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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Are we sure this was for children? 🤨 It's either long-winded in philosophy and politics or going off on how the locals eat their excrement...I guess that last one would play with some kids. I think the picture book I had of this was better, just the exciting parts of being a giant or being tiny, and none of the grown-up pontificating.
Great book! I started reading it as a teen and I guess I never finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I see why it's a classic!
Classic tale of a traveler who gets lost twice on the high-seas.... the story of his journeys and the differences and similarities of the civilizations he experiences... Also subtle suggestions of how silly our civilization acts in our day to day world that we know so well... Best quote from the book = "I cannot but conclude that the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."
Man with wife and children buggers off to explore the seven seas whilst his wife brings up a brood of kids alone. And five years later does it again.
And then again 5 years after that
And again, five yeras after that only worse cos this time the wife is pregnant and about to give birth.
Most of the story is word for word recounts of conversations between characters with badly weaved in exposition, on the daily life of British politics and ways of life.
The last adventure involves the "author" going to a land where horses are the dominant species and humans - yahoo's - are beasts. The author becomes so enamoured with the life he is living on the civilised island of sophisticated logic driven horses that after he is asked to leave for the sake of his own life, he would rather maroon himself on an island somewhere to live out the remainder of his life than return to his home country and be with his family. And when he does return, almost dragged kicking and screaming, back to his family, he continues to treat his own species - his wife!! - as a repulsive yahoo. It comes across more like an it girl who spent a summer in France and now drops random French into her sentences than a man traumatised and brainwashed into believing the practices of a cult, even though I'm sure the latter is how we the readers are meant to take it.
I honestly don't know how anyone can like this novel or the character and it can only possibly be a kids story in a heavily edited version made kid friendly, not the whole book in its entirety.
And then again 5 years after that
And again, five yeras after that only worse cos this time the wife is pregnant and about to give birth.
Most of the story is word for word recounts of conversations between characters with badly weaved in exposition, on the daily life of British politics and ways of life.
The last adventure involves the "author" going to a land where horses are the dominant species and humans - yahoo's - are beasts. The author becomes so enamoured with the life he is living on the civilised island of sophisticated logic driven horses that after he is asked to leave for the sake of his own life, he would rather maroon himself on an island somewhere to live out the remainder of his life than return to his home country and be with his family. And when he does return, almost dragged kicking and screaming, back to his family, he continues to treat his own species - his wife!! - as a repulsive yahoo. It comes across more like an it girl who spent a summer in France and now drops random French into her sentences than a man traumatised and brainwashed into believing the practices of a cult, even though I'm sure the latter is how we the readers are meant to take it.
I honestly don't know how anyone can like this novel or the character and it can only possibly be a kids story in a heavily edited version made kid friendly, not the whole book in its entirety.
funny
informative
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
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
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
I confess my only real experience with G's travels has been through the Ted Danson mini-series [[ASIN:B00003ETJV Gulliver's Travels]] which I did enjoy nonetheless but to some extent added the personal drama absent from the original piece.
Nonetheless I enjoyed picking up Swift's (not quite)original piece, despite the centuries past since publication the book is a relatively easy read, with only the occasional old-timey word giving me pause. The strength of the piece is in Gulliver's analysing of each strange and magical land he visits. While not entirely absent of action, the book doesn't have a modern tension-driven storyline, the focus is entirely on examining the oddness of each locale, and comparisons to England.
So while you may not find yourself overly attached to Mr G (about the only thing you learn about him is he has no qualms about leaving his wife and children behind frequently [although he always has some excuse]) you're sure to enjoy Swift providing a depth of observation and insight which must have been controversial back in his day, considering I think some could even be offended today (yahoos!)
Nonetheless I enjoyed picking up Swift's (not quite)original piece, despite the centuries past since publication the book is a relatively easy read, with only the occasional old-timey word giving me pause. The strength of the piece is in Gulliver's analysing of each strange and magical land he visits. While not entirely absent of action, the book doesn't have a modern tension-driven storyline, the focus is entirely on examining the oddness of each locale, and comparisons to England.
So while you may not find yourself overly attached to Mr G (about the only thing you learn about him is he has no qualms about leaving his wife and children behind frequently [although he always has some excuse]) you're sure to enjoy Swift providing a depth of observation and insight which must have been controversial back in his day, considering I think some could even be offended today (yahoos!)