Review: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

This Book Is About

My Thoughts On This Book

This is a good book; as humorous, viably satirical, and readable as it was in the late 1700′s when Swift wrote it. Gulliver is a very down-to-earth, likable fellow and the writing style is very much like sitting and listening to someone tell you a story. Even if you don’t know the politics that are being satirized it’s not a real detraction from the story since it’s primarily about human nature and attitudes. Of course, the notes in the back of this edition do illuminate those things not obvious to the modern reader.

I first got the urge to read Gulliver’s Travels after watching an old Doctor Who episode called Mind Robber in which the 2nd Doctor and his companions run into Gulliver, among other fictional people. Gulliver, in the Doctor Who episode, spoke only in lines from the book (mildly tweaked here and there to make it work for some of the dialog situations). It was like getting a tiny, teasing taste of the work and it made me realize I’d never actually read this book even though I, like everyone, knows about the Lilliputians.

I was surprised to discover that Gulliver didn’t have one single, long, Odyssey-like adventure. Each of the extraordinary lands he travels to is a separate adventure, with years in between them. And Gulliver gets into, and back home from, each of his adventures in a different way.

And, wow, is there ever so much more going on in Gulliver’s Travels than just that famous bit with the Lilliputians. The third country Gulliver visits is ruled by people who live on a giant floating island and where Gulliver gets his Utopian views of immortality adjusted to a more realistic outlook. The final strange land his adventures-of-accident take him to is ruled entirely by horses. That’s where the yahoos live.

Gulliver’s Travels is a good read, tongue-in-cheek humorous and fully worthy of its status as a classic.

Rating & Levels For This Book

I Give This Book two Vikings out of five (“good”)	Violence Level one Burning Hut out of five	Romance Level zero Hearts out of five
# of actual vikings in book: 0 What do these levels mean? »	Humor Level two Smiles out of five	Lust Level zero Kisses out of five

Author and Publishing Information For This Book

Author & Book Details Title: Gulliver’s Travels Author(s): Jonathan Swift (introduction and notes by Micael Seidel) ISBN#: 1593080573 Genre(s): Satirical fiction classic Edition Reviewed: Massmarket paperback Illustrations: N/A Page Count: 310 (333 with notes, Gulliver in the media, comments & questions, and For Further Reading recommendations) Part of a Series: No

Publishing & Copyright Details Publisher(s): Barnes & Noble Classics (via Fine Creative Media, Inc) Copyright: 2003 (first published 1735) In Print: Yes Original Language: English Published in Other Languages: Yes Find a Local Comic Shop » Find a Local Book Store »

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