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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
What I was expecting: Fun, whimsical tellings of an explorer who finds himself tied up by a kingdom of tiny people and the hilarity that ensues.
What I got: Fun, whimsical tellings of an explorer who finds himself tied up by a kingdom of tiny people and the hilarity that ensues - being a satirical, and pointed commentary on the folly of man’s conceits. An exploration of still relevant political misguidings, and an accurate analysis of how preposterous we as humans can be in setting up “us” vs “them” mentalities.
For a book nearing 300 years old, I wouldn’t have expected such relevance. I would have hoped that we, as a species, have made huge advances in thinking and in how we deal with one another in the past quarter of a millennium... but alas...
From the ridiculous political party alignments that are predicated on the height of ones shoe heel, to major rifts in nations being caused by people’s preference for which side of the egg they crack (Big-Enders vs Small-Enders), Swift eloquently shines a light on how petty and irrelevant our hatreds of one another can be.
What I had known of the novel from movies and other media barely scratched the surface of what the novel actually is. Sure, there’s tiny people, and giants, and floating islands, and castle fires being extinguished with urination... But more specifically there is real exploration into politics, child rearing, and people’s absurd hatreds.
In Lilliput “The notions relating to the duties of parents and children differ extremely from ours. Men and women are joined together like other animals by motives of concupiscence; and their tenderness for their young proceed from the like natural principle: For which reason they will never allow that a child is under any obligation to his father for begetting him, or to his mother for bringing him into the world; which, considering the miseries of human life, was neither a benefit in itself, or intended so by his parents - whose thoughts in their love-encounters were otherwise employed.”
There’s a lot we can learn from the tiny people of Lilliput and a lot more we can learn than I imagined could be learned from Gulliver’s Travels.
What I got: Fun, whimsical tellings of an explorer who finds himself tied up by a kingdom of tiny people and the hilarity that ensues - being a satirical, and pointed commentary on the folly of man’s conceits. An exploration of still relevant political misguidings, and an accurate analysis of how preposterous we as humans can be in setting up “us” vs “them” mentalities.
For a book nearing 300 years old, I wouldn’t have expected such relevance. I would have hoped that we, as a species, have made huge advances in thinking and in how we deal with one another in the past quarter of a millennium... but alas...
From the ridiculous political party alignments that are predicated on the height of ones shoe heel, to major rifts in nations being caused by people’s preference for which side of the egg they crack (Big-Enders vs Small-Enders), Swift eloquently shines a light on how petty and irrelevant our hatreds of one another can be.
What I had known of the novel from movies and other media barely scratched the surface of what the novel actually is. Sure, there’s tiny people, and giants, and floating islands, and castle fires being extinguished with urination... But more specifically there is real exploration into politics, child rearing, and people’s absurd hatreds.
In Lilliput “The notions relating to the duties of parents and children differ extremely from ours. Men and women are joined together like other animals by motives of concupiscence; and their tenderness for their young proceed from the like natural principle: For which reason they will never allow that a child is under any obligation to his father for begetting him, or to his mother for bringing him into the world; which, considering the miseries of human life, was neither a benefit in itself, or intended so by his parents - whose thoughts in their love-encounters were otherwise employed.”
There’s a lot we can learn from the tiny people of Lilliput and a lot more we can learn than I imagined could be learned from Gulliver’s Travels.
I read this for a Back to the Classics Challenge in the category of an adventure classic. And indeed it is replete with adventures. There are four main adventures with some diversions within the third. Gulliver is said to be an honest if simple reporter of what he sees and experiences. The adventures pair up where Gulliver will be first morally/physically/rationally "larger" and in the next "smaller" in the same capacity than the new civilizations he visits. As is well-known to most who pick up this book, it is a satire. Many things are exposed to ridicule and sharp observations. Mostly the rational capacity of people; the justness of their governments; and the morality of groups and individuals.
Many of the reviewers on this site seemed to find it hard to make it through the book - finding it dry or tedious. I did not have a problem with that. Even not knowing who or what exactly he was skewering did not impede enjoying it. Swift did give us a model of at least one non-ridiculed person in the tale - that of a Portuguese ship captain.
My favorite part was the descriptions of what the academician scientists - "Projectors" - in the third travel were up to. Their projects were incredibly silly - extracting and storing sunlight from cucumbers, for example - and, it turns out, incredibly harmful to the people who were obliged to implement them. Houses built from the top down; doing the work of burying things in fields for the purpose of getting the hogs to "plow" the fields when they went digging them up to eat them; and a scheme to replace spoken language with a bag of things to point at - sometimes multiple bags being required depending on, etc., etc. One of the things heaped with the most derision by Gulliver - and wonderful irony on the part of Swift - was the plan of the Political Projectors:
Noting then that "there is nothing so extravagant and irrational which some Philosophers have not maintained for Truth." Not all of the projectors were "so visionary" though and their schemes were not so ill received!
I am very happy to have read this. If one part or section should not prove interesting to you, it is likely another would. It was meant as a remedy for people to be able too see and think differently about the times they lived in - to open them up to the possibility that other plans or procedures may have more wisdom. The "sins" of us Yahoos are listed and spoken plainly and if Gulliver is of middling range in Morals, Intellect, and Physical Prowess or other Abilities, we often have reason to find our current situation no better and often poorer by comparison - more Yahoo-like. Swift's satire is sharp and his irony makes for really enjoyable reading. (Fair warning, he brings up scatological topics regularly.) He is a model for satirists writing today. His writing was also so popular, so much in fashion, that those most targeted by his satire had to read what he wrote.
Many of the reviewers on this site seemed to find it hard to make it through the book - finding it dry or tedious. I did not have a problem with that. Even not knowing who or what exactly he was skewering did not impede enjoying it. Swift did give us a model of at least one non-ridiculed person in the tale - that of a Portuguese ship captain.
My favorite part was the descriptions of what the academician scientists - "Projectors" - in the third travel were up to. Their projects were incredibly silly - extracting and storing sunlight from cucumbers, for example - and, it turns out, incredibly harmful to the people who were obliged to implement them. Houses built from the top down; doing the work of burying things in fields for the purpose of getting the hogs to "plow" the fields when they went digging them up to eat them; and a scheme to replace spoken language with a bag of things to point at - sometimes multiple bags being required depending on, etc., etc. One of the things heaped with the most derision by Gulliver - and wonderful irony on the part of Swift - was the plan of the Political Projectors:
These unhappy People were proposing Schemes for persuading Monarchs to choose Favourites upon the Score of their Wisdom, Capacity and Virtue; of teaching Ministers to consult the Public Good; of rewarding Merit, great Abilities and eminent Services; of instructing Princes to know their own true Interest by placing it on the same Foundation with that of their People; Of choosing for Employments Persons qualified to exercise them; with many other wild impossible Chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of Man to conceive...
Noting then that "there is nothing so extravagant and irrational which some Philosophers have not maintained for Truth." Not all of the projectors were "so visionary" though and their schemes were not so ill received!
I am very happy to have read this. If one part or section should not prove interesting to you, it is likely another would. It was meant as a remedy for people to be able too see and think differently about the times they lived in - to open them up to the possibility that other plans or procedures may have more wisdom. The "sins" of us Yahoos are listed and spoken plainly and if Gulliver is of middling range in Morals, Intellect, and Physical Prowess or other Abilities, we often have reason to find our current situation no better and often poorer by comparison - more Yahoo-like. Swift's satire is sharp and his irony makes for really enjoyable reading. (Fair warning, he brings up scatological topics regularly.) He is a model for satirists writing today. His writing was also so popular, so much in fashion, that those most targeted by his satire had to read what he wrote.
It was interesting but it was kind of difficult to get through. It wasn't a challenging read but it had the tendency to get wordy and boring. The first two parts of the book are considerably more entertaining than the last two.
5/10
Story 1 and 3 are great but the second and fourth just drag on
Story 1 and 3 are great but the second and fourth just drag on
adventurous
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
adventurous
If anything, my feelings are strong for this book. This isn’t a half hearted, couldn’t decide what to rate it, 3 star rating. No. I feel like 3 is the mean of my love and hate for the novel.
Having an 18th century scholar guide me through the book made complete digestion possible. Without some reference to the political climate at the time of Swift’s writing, the book loses most of if magic. But, that’s also the problem—the satire is so embedded that the reader can easily and understandably forget the bigger picture as an adventure tale. But, then again, is that a flaw on the writing? The creativity and originality is unprecedented. The pace of the novel is inspiring too, if not a peace offering for the winding and disorienting sentences.
For all its flaws, this is a great novel that helps to fully unlock the political climate of the period piece.
Having an 18th century scholar guide me through the book made complete digestion possible. Without some reference to the political climate at the time of Swift’s writing, the book loses most of if magic. But, that’s also the problem—the satire is so embedded that the reader can easily and understandably forget the bigger picture as an adventure tale. But, then again, is that a flaw on the writing? The creativity and originality is unprecedented. The pace of the novel is inspiring too, if not a peace offering for the winding and disorienting sentences.
For all its flaws, this is a great novel that helps to fully unlock the political climate of the period piece.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No