was a lot of things. A travelogue (mockingly), a political satire, a book of bizarre ideas and a misanthrope's unhappy ending. One thing that did confuse me though was Swift's treatment of women in his imaginary Islands (there are 4 by the way) as well as the world where he comes from. I couldn't tell if it was misogynistic or a satire of patriarchy.
Empece a escuchar este audiolibro sin muchas expectativas, pues honestamente, no tenía muy claro sobre de que iba, a parte de lo que podía deducir por el titulo. Entonces me vi sorprendida de cuan interesante era las cosas que se contaban en el. Pues me esperaba viajes a países ¨normales¨, pero no fue mucho más interesante que eso. Cada viaje que hizo el Sr. Gulliver fue asombroso, es una gran narración. Victor Villarraza, que es quien lee en el audiolibro que escuche tiene una gran voz para contar este tipo de historias (Es una versión de Librivox, por lo cual es de dominio publico).
En cada país que estuvo el ¨autor¨ no paraba de sorprenderme que alguien tuviera tan gran ingenio para describir lugares y personas (obviamente ficticios) con tal verosimilitud. Son muchas las cosas que atesoro en mi corazón de todo aquello que aprendí con el Sr. Gulliver mientras le acompañaba a través de su narración. Algo que me llama poderosamente la atención es como los seres humanos nos adaptamos a los entornos y luego nos resulta tan difícil volver a lo que eramos en un inicio. La capacidad de adaptación y cambio que poseemos es impresionante.
En cada país que estuvo el ¨autor¨ no paraba de sorprenderme que alguien tuviera tan gran ingenio para describir lugares y personas (obviamente ficticios) con tal verosimilitud. Son muchas las cosas que atesoro en mi corazón de todo aquello que aprendí con el Sr. Gulliver mientras le acompañaba a través de su narración. Algo que me llama poderosamente la atención es como los seres humanos nos adaptamos a los entornos y luego nos resulta tan difícil volver a lo que eramos en un inicio. La capacidad de adaptación y cambio que poseemos es impresionante.
3.5 Stars.
This novel has me into pieces. I couldn't understand 35% of the book and also the language is super difficult as it's a classic and was written in the 17th century. The book that I had had 4 parts in it. Let me dissect them and discuss them with you.
1. A Voyage To Lilliput:
I have read this story before and it is one of the most famous in the 4 stories. This book has tough language and many characters. The writing is tough to understand but yet really beautiful. When you read the book you can literally have the accent with you. The characters are clear and the story is beautifully described. The whole concept is really nice. This novel was very slow for me in reading as I got bored in it.
2. The Voyage to Brobdingnag:
This is my most favourite of the 4 stories in Gulliver's Travels. I loved the characters and the writing in this part of the novel us the easiest. It's like the author lightened up while writing this story. It's understandable and very well described. I love the concept and the ideology of Jonathan Swift. Best story of this classic. I read through this really fast as I loved it and it was very interesting.
3. A Voyage to Laputa:
This story was nice but not the best. The writing was easy but I just didn't connect to the story. The words were a little too hard for a 19-year-old me but I loved the concept and the characters. The plot and stories are perfect. I like how the summary is described at beginning of each chapter.
4. The Voyage to The Country Of The Houyhnhnms:
To be honest, at this point, I was tired of the hard words in the book and the writing language. I liked the story but somehow it was repetitive to this point. The same thing repeated...the author travels and goes to a new place, meet new people, describes the same old things and leaves. I was tired and happy that the book got over.
The story was nice and it was a somehow fun read. It deserves to be called a classic as it has so many unique elements. I liked the book but it's not a book that a teen with a weak literature knowledge should read.
P.S. these are my opinions, if you don't like them, please stop reading and leave. I like discussions, not hatred.
This novel has me into pieces. I couldn't understand 35% of the book and also the language is super difficult as it's a classic and was written in the 17th century. The book that I had had 4 parts in it. Let me dissect them and discuss them with you.
1. A Voyage To Lilliput:
I have read this story before and it is one of the most famous in the 4 stories. This book has tough language and many characters. The writing is tough to understand but yet really beautiful. When you read the book you can literally have the accent with you. The characters are clear and the story is beautifully described. The whole concept is really nice. This novel was very slow for me in reading as I got bored in it.
2. The Voyage to Brobdingnag:
This is my most favourite of the 4 stories in Gulliver's Travels. I loved the characters and the writing in this part of the novel us the easiest. It's like the author lightened up while writing this story. It's understandable and very well described. I love the concept and the ideology of Jonathan Swift. Best story of this classic. I read through this really fast as I loved it and it was very interesting.
3. A Voyage to Laputa:
This story was nice but not the best. The writing was easy but I just didn't connect to the story. The words were a little too hard for a 19-year-old me but I loved the concept and the characters. The plot and stories are perfect. I like how the summary is described at beginning of each chapter.
4. The Voyage to The Country Of The Houyhnhnms:
To be honest, at this point, I was tired of the hard words in the book and the writing language. I liked the story but somehow it was repetitive to this point. The same thing repeated...the author travels and goes to a new place, meet new people, describes the same old things and leaves. I was tired and happy that the book got over.
The story was nice and it was a somehow fun read. It deserves to be called a classic as it has so many unique elements. I liked the book but it's not a book that a teen with a weak literature knowledge should read.
P.S. these are my opinions, if you don't like them, please stop reading and leave. I like discussions, not hatred.
I loved Gulliver's Travels and the different chapters. This was a very good read.
Such a fun story, if at times a little hard to keep up with.
I have always loved classic children's literature and have read much of it. This particular book is one of my favorites and I think it is equally good when you it as an adult or as a child. The characters are engaging and realistic and the story draws you in.