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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
slow-paced
This was the first book (besides a textbook) that I fell asleep reading.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m not one for fantasy, so I found myself not super entertained with the content of the story. However, my writer’s brain can appreciate Swift’s creativity and satirical application. Overall, not my favorite, but I can hold a respect for the author and his creativity.
Read to 80 pages and you’ll understand why if you can get that far
Oh these people were small and everything they did was small
Oh these people were big and everything they did was big
Oh these people were small and everything they did was small
Oh these people were big and everything they did was big
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yo sé que el libro es una sátira y crítica sobre la política, sociedad, la justicia, el poder, la razón humana y hasta los roles de género, pero solo podía pensar en la pobre esposa de Gulliver y sus desafortunados hijos.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s a satire disguised as a whimsical travel log. ABSOLUTE CHEF’S KISS!!! Swift served a whole roast 🙂↕️🔥
The story is about Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon who later becomes a ship captain and travels to several strange and distant lands. Each of his voyages begins as a normal sea journey for work, but always ends in shipwrecks, or storms that (accidentally) bring him to strange lands (Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, Japan, and Houyhnhnms).
𝙈𝙮 𝙊𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 & 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚: This book is slow-paced because of long descriptions of manners, laws, and institutions (Gulliver always studies the manners, customs, and languages of the people in every land he visits because it’s his principal study). Swift is constantly using irony to criticize everything, so, it’s not always clear when he’s being serious or sarcastic… he often says the opposite of what he means. Also, the sentence structures can feel dense and unfamiliar which makes me easy to get lost.
Every strange land Gulliver visits is just a mirror of exaggerated, but revealing something grotesquely true about humanity, society, politics, and science (especially in England). I LOVE THIS BECAUSE IT’S DARK as society was corrupt at its roots. AND I SWEAR THIS BOOK IS NOT MEANT TO EXCITE. From the beginning it makes me feel uneasy and laugh bitterly at how ridiculous the world is. The growing disgust with humans might be fair and real too, especially in Part IV (the Houyhnhnms), the tone turns bleak. In the end it becomes a tragic philosophical novel because Gulliver himself despises humans even his family, calling them “Yahoos” (creatures driven by lust, greed, and violence). Gulliver's rejection of human imperfection makes him lose his own humanity and losing faith in humanity entirely. A BRUTAL IRONY!!!
Every strange land Gulliver visits is just a mirror of exaggerated, but revealing something grotesquely true about humanity, society, politics, and science (especially in England). I LOVE THIS BECAUSE IT’S DARK as society was corrupt at its roots. AND I SWEAR THIS BOOK IS NOT MEANT TO EXCITE. From the beginning it makes me feel uneasy and laugh bitterly at how ridiculous the world is. The growing disgust with humans might be fair and real too, especially in Part IV (the Houyhnhnms), the tone turns bleak. In the end it becomes a tragic philosophical novel because Gulliver himself despises humans even his family, calling them “Yahoos” (creatures driven by lust, greed, and violence). Gulliver's rejection of human imperfection makes him lose his own humanity and losing faith in humanity entirely. A BRUTAL IRONY!!!
𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩: When Gulliver talks with the ghosts of historical figures in Glubbdubdrib. REALLY CYNICAL AND BRILLIANT!!! In Glubbdubdrib, the people (especially the governor) have the power of necromancy, meaning they can summon and speak to the dead. It’s one of the most fascinating part to me. Gulliver gets to talk with ghosts like Alexander the Great, Caesar, Brutus, and more. It’s somehow devastating in its irony and truth on historical propaganda.
𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨: After all, I still like the ending tho. No sugarcoating and yes… the darkness was always there. And the point is: a fearless confrontation with human nature. Really recommended and a must-read. A forever-relevant classic.
adventurous
reflective
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:
No
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The book is a slight trifle; although the prose and the way this is written appears to flow steadfastly like a reservoir of primordial mulch – Gulliver happens to have little of note, I actually think the film or mini-series adaptation involved way more development cause Jonathan Swift is so crass and choleric it’s hard to find a nice quote to garnish this post with/ the thoughts reviewers put into the blurb matter gosh darn more than quotations do though … SO when I see a review written entirely in the author’s quotations, that’s not entirely proliferating; instead it’s not persuasive, and I don’t feel convinced that the prejudices of the author are even in accord in the argument they’re trying to make; pulled out of context, and w/o any circumspection on the reviewers behalf. Eh, no, this criticism is not substantial. Quotations are for talking points; if you flood your review with them and not adding to it your own sense of flair ... I love reading the blurbs that you take the time to craft.
I said that Jules Verne was not the first to do science fiction. & there’s a lot of debate around that, sff has gone through the grist mill since cave paintings. Now I contend Gulliver’s Travels is a science fiction novel far ahead of its time. It has been said about Jonathan Swift that they succumbed to madness & detested the society he lived in. The different islands Gulliver travels are products of fiction and fantasy, and of course, hard examples of science fiction, too; The author probably felt the bleakness of traveling. Everywhere they travel to, the people are just people; they are not horses or lilliputians or brobdingnagians, nor giants; so it’s imperative that they appreciate the diversity among us for what it’s worth. Besides that, people are really just not that interesting. & I don’t enjoy looking at people every day, my eyes tend to look away even from beauty; there’s not much I haven’t seen in looks, it’s the intellect matters most. & it makes me feel inauthentic, to put on phoney airs, & even the act of sex is phoniness in itself. Swift was never satisfied, cynical, & I’m not satisfied unless I’m being myself.
“the thirst I had of seeing the world, notwithstanding my past misfortunes, continuing as violent as ever.”
Truth be told, Gulliver’s Travels is like a mock harangue on the futility of folks like Christopher Columbus they sailed into foreign lands but left violence in their shadow; forcibly encroaching their scholarship on the savages inhabiting the land, imbibing the elixir of morality and character, impeding the regress. So anyway, I like Becker. Ted Danson portrayed a passionate Gulliver, excitable and romantic. I haven’t seen the Jack Black film.
[Second Read, March 2011]
[First Read, November 2003]
Minus a star for the chapter in between the giants and the talking horses, because it was obviously so boring that I can't even remember it, but I like the part where Gulliver pees on the town, so three stars for that. The other star is for Gulliver sitting in between the lady giant's giant boobies.
Swift was totally doing drugs.
[First Read, November 2003]
Minus a star for the chapter in between the giants and the talking horses, because it was obviously so boring that I can't even remember it, but I like the part where Gulliver pees on the town, so three stars for that. The other star is for Gulliver sitting in between the lady giant's giant boobies.
Swift was totally doing drugs.