You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i know swift didn’t believe in astrology but he’s such a sagittarius and here’s the proof
adventurous
challenging
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
If this was the most interesting entertainment to exist during my life, I would cry.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The first and probably the greatest social-satirical novel in the English language. It’s my second read and, as someone older and (perhaps slightly) wiser, it hits much harder than the first read. Reading certain other reviews of this novel, here, I can only surmise that these one-to-four-star people are either very young and were forced to read the book for a class, or adults who struggle with either antiquated English or with satire/irony. Yes, there’s no accounting for taste, but will never understand these star ratings.
While Swift’s discovery of the little people of Liliput is this novel’s most celebrated tale (there was even an American cartoon), it’s with the other voyages where his biting satires truly come to the fore, culminating in his impassioned attacks on human hypocrisy in the land of the Houyhnhnms (virtuous and rational horse creatures) and Yahoos (dirty, monstrous, imbecilic human creatures). Of course, every generation produces its share of Yahoos, the most “Yahoo-ist” these days comprising demagogues and their followers who have wholeheartedly exalted a character evil totally alien to the noble Houyhnhnms. So alien, in fact, that Houyhnhnms have no word for “lie.” It is the thing “said…but which is not.”
The power of this book is enhanced by Swift’s sober, matter-of-fact manner of narration and his measured sarcasm, which never loses its humor or spills into invective. Insightful social satirists like Swift, Twain, Wilde, Zappa, and Carlin only come along once in a great while. But we so need more of them.
While Swift’s discovery of the little people of Liliput is this novel’s most celebrated tale (there was even an American cartoon), it’s with the other voyages where his biting satires truly come to the fore, culminating in his impassioned attacks on human hypocrisy in the land of the Houyhnhnms (virtuous and rational horse creatures) and Yahoos (dirty, monstrous, imbecilic human creatures). Of course, every generation produces its share of Yahoos, the most “Yahoo-ist” these days comprising demagogues and their followers who have wholeheartedly exalted a character evil totally alien to the noble Houyhnhnms. So alien, in fact, that Houyhnhnms have no word for “lie.” It is the thing “said…but which is not.”
The power of this book is enhanced by Swift’s sober, matter-of-fact manner of narration and his measured sarcasm, which never loses its humor or spills into invective. Insightful social satirists like Swift, Twain, Wilde, Zappa, and Carlin only come along once in a great while. But we so need more of them.