Everyone seems to love this but not me. It's not my kind of humor at all.

A good reminder to temper my practicality

FIRST THING IVE READ IN MONTHS AND IT FEELS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

Una denúncia molt ingeniosa! No saps si riure o posar-te a plorar. Gràcies Carlita per la recomanació, he passat molt bon ratet.

Tremendous and admirably brief satire. This liberal reader assumed Swift intended to stand up for the poor people of Ireland but that's apparently debatable given other writings which were highlighted on Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" episode discussing the pamphlet.

That said, early economic thinking certainly does feel the sharp end of Swift's "solution" to poverty and death among the poor. Employing the sharpest tool in the satirist's box, Swift takes the logic of the likes of William Petty (charter member of the Royal Society who served under Cromwell in Ireland) and demonstrates its moral and social absurdity. I wouldn't be the first person to wonder how the dismal science wasn't itself cooked and eaten by the impoverished aspiring social scientists of the day.

Sadly, "modest proposal" seems to have been used regularly without any obvious satirical intention (even by the great Yanis Varoufakis) although there are some notable exceptions, including this work of art from John Gray.

Finally, a word on the format. The book is part of Penguin's "Little Black Classics" which are somehow available for just 80p in bookshops across the country (in celebration of an anniversary). It's a lovely edition, its hard to imagine Penguin making any direct profit on the books but doubtless there are more intangible returns.

Even some 300 years after the publication of this story, it still rings true in today's world, and is very much relevant, which makes this short work of satire a true success. It might only have been meant as a work of satire, but the fact that the solution he offers is practical - if not ethical - is thought-provoking and he addresses some of the ills - ills that exist even in the 21st century - that brought about the need for such a solution.

This is obviously an incredible satire, which hopes to give some satisfaction to the rich. I recently reread it after reading The Sorrows of Young Mike. In John Zelazny's parody, the main character parodies Jonathan Swift's modest proposal. It is a parody within a parody and the modern twist is displayed well.

Things I don't like about this book:

1. It's satire. I'm not a big fan of satire.
2. It's written like a rhetorical essay. Rhetoric and I didn't get along in college, and our relationship has not improved.
3. While I know that Mr. Swift is using the idea of cannibalism as satire and in truth encouraging thoughtfulness toward the poor, the subject matter is very disconcerting.

At least it only took like 15 minutes to read.

A very short political tract by Swift in a lashing, satirical vein, the complete title of this tract is 'A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public'.

Published in 1729, an era when the British and the Irish were sworn enemies and when Ireland was reeling under a severe drought, Swift wrote this as an attempt to criticize heavily the British authorities who did nothing to stave off the plight of the Irish.

The essay exhorts the Irish to give birth to as many kids as possible, feed them properly and then, when they are at their juiciest best, to eat them - since there is no other way to survive the fatal dearth of food. Mistaken by the readers as a genuine suggestion, the tract was heavily criticized. Only later did people see its extreme satire directed at the British, that suggested that very soon, the Irish would have no way but to eat their own children to survive the famine.

A very rare piece of unmitigated, perhaps even venomous criticism, yet hilarious political-satire tract.

'The Modest Proposal' is anything but modest. And here's a few lines from it:

'I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

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.'

Τον λατρεύω <3 Αριστουργηματικά σκατόψυχος και κανίβαλος!

«Παραδέχομαι ότι το έδεσμα αυτό θα 'ρχεται κομμάτι ακριβούτσικο, και κατά συνέπεια θα 'ναι ταιριαστό για τους γαιοκτήμονες, οι οποίοι, έχοντας ήδη ρουφήξει το μεδούλι των περισσότερων γονιών, είναι προφανώς οι πλέον κατάλληλοι για να φάνε τις σάρκες των παιδιών».

Συμπληρωματικά, ο Roberto Bolano για τον Jonathan Swift, ένας μέγας για τον μέγιστο: «Αν οι γονείς μας είχαν διαβάσει τα Ταξίδια του Γκάλλιβερ, δεν θα μας είχαν πάει να δούμε την ταινία κινουμένων σχεδίων που κυκλοφόρησε γύρω στο 1960. Μάλιστα, αν οι αρχές ή αυτές οι νυχτωμένες ψυχές που ονομάζονται δάσκαλοι είχαν πράγματι διαβάσει Σουίφτ, θα είχαν βρει κάποιον τρόπο ώστε να απαγορεύσουν την ταινία στη Χιλή. Γιατί μια από τις μεγαλύτερες αρετές του Ιρλανδού είναι ότι το έργο του, όσο και αν ζαχάρωσαν την κινηματογραφική διασκευή του, παραμένει βόμβα έτοιμη να εκραγεί».

I was sitting in a high school English class, squeezed between a bunch of apathetic kids who glued their eyes against the computer screen, surreptitiously watched a basketball game, play 2048 or try to cram for their upcoming math quiz. The girl two rows before me were watching some drama about bitchy teenagers and go shopping on eBay, and another guy at the back of the class was on his phone. Well, when I first heard Swift's infamous sentence ”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 ...” from our English teacher, I was damn shocked. Shocked . My eyes danced frantically around the class, expecting something of an uproar, or at least a moan, a whimper, an exclamation, but all I receive was a bored, unchanging silence. Guys, have anyone heard a proposal about cannibalism???
The guys still continued to watch their basketball game and the girl two rows before me still watch that crappy teenage drama. I felt like mumbling aloud to myself, "Oh, Swift, if you were here and witness the degradation of mankind, perhaps you would write a satire so good and epic it eclipses A Modest Proposal!". But too bad, Swift wasn't there. On some note, it's actually good for him, though, now that he didn't have to bear the irksome company of modern humanity.

Anyway, long story short, when the teacher explained to the class what the essay was about, everybody did go shock, but in 2 seconds they are glued back to the basketball game. And thus, me, alone, by myself, rereading these passages tonight from my lair, writing this piece of review, and hoping there are still some of you out there who enjoy this essay.

”I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as
they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.”

Didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did!