Ce n’est pas sans raison que la « Modeste proposition concernant les enfants des classes pauvres » est de loin le plus connu des quatre textes proposés ici. C’est en effet celui où la verve satirique de Swift s’exerce avec le plus de mordant et le plus de clarté. Les trois autres textes sont en effet plus obscurs, la faute peut-être à la traduction ou plus sûrement a des indices contextuels qui nous font défaut. Et c’est là qu’on voit à nouveau les limitations de ces éditions bon marchés dépourvue d’un minimum d’appareil critique permettant d’apprécier pleinement les textes proposés.

Very small book about random topics covered by mr swift. Genius mind. Here are the next bits:

Wit without knowledge being a sort of cream, which gathers in a night to the top, and by a skillful hand may be soon whipped into froth; but once scummed away, what appears underneath will be fit for nothing but to be thrown to the hogs.

And pray what is man, but a topsy-turvy creature, his animal faculties perpetually mounted on his rational, his head where his heels should be, grovelling on the earth! and yet, with all his faults, he sets up to be a universal reformer and corrector of abuses, a remover of grievances, rakes into every slut's corner of nature, bringing hidden corruption to the light, and raises a mighty dust where there was none before; sharing deeply all the while in the very same pollutions he pretends to sweep away; his last days are spent in slavery to women, and generally the least deserving; till, worn out to the stumps, like his brother besom, he is either kicked out of doors, or made use of to kindle flames for others to warm themselves by.

Hippocrates tells us that among our ancestors the Scythians there was a nation called Long-heads,
" which at first began by a custom among midwives and nurses of moulding, and squeezing, and bracing up the heads of infants; by which means nature, co shut out at one passage, was forced to seek another, and, finding room above, shot upwards in the form of a sugar-loaf; and, being diverted that way for some generations, at last found it out of herself, needing no assistance from the nurse's hand.

Secondly, the art of seesaw on a beam, and swinging by session upon a cord, in order to raise artificial ecstasies, has been derived to us from our Scythian* ancestors, where it is practised at this day among the women.

I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the 120,000 children already computed, 20,000 may be reserved for breed, whereto only one-fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining 100,000 may at a year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.

Needed something short after finishing War and Peace. This hit the spot. Overall, very funny stuff, although the context is so old (circa 1700s) that it was hard to follow at times.

The Battle of the Books: This was really funny, especially where Swift instructs that we imagine actually books fighting.

A Meditation Upon A Broomstick: VERY funny. And biting.

A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit: A few funny and interesting observations, but I found this one hard to follow.

An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity in England: Is this 18th Century writing or modern day? On point, even today.

A Modest Proposal: I had no idea what this was about and boy was it surprising! Enjoyable, quick read. Not much to say about the proposal itself. :)

Swift's best work is without a doubt Gulliver's travels. However, there are a number of great pieces in this collections and the shorter it is the sweeter. Meditation upon broom-stick, Abolishing Christianity, and a Modest proposal rank the best among the short essays and really demonstrate insight and sarcastic ingenuity. It is probably better to own a copy and read pieces from time to time than to borrow it from the library and read it cover to cover.

Witty

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

With this paragraph, around a quarter of the way through a 1729 text, Swift (originally writing anonymously) detonates the bomb that is at the core of A Modest PROPOSAL For preventing the CHILDREN of POOR PEOPLE From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the PUBLICK.

But this, of course, is Swift, and we must never take his writings at their word. When he discusses the main advantages of such a policy for Ireland (such as fewer Catholics, the introduction of a new dish for gentlemen with refined tastes, an added draw for taverns, an income for the 'breeders' and an economic policy to encourage marriage) his purpose is to criticise social attitudes, but as with all satire, outward appearances are outrageous--but also deceptive.

Swift was Anglo-Irish Anglican clergyman, and his position was to be a signpost always to a via media (as characterises the Church of England itself, being somewhere in the middle of a Christian continuum stretching from Dissenter to Roman Catholic). By taking arguments to extremes, as with A Modest Proposal, he exposed what he saw as inherent ridiculousness, but with such po-faced earnestness that it was sometimes hard to know when he was being serious without close reading of the text.

In this slim volume are also included four other works. The Battle of the Books is the longest, and was essentially a discourse on the three strands of Christianity in the west, with the individuals Peter, Martin and Jack standing for Catholicism, Anglicanism and Nonconformism. (As a digression, I wonder if this piece indirectly influenced R M Ballantyne's famous novel The Coral Island, the leads of which were Peterkin, Jack Martin and Ralph, and which itself directly inspired William Golding's characters Piggy, Jack and Ralph in The Lord of the Flies.)

Also here is the very short A Meditation upon a Broomstick, a mock allegory of the human condition perpetrated as a joke upon a Lady Berkeley. This is followed by A Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit: in this Swift equates spirit with 'enthusiasm', literally the state of being possessed by a god. The manifestation of enthusiasm Swift calls 'ejaculating the spirit, or transporting it beyond the sphere of matter'; to the three expressions of this manifestation--divine prophecy or inspiration, devilish possession, and the product of the imagination or strong emotions--Swift adds 'the mechanical operation of the spirit', which he at first compares to the ass on which Mohammed is said to have travelled to Paradise. (He also has witty words to say about epistolatory conventions, but there is no space, dear reader, to expand on this.)

That only leaves the last of these papers published before 1729, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity in England, which, however dry the subject appears to be from the title, is as knockabout a farce attacking all and sundry as any in this collection. Swift's own footnotes, along with the editor's, are included here, as well as a brief biography by way of introduction.

Even allowing for a three-century gap these pieces have a surprisingly relevant contemporary bite, especially in view of recent political events: the shocking satire of A Modest Proposal throws a light on the downsides of utilitarianism, the dangers of cynical commercialism and the human capacity for self-delusion.

Öncelikle şunu söylemek gerek: Bu derlemede Swift'in 1697-1729 yılları arasında yazdığı 8 yazıya yer verilmiş; bu yüzden, kitabı "Alçakgönüllü Bir Öneri ve Diğer Denemeler" diye adlandırmak daha yerinde bir tercih olurdu.
Swift, bir oklu kirpi: Eleştiri oklarını her yöne fırlatıyor; üstelik bunu iç karartan bir ciddiyetle değil, müthiş eğlenceli, pırıl pırıl bir zekâyla yapıyor. Zaten Britanyalılar'ın hiciv, nükte, iğneleme, kara mizah kategorilerinde belirgin bir yeteneği olduğuna hep inanmışımdır; Swift'te, buna bir de İrlandalı cüreti/cesareti ekleniyor. Burada bir araya getirilmiş, çoğu hiciv olarak sınıflandırılabilecek yazıların çoğunda, bir yergi üstadının kullandığı üç silahı, Swift'in de büyük bir ustalıkla kullandığını görüyoruz: Alegori, ironi, parodi. Bazı noktalarda fikirleri fazla sinikmiş gibi görünse de (oysa ki bir papazdır kendileri!), birkaç yerde cinsiyetçilik yapsa da, yazıların çoğunluğunu büyük bir zevkle okudum.

Why eat the rich when you could eat the poor? Yeah thanks, Mr. Swift

"Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own" (p.2)

Gostei muito destes cinco textos, nos quais Jonathan Swift satiriza, com enorme mestria, o meio social e político que o rodeia, condenando a hipocrisia e o cinismo de ambos com a ferocidade de alguém realmente indignado.

A Modest proposal é, desta compilação, o seu trabalho mais forte. O sentido de humor tão bem aguçado e espirituoso, a forma como pinta com humor algumas das suas ideias mais repulsivas, tornam-no uma referência no género.

"of what use is freedom of thought, if it will not produce freedom of action?" (p.51)

The reason for picking up A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works was that I wanted to reread A Modest Proposal, which I had previously read in my copy of The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Vol 1 and which I still think is a masterpiece and as such probably the best satire I've ever come across.

As a sort of ‘bonus’ I had four more of Swift’s satirical writings in this book, each of which I liked. I must add though, that by far the most of his satirical writings require (a lot of) background knowledge into the period they were written in. Should you possess this background knowledge, then please, read this little book, as Swift’s satirical writings are fabulous!

See also the Netherlands & Flanders group, message 100 of their Summer Challenge 2014, for a review in Dutch.

Que posso dizer? Parece que crianças estufadas são bastante boas mas tirando na Irlanda de 1700 é má ideia.
Swift é um génio literário claramente pouco apreciado, sendo que estes textos de um humor mordaz deveriam ser estudados na escola.

"I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and may perhaps be so bold to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor cloaths to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of intailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever."