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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
A brilliant satire, but without having the context of 18th century life, it's a hard swallow. Of course, if you read it for pleasure you're sure to be in for a wild ride -- those Yahoos are strange creatures indeed.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
This is a bowdlerized version of the Lilliput and Brobdingnag parts of the original. I tried reading the original Gulliver's Travels on Project Gutenburg lately, but because it's a spoof of travel writing of the era, it's so damn waffly. This is a nicely condensed version which still manages to give an idea of the style.
Since this is from the early nineties, most of the illustrations (by one of the fellows off Time Team) are in black and white but some are in colour. You sometimes forget that people used to have hardly any teeth by the time they were middle aged. But Ambrus hasn't forgotten that, and the giants quite clearly have terrible teeth.
Since this is from the early nineties, most of the illustrations (by one of the fellows off Time Team) are in black and white but some are in colour. You sometimes forget that people used to have hardly any teeth by the time they were middle aged. But Ambrus hasn't forgotten that, and the giants quite clearly have terrible teeth.
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:
N/A
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’d say for it’s satirical and contextual quality it’s not a 2-star read. I gave it two stars only because in our future historical context, I find it overly descriptive in an enervating way, the fact that all nouns are uppercase to be extremely annoying, and sort of all over the place - but I know this is unfair from my modern standpoint.
I did enjoy how much it surprised me, on the other hand. I really didn’t know the story traversed so much ground, and had such fantastical elements that I thought only existed in more modern fiction. I also liked how it brought up the idea of relativism and culture, and how it so blatantly offended british culture - because not to be offensive but sometimes the UK needs it. They don’t get enough shit for the stuff they did (especially relevant in this time period of the early 18th century!!). So maybe just for that it’s more a 2.5 star read. I read it pretty quickly (but also kept falling asleep because the actual writing style was so BLAND - maybe to add to his snarky satire - but I value writing style too much to be completely fine with this).
I also don’t have a full gauge of the political setting of this time period in Europe. If it was American literature, I’d be able to get a better sense of the rhetoric and intricate satire. But i think studying this in university (which is why I read it) will give it more depth in learning the political context of the early 18th century.
I did enjoy how much it surprised me, on the other hand. I really didn’t know the story traversed so much ground, and had such fantastical elements that I thought only existed in more modern fiction. I also liked how it brought up the idea of relativism and culture, and how it so blatantly offended british culture - because not to be offensive but sometimes the UK needs it. They don’t get enough shit for the stuff they did (especially relevant in this time period of the early 18th century!!). So maybe just for that it’s more a 2.5 star read. I read it pretty quickly (but also kept falling asleep because the actual writing style was so BLAND - maybe to add to his snarky satire - but I value writing style too much to be completely fine with this).
I also don’t have a full gauge of the political setting of this time period in Europe. If it was American literature, I’d be able to get a better sense of the rhetoric and intricate satire. But i think studying this in university (which is why I read it) will give it more depth in learning the political context of the early 18th century.
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It can get very boring at times because of the excessive details, and I struggled to keep going at some points. But as a satirical book I think it was very well done.