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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
Sometimes, you can just feel the smug oozing from a printed page. It's especially bad when you know the author believes himself superior to at least the target of his derision, if not his entire audience.
That's certainly the case with Jonathan Swift in general and Gulliver's Travels, specifically.
Mind you, the people Swift was lampooning deserved it. That even today people call this a child's tale bears out exactly the points Swift was making with it. But that doesn't make this any easier to read.
As plodding and wordy as any other work of its time; a bit heavy-handed with devices; overall, just a chore to read. Or, in today's vernacular, obvious troll is obvious.
Review by Dougvanderweides .. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/249610780
Exactly how I feel about this book.
That's certainly the case with Jonathan Swift in general and Gulliver's Travels, specifically.
Mind you, the people Swift was lampooning deserved it. That even today people call this a child's tale bears out exactly the points Swift was making with it. But that doesn't make this any easier to read.
As plodding and wordy as any other work of its time; a bit heavy-handed with devices; overall, just a chore to read. Or, in today's vernacular, obvious troll is obvious.
Review by Dougvanderweides .. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/249610780
Exactly how I feel about this book.
Gulliver's Travels is a book about a man that dislikes his family so much that he'd rather spend his time attending a miniature kingdom, being tossed about by giants, talk to completely deluded scientists and attempt to ingratiate himself with super-intelligent horses. Or perhaps it's all the ravings of a madman deserted on an island for too long.
*FORENOTE - The edition I read is super old, I have no idea if any improvements have been made or sections fixed/removed.*
The first half of the book was interesting and the story well-developed but around the end of the Brobdingnag section (giants) the book starts to repeat a pattern, with each of the journeys being a visit to some strange landmass where either the people are strange or there is something in their land that is. Gulliver is always received by the Royals of those nations and without trouble is given high respect and can do as he pleases, usually exploring the local culture.
I particularly enjoyed the stay with the advanced horse race, there are clear parallels between the horse's ways of life and religious Indian/Asian cultures and customs found in Hinduism and Buddhism. Swift portrays the different casts as different breeds with their set roles in society, he spends many pages bringing up all the flaws found in western humanity which Buddhism teaches you to recognise and avoid. He also instills the reason and ration-based thinking in the horses that you would find in a wisened monk, but unlike in the Buddhist teachings they do not remotely indulge in love or closeness past neighbourly-ness (excuse the pun) which is part of the whole 'Middle Path' or 'Noble Eightfold Path'.
As a set of short stories this is a fantastic book with many satirical nods and interesting concepts that exaggerate the travels of others in that time, but if you take it as a continuation from one tale to the next then you'll find very little carry-over. None of the past events come up again except in the summary chapter at the end, also the further you reach in the book the quicker and less developed the tales are, I found it best to treat them as little fantasy concepts expanded so as to give the reader something to think about for the day (see the discussion about struldbrugs in pt III).
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This ending was horrible. Like, i expect a fantastical travel diary written in 1724 to be questionable. But i just hated the main character more.
Its really interesting seen in a historical viewpoint, but the morality is lost when you come to the end.
Its all about different societies having their quirks and being worthy, but then all that goes to trash when the main character takes a turn to hating humans and thinking them disgusting, yet oraising england for its colonization saying its good for the colonies 💀
And thats not even touching on how this guy talks about his family. Its the typical example of wanting security in a family but not wanting the responsibility. (MY GUY LEAVES IS GONE FOR 3 YEARS, COMES HOME, GETS HIS WIFE PREGNANT AND LEAVES AGAIN ALL IN THE SPAN OF 2 MONTHS).
i liked the creativity tho.
Its really interesting seen in a historical viewpoint, but the morality is lost when you come to the end.
Its all about different societies having their quirks and being worthy, but then all that goes to trash when the main character takes a turn to hating humans and thinking them disgusting, yet oraising england for its colonization saying its good for the colonies 💀
And thats not even touching on how this guy talks about his family. Its the typical example of wanting security in a family but not wanting the responsibility. (MY GUY LEAVES IS GONE FOR 3 YEARS, COMES HOME, GETS HIS WIFE PREGNANT AND LEAVES AGAIN ALL IN THE SPAN OF 2 MONTHS).
i liked the creativity tho.
adventurous
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Yeah man, I did not enjoy this book. It was just rubbish. I know it's satirex but it wasn't funny (I probs just don't get the references) but I hated the main character, he was annoying and rude and yeah, just jot my vibe.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Elismerem a fontosságát ennek a műnek mind történelmi mind szociológiai szempontból. Felismerem az okát, hogy miért analizáltuk ezt a művet az iskolában. Mindez nem jelenti azt hogy tetszett.
A korra jellemző szexizmust és rasszizmust most félretéve (nagyon nehéz pedig) az üzenet negatív szerintem egy elfogadhatatlan formában.
Mint fikció a főszereplő utálatos volt szinte végig de leginkább az utolsó részben.
Bár a horror műfajnak megadnám, hogy kifejezetten jót tudna kihozni egy olyan emberből aki embertársait szimpla állatokként látja és úgy is használja őket, pl a bőrükből hord ruhát, itt nem ez volt a jelentősége ami további megkérdőjelezhetőséget ad a műnek.
Szerintem a végkimenetel, hogy utáljuk az embereket nem helyes, sőt elfogadhatatlan abban a formában ahogy a műben fel van tüntetve.
Mégis meg kell említenem, hogy borzalmasan kényelmetlenül éreztem magam az utolsó részben amikor az őslakosokat emberteleneknek sőt igás állatoknak és barbár lényeknek állította be. Mármint a szimbolikát értem, de akkor csinálhatta volna egy európaiakra hajazó embercsoporttal.
A korra jellemző szexizmust és rasszizmust most félretéve (nagyon nehéz pedig) az üzenet negatív szerintem egy elfogadhatatlan formában.
Mint fikció a főszereplő utálatos volt szinte végig de leginkább az utolsó részben.
Bár a horror műfajnak megadnám, hogy kifejezetten jót tudna kihozni egy olyan emberből aki embertársait szimpla állatokként látja és úgy is használja őket, pl a bőrükből hord ruhát, itt nem ez volt a jelentősége ami további megkérdőjelezhetőséget ad a műnek.
Szerintem a végkimenetel, hogy utáljuk az embereket nem helyes, sőt elfogadhatatlan abban a formában ahogy a műben fel van tüntetve.
Mégis meg kell említenem, hogy borzalmasan kényelmetlenül éreztem magam az utolsó részben amikor az őslakosokat emberteleneknek sőt igás állatoknak és barbár lényeknek állította be. Mármint a szimbolikát értem, de akkor csinálhatta volna egy európaiakra hajazó embercsoporttal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia
Moderate: Slavery
Did not finish. It became a chore to read. There are better books to spend time reading.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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:
No