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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i have to say, for a book published in 1726 this was very readable. the humor and satire still come through and of course some of swift's ideas have endured to this day. (although i'm sure it was much more titillating for those who understood all the now-obscure 18th century british political jabs.) while i liked the initial idea of the story i did grow a little tiresome of the repetitious sequence of events, even if you suspend disbelief and go with the idea that this same guy just happens to get marooned on island after island that have somehow never been discovered. still, swift was remarkably clever and i'm glad to have read it.
Though many may only be familiar with Guliver's Travels to the land of the Lilliputians where he is a giant among them, Swifts tale tells of 4 separate odd adventures that Guliver finds himself on. Each adventure has it's interests, but Guliver's final stop in the land of the horses was my personal favorite. Swift's wit and social commentary is clear throughout and the novel is mostly interesting with few dull parts. While an entertaining classic there was nothing about Gulivers Travels that left a huge impression
I think this is probably my dose of satire for the year. The descriptions of the four different lands that Swift (Gulliver) visits gives the author the opportunity to delve into comparisons and innovative methods of society. Woven into the text are continual satirical references to historical events, if you're not up to date with your 17th/18th century Europe then the notes are useful!
Houw did this savage satire become a children's classic?
I read this book finally, upto the last page, as a part of a very interesting course on 18th C literature, and I loved the insights into Swift's work the course gave me. Specially amusing was my professor's fascination with the 'scatological fixation' that Swift shows in this work. :D
Actually, I bought this book because I was intrigued by the plot when I was a kid while reading an excerpt of the book in my schoolbook. But, only the part of Gulliver and the Lilliputs were great, the rest of the story was such a mess. I couldn't resonate or relate with the weird imagination of Jonathan Swift. And the travel experiences of Gulliver seemed to be a loop. It was the same thing again and again - he went for sea adventure, he is a lone survivor of a sea disaster, he comes across weird people, weird people find him fascinating, he stays with weird people, he gets bored after some time, he escapes, he meets another set of strange people AND THE SAME CYCLE OF EVENTS GETS REPEATED. I don't get the reason why this is called a classic.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced