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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
Good Lord Almighty! This book took me forever to read. Just over 300 pages, this should have taken me three days max but instead took me five. A very slow read and difficult to get through. I hate the way the book is written. It lacks a flow that I feel is incredibly important to novel writing, which is what contributed to my massive difficulty in getting through this book. Even a four-page chapter felt like a marathon.
It's unfortunate that the style of writing affected me so negatively because I can see where I would find the plot interesting. This is the only reason I've rated Gulliver's Travels 2 stars instead of 1 star - the potential. But there was so much left to be desired due to the writing. Such a bummer and disappointment.
I will say that I don't think I'm into satire as a genre either, which isn't the book's fault. But this book did kinda solidify that feeling. Firstly, I think authors of satire just seem arrogant and pompous, which is ironic because those qualities are typically what they're criticizing. I also feel that in order to appreciate satire, you have to know a great deal about what was going on in the world during that time. And I just don't. I know the basics of what was happening but really knowing it... that's what it takes to appreciate satire, and I just don't have the desire to know that extensively.
It's unfortunate that the style of writing affected me so negatively because I can see where I would find the plot interesting. This is the only reason I've rated Gulliver's Travels 2 stars instead of 1 star - the potential. But there was so much left to be desired due to the writing. Such a bummer and disappointment.
I will say that I don't think I'm into satire as a genre either, which isn't the book's fault. But this book did kinda solidify that feeling. Firstly, I think authors of satire just seem arrogant and pompous, which is ironic because those qualities are typically what they're criticizing. I also feel that in order to appreciate satire, you have to know a great deal about what was going on in the world during that time. And I just don't. I know the basics of what was happening but really knowing it... that's what it takes to appreciate satire, and I just don't have the desire to know that extensively.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book was great. I just struggled through the first few chapters, but soon adapted to the variation in language.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Very repetitive and the narration of Gulliver was annoying. The adventures and different characters met along the way were interesting in that they represented different aspects of personality of people in the time period. However, despite that, there really isn't that much to Gulliver's that makes it particularly entertaining to read.
This was actually an entertaining book. It did feel a little repetitive at times, but it was interesting to read different adventures.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was alright, I guess.
It is a fun story and in the beginning I did like reading it however halfway through I got tired of the concept and it began to took me ages to just read another chapter. However I am glad I took the time to read this book. Mister Swift really tells his criticism of the world in an intersting and unique way.
It is a fun story and in the beginning I did like reading it however halfway through I got tired of the concept and it began to took me ages to just read another chapter. However I am glad I took the time to read this book. Mister Swift really tells his criticism of the world in an intersting and unique way.
I've had a long and difficult history with this book. To be honest, I've spent most of my life thinking that I loathe it. I had a copy as a kid, you see - not the actual book, but a heavily cut-down, heavily illustrated version meant for young readers, and I remember thinking even then that it was the silliest, most boring thing I'd ever read. I moved into the original text as a teen - the book was so famous, there had to be something I was missing - and was confirmed in my opinion. Tried it again ten years later, I'm not sure I even finished it then. It's stuck in my mind, ever since, as the very definition of a tedious read.
Well, I must be a glutton for punishment, because I've read the thing now for the fourth time and I can finally say that I like it. Not enough to ever read it again, but I'm satisfied that I appreciate it for what it is: vicious, biting satire in which Swift took his revenge upon the people he disliked. I'd always vaguely understood the thing was satirical, but I lacked the historical context to really appreciate just what and who Swift was bitching about. (I much preferred his baby-eating pamphlet, which was blatantly obvious and clearly more my speed.) But the copy I've read now is one that's enormously annotated. It's a substantial book, filled with illustrations of previous editions of Gulliver, and each page is split into halves, with one half original text and the other annotated explanation. For someone who had only a very vague idea as to the Whigs and the Tories (and the political machinations in general) of Swift's time, it makes things so much clearer. And genuinely more interesting. The satire has layers now.
I'm still never reading it again. I'm sorry Mr. Swift, I own I did misjudge you, but four times is three times too many.
Well, I must be a glutton for punishment, because I've read the thing now for the fourth time and I can finally say that I like it. Not enough to ever read it again, but I'm satisfied that I appreciate it for what it is: vicious, biting satire in which Swift took his revenge upon the people he disliked. I'd always vaguely understood the thing was satirical, but I lacked the historical context to really appreciate just what and who Swift was bitching about. (I much preferred his baby-eating pamphlet, which was blatantly obvious and clearly more my speed.) But the copy I've read now is one that's enormously annotated. It's a substantial book, filled with illustrations of previous editions of Gulliver, and each page is split into halves, with one half original text and the other annotated explanation. For someone who had only a very vague idea as to the Whigs and the Tories (and the political machinations in general) of Swift's time, it makes things so much clearer. And genuinely more interesting. The satire has layers now.
I'm still never reading it again. I'm sorry Mr. Swift, I own I did misjudge you, but four times is three times too many.