The author does well with showing his reasons for his proposal. But if it were up to me I would make it a bit more interesting by telling maybe a negative to it to show an understanding for people who don’t agree with him. I’m not sure if he was actually serious, but if he was serious about it, some of his reasons were very realistic.

This is one of my favorite satirical works of all time in which Swift proposes, to solve the problem of the poverty and starvation rampant in Ireland, that the poor Irish eat their own children to stave off hunger.

"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 fricasie, or a ragoust."

Propositions of cannibalism make me giggle. :)

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. :)

"A full and true account of the battle fought last friday between the ancient and the modern books in saint James's library" ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"A meditation upon a broomstick." ⭐⭐⭐

"A discourse concerning the mechanical operation of the spirit. In a letter to a friend. A fragment." ⭐⭐

"An argument to prove that abolishing Christianity in England may, as things now stand, be attended with some inconveniences, and perhaps not produce those many good effects proposed thereby." ⭐⭐

"A modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burthen to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public." ⭐⭐⭐

Ci ho messo troppo, decisamente troppo.

Kitabı yarıda bıraktım çünkü yazılan dönemin ruhuna ya da satirik anlatımının içine giremedim. İçindeki denemelerde hiciv yaptığı çok belli yazarın ancak hediye bir kitabı okumak için insanın kendine bir sebep yaratması gerekiyor ve bu bazen çok zor olabiliyor.

funny man

This is one of my favorite stories of all time. Sick and awesome. Amazing satire. The battle of the books was also fun. :D

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.

So the best essay in the whole story was definitely A Modest Proposal. But several of the other essays were very entertaining also. The reason for the only 4 stars instead of the 5 is because, while the Battle of the Books was entertaining, it was overly long and missing big portions of it. Also, I honestly had zero idea what was going on in A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operations of the Spirit.

A modest proposal was very good, but the other satirical works were… not as good. Tough to give an L in the aggregate but he may be a bit of a one hit wonder.

İnsanlara olan nefretiyle tanınan Jonathan Swift’in denemelerini okuyucuya sunan "Alçakgönüllü Bir Öneri / A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works", Swift’in entelektüel birikimini ve çeşitli konularla ilgili görüşlerini öğrenebilmek adına güzel bir toplama. Denemelerin genel olarak değerlendirildiğinde bir bütünlük sağlayamadığı eserde en beğendiğim ve tam puan verdiğim bölüm "Çeşitli Konular Üzerine Düşünceler" oldu. Buna ek olarak entelektüel anlamda nitelikli "Basmakalıp bir Deneme", modernle klasik edebiyatı Homeros gibi destansı bir savaşla metaforik olarak kıyasladığı "Kitaplar Arasında Yaşanan Çatışma" ve İngiltere’deki çocuk fazlalığını ironik bir şekilde eleştirdiği "Alçakgönüllü Bir Öneri" bölümlerini de beğendim. Swift'in başyapıtı "Gulliver'in Gezileri"ni okuduktan sonra yazarı daha yakından tanımak için şans verilebilir bir eser. Tam notum: 3,5/5.

01.04.2019
İstanbul, Türkiye

Alp Turgut

http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...