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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
read v quickly, Part 1 was favourite. will need to go back in holidays and re-read more slowly
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The message of this story: After you have spent five years living with horses, you will lose your mind and end up hating humankind and prefering to talk to horses and not your familiy.
Popular culture has most likely provided you with preconceived notions about this book, even if you've never read a single paragraph. Chances are you can vividly picture Gulliver's encounter with the Lilliputians, those diminutive warriors who don't balk at capturing a man ten times their size. Perhaps this has lead you to think that the rest of the book must be full of similar pointless absurdities, and on one level, you're right. But Jonathan Swift definitely had a point in mind when he wrote this book, and although some parts of his message can seem obscure today, others are appallingly relevant.
If you set out to summarize the plot of this book, it would seem like very few events to occupy nearly 300 pages of text. Man goes to sea, is stranded on an island with certain peculiar inhabitants, and eventually gets home (x4.) The bulk of the novel is really just minutiae, and while it does sometimes drag, the inventiveness of the author is a source of constant amazement. For example, on Lilliput, Gulliver has to figure out how to actually live as a six foot tall man in a six inch tall world, and it turns out to be no easy task. Similar challenges arise in all the lands he visits.
In addition to details of daily life, the author spends a lot of time discussing the types of societies and manners of living in the countries he visits, and this is where the importance of the novel as a satire becomes clear. The well known story of the Lilliputians becomes more meaningful when you follow Gulliver's travels to the next island, where all the inhabitants are sixty feet tall, and suddenly he is the Lilliputian. One major effect of traveling on Gulliver is that he is constantly reevaluating how he views humanity, usually to humanity's detriment. The petty squabbles of religious factions, the attitudes of scientists who are more concerned with progress than with reality, and the absurdity of the British legal system are all brought under the microscope, among many other topics, and nobody comes out looking good.
Sometimes the frankness of discussions of bodily functions and parts of anatomy can seem shocking for a book from 1726, and I'm sure that was true at the time as well, but it never seems like Swift is being profane without reason. What is ultimately more shocking is the pessimism and cynicism the book reveals about human nature, especially near the conclusion. There are entire libraries written about which character is supposed to represent what person or thing in 18th century Britain, but you don't have to get bogged down in cataloguing the whole allegory to appreciate that this book is a cutting insight into human folly. Although I cannot ultimately agree with the authors misanthropy, he certainly makes some compelling arguments. If all you know about Gulliver's Travels is that there are miniature people involved, it's worth taking another look at this undisputed classic of English literature.
If you set out to summarize the plot of this book, it would seem like very few events to occupy nearly 300 pages of text. Man goes to sea, is stranded on an island with certain peculiar inhabitants, and eventually gets home (x4.) The bulk of the novel is really just minutiae, and while it does sometimes drag, the inventiveness of the author is a source of constant amazement. For example, on Lilliput, Gulliver has to figure out how to actually live as a six foot tall man in a six inch tall world, and it turns out to be no easy task. Similar challenges arise in all the lands he visits.
In addition to details of daily life, the author spends a lot of time discussing the types of societies and manners of living in the countries he visits, and this is where the importance of the novel as a satire becomes clear. The well known story of the Lilliputians becomes more meaningful when you follow Gulliver's travels to the next island, where all the inhabitants are sixty feet tall, and suddenly he is the Lilliputian. One major effect of traveling on Gulliver is that he is constantly reevaluating how he views humanity, usually to humanity's detriment. The petty squabbles of religious factions, the attitudes of scientists who are more concerned with progress than with reality, and the absurdity of the British legal system are all brought under the microscope, among many other topics, and nobody comes out looking good.
Sometimes the frankness of discussions of bodily functions and parts of anatomy can seem shocking for a book from 1726, and I'm sure that was true at the time as well, but it never seems like Swift is being profane without reason. What is ultimately more shocking is the pessimism and cynicism the book reveals about human nature, especially near the conclusion. There are entire libraries written about which character is supposed to represent what person or thing in 18th century Britain, but you don't have to get bogged down in cataloguing the whole allegory to appreciate that this book is a cutting insight into human folly. Although I cannot ultimately agree with the authors misanthropy, he certainly makes some compelling arguments. If all you know about Gulliver's Travels is that there are miniature people involved, it's worth taking another look at this undisputed classic of English literature.
adventurous
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated