I first encountered a simplified version of this classic fictional travelogue during my childhood.

The children's version solely encompassed the story about the minuscule residents of Lilliput and its rival kingdom, Blefuscu.

It wasn't until college that I discovered there was far more to the book than just the tiny people's war over the proper way to eat eggs.

Reading this book in my college literature class was an absolute delight.

We dissected the allegory and chuckled at the slightly risqué parts of the book.

I relished revisiting the travels of Lemuel Gulliver.

I'm truly glad that the book was included in the list of 100 books for The Great American Read.

Lemuel Gulliver is shipwrecked and commences keeping a log of all his adventures.

First, he encounters tiny people who are astonished by the huge Man Mountain.

He flees Lilliput and before making his way back to England, he journeys to a land filled with giants, a country populated by great thinkers who are incapable of applying their knowledge practically, and a country where savage, deformed humans called Yahoos are the slaves of a race of talking horses.

When Gulliver finally returns home, he struggles to resume his normal life and spends a significant amount of time in the stables attempting to communicate with his horses.

I thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting this story.

On the surface, it is an engaging adventure tale about Gulliver's peculiar travels, but beneath the adventure lies a wealth of allegory regarding human nature, politics, social norms, prejudice and racism, injustice, and corruption.

My favorite part is when the Lilliputian ruler's home catches fire and there isn't sufficient water to extinguish it.

So, Gulliver, being much larger than the minuscule Lilliputians, decides to improvise – putting out the fire entirely by urinating on it.

He is then prosecuted for urinating in the ruler's home.

Because he did so to save the residence, he is shown mercy (cough, cough).

Instead of being executed with poisoned arrows shot into his face, they are willing to merely put out both his eyes.

Another favorite scene is when he is confronted with a giant farmer's wife who breastfeeds her baby in his presence.

Gulliver is quite taken aback at seeing a breast that is 16 feet in circumference, making commentary that the flaws in the (ahem) attributes of English women are much easier to conceal because they aren't giant and right in his face.

I love how Jonathan Swift lambastes much of the absurdity of the human condition and our flaws while disguising his true intent within the fantastical travelogue of Lemuel Gulliver.

The book is both uproariously funny and thought-provoking.

I'm extremely glad I re-read this book.

I enjoyed it just as much as I did as a child when I only grasped part of the tale... and again in college when I studied it in its entirety.

Gulliver's Travels is the 11th book that I have read/re-read as part of The Great American Read.

The list of 100 books for GAR is listed here: The Great American Read.

I am going to strive to read as many of the books on the list as I can.

11 down....89 to go! :)

This was a re-read of an old favourite. I fell in love with this book in my teens and have returned to it a few times since (my teens were a long time ago).

Jonathan Swift was indeed a satirist of the first order. You can read this as a silly fantasy story, and it does work on that level. In fact, the first time I read it as a pre-teen, I enjoyed it purely as a light-hearted and silly fantasy tale. However, virtually everything in this book has a double-meaning.

As with most, if not all, of the best satirists, Swift's commentaries are both hilarious and scathing. They are like a combination of a sidesplitting joke and a burning arrow aimed directly at the face. The book is intelligent, filled with wit and humour that keeps you engaged from start to finish. At the same time, it (barely) conceals a seething rage in the author's heart. This rage is directed like a flaming arrow at the society that surrounded him, criticizing its flaws and follies with a sharp and incisive pen.

Overall, this re-read has once again reminded me of the genius of Jonathan Swift and the enduring power of his satirical masterpiece.

A masterpiece that is impossible to put down.

It is a work in which one can stop at the surface of the narration and get to know extraordinary worlds, or delve deeper and discover the echo of an ethical and cultural relativism that it would never hurt to always keep in mind.

It helps us grow and become more open, tolerant, and complete individuals.

This kind of literary work has a profound impact on our spiritual world. It not only enriches our knowledge and vision but also shapes our values and worldviews.

By reading such works, we can better understand different cultures and ways of thinking, and thus become more empathetic and understanding.

In short, this is a work that is worth reading and savoring carefully, and it will bring us a lot of inspiration and收获.

Swift was truly an oddball.

Should this work still be compulsory reading in schools? (Why not simply encourage more extensive reading in school,涵盖各种类型的书籍呢？) At the very least, it should remain on the reading list.

Not only is this book enjoyable for the whole family, but if you read between the lines, it can be quite disturbing - like all the greatest children's classics. It is also highly recommended for adults to read. The social commentary is presented well, and the adventure is captivating.

The language, of course, is rather archaic, but Swift manages to keep the story flowing without too many digressions.

Set in a time when not every corner of the world could be seen on Google Earth, when mystery still pervaded our understanding of the planet and its inner workings, it offers an escape from the ordinary. This book once convinced many people of the existence of Lilliputians and Houyhnhnms. In a sense, it is convincing because it is often difficult to tell when Swift is being straightforward. His other short satires and that pamphlet about eating babies provide numerous examples.

Unfortunately, most of his other extensive writings do not possess the same magic and fantasy as this one, although they do utilize the absurd and grotesque. He was a joker at heart, but also an important literary figure. His style is essential to the development of the sarcastic novel throughout history, of which there are now countless examples.

It should continue to be read because it successfully激发了人们的想象力. You are compelled to face the unimagined, to grapple with the meaning of humanity's place in the cosmos. It will make you smile along the way, and it is challenging enough to develop that often-neglected part of the brain that provides a continuous stream of commentary on our daily lives. By reading books like this, children may be prevented from relying on the mental shortcuts offered by the media. There is something to be said for sophistication, and Gulliver's Travels has just enough of it to sharpen the wit.

The original article: This is a short article. It needs to be rewritten and expanded.

Expanded article:

This is a rather short article. It is in need of being rewritten and expanded to a certain extent.

Currently, it lacks the necessary details and elaboration to fully convey its intended message.

By rewriting and expanding it, we can make it more comprehensive and engaging for the readers.

We can add more examples, explanations, and perhaps some personal insights to enhance the overall quality of the article.

This way, it will be able to better capture the attention of the audience and provide them with more valuable information.

Yahoo!

I have known about Gulliver, the giants, the Lilliputians, Blefuscu, and Lilliput since I was a child or perhaps a teenager. The fact is that "lilliputian" is a dictionary term. Recently, Hollywood paid tribute to this famous book with a blockbuster that, in my view, was rather stupid.

When I first encountered Swift's work, I failed to grasp the satire or the political references, which are the hidden messages in the first two parts of Gulliver's Travels. Even worse, when I started reading the last two parts, I abruptly stopped because it just wasn't to my taste.

Now that I am older and perhaps wiser, I am working on "The Best 100 Novels (ever)." Gulliver's Travels is among them, at least according to what the writers and critics asked by The Guardian say. In great part, my taste in literature seems to align with theirs.

Now that I have finished Gulliver's Travels in its unabridged form, I can say that I liked it. Even though the book may seem a bit dated, to fully understand its meaning and enjoy it, the reader would be better off being acquainted with the history and politics of Britain and France in the 16th century, as that is what Swift is satirizing.

"Lilliput and Blefuscu were intended as, and understood to be, satirical portraits of the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of France, respectively, as they were in the early 18th century." There is much more to say about the Yahoos and the harsh criticism with which Swift treats the human species, but these are just my short notes, the impressionist images left in my mind after encountering some of mankind's greatest minds through their masterpieces.

Yes, I agree with Swift: people are bad. "Yahoos fight with other groups and each other without apparent reason. Their avarice for certain shiny stones of no practical use leads to more fighting and theft. In more contemporary or 'civilized' societies, those'shiny stones' can be paralleled to material possessions such as jewelry." "Swift uses the Yahoos as an example of Locke's suggestion that humans are more easily identified by vice than virtue."

In conclusion, I need only to walk on the streets of my "gated community" to see that "even under the guise of civilization, humans are corrupt and decadent."

Journeys of Gulliver


Among the lost books that were buried, burned, or torn, "Journeys of Gulliver" can be considered one of the most unjustly treated books in history. In the process of publishing and promoting this book, it was simplified, abridged, and then turned into just a children's story.

Jonathan Swift wrote this book during an era characterized by the spread of travel books by English sailors, which were filled with lies to attract people. It was also marked by the political struggle between the Tory Party - to which Swift belonged - and the Whig Party. All of this was reflected in the book, which came as a very satirical imitation of travel books and a political critique of the Whig Party and its policies.

Gulliver, the hero of Swift, undertakes four adventures. Each time his ship is wrecked and he is taken to a strange island. Once among the people of a kingdom of dwarfs, another time among giants, the third time on a flying island, and the fourth time among a nation of horses. In each case, he encounters aspects of European or English politics. For example, how the king of the dwarfs tries to subdue the neighboring kingdom with the help of Gulliver, which is a reflection of the war between England and France. The oppression and domination exercised by the king of the flying island is a metaphor for the English oppression of the Irish, which Swift firmly opposed. This is in addition to the hidden satire in travel books, their style, and their lies that are not easy to swallow.

Swift is a brilliant satirist, and his book is wonderful in its beauty and wisdom. Dr. Mohamed al-Dirini's translation did justice to the book, with the quality of the translation and the footnotes that explain the author's intentions and the hidden allusions in the book. It is a must-read book.

Oh God, upon the beauty of the entire story, and the beauty of their love in particular!

This simple yet profound exclamation expresses the speaker's admiration and wonder at the beauty within a story and the love that is central to it.

The use of "Oh God" adds a sense of reverence and perhaps a recognition that the beauty being described is something almost divine.

The mention of the beauty of the story as a whole suggests that there is a certain allure and charm to the narrative, perhaps in its plot, characters, or setting.

However, it is the beauty of their love that seems to be the focal point. Love is often considered one of the most powerful and beautiful emotions, and in this case, it is described as being especially captivating.

Overall, this short statement encapsulates the speaker's appreciation for the beauty and wonder that can be found in a story and in the love that it portrays.

There is far more depth and complexity to Gulliver's Travels than what one might anticipate merely from the countless adaptations that have pervaded popular culture. Throughout the course of the book, there is a distinct progression. It commences with the familiar and jaunty adventure, which then gradually evolves into more profound satire and criticism.

The initial two parts of the book, namely Lilliput and Brobdingnag, are the most recognizable. Their premises are straightforward, and in terms of storytelling, they are perhaps the most entertaining among the four parts. However, by the third part, something akin to modern science-fiction has emerged. The premises become increasingly detailed and complex, enabling Swift to isolate, emphasize, and contrast various aspects of culture, politics, science and technology, history, and anthropology. Although the relevance of many of these analyses has been somewhat diminished by the passage of time, they remain thoughtful and incisive.

The fourth section is the most astonishing in both its tone and the degree of its pessimism. It presents a bleak and unrelenting portrayal of humanity, suggesting that it is irredeemable by its very nature and thus purposeless in its ceaseless striving. All of this combines to make Gulliver's Travels a rather strange yet captivating blend of styles and themes. It is perhaps like an adventure into uncharted territory: it begins with the intention of seeking one thing but ultimately discovers something entirely different.

Our hero, Gulliver, arrives as a doctor, and during his travels, he experiences incredible adventures.

He encounters magical lands with Lilliputian people, others with giants, some with wizards, and still others with wise horses and floating islands.

In each of these, he discusses with their governors and queens about governance, religion, justice, education, and anything else related to a human society.

All these discussions, along with Gulliver's observations from his travels, are Swift's way of satirizing society and criticizing the worst aspects in the strongest way. It is a fact that as I progressed in reading the book, Swift's dissatisfaction with his own kind became stronger, to the point that in the last pages, it approaches misanthropy. Of course, I am not in a position to judge his logic, nor whether he is right or wrong. Naturally, I also wondered about the author's reasoning and his aversion to the established moral order, and of course, I can say that I quite enjoyed reading the book.

3.5/5 stars.

This book was penned in 1726, which makes it quite ancient. I had expected uninteresting writing, which was indeed the case. There was a plethora of detailed and seemingly unimportant description, and there was no real story line to speak of. It helps to be prepared for such characteristics. I find that reading an old book from a vintage edition can add an extra layer of enjoyment. This way, you can develop a convenient sense of romanticism about old literature and breeze through the dull parts. My copy dates back to 1947, with a dust cover that is falling apart and emits that wonderful burnt paper smell. Mmm. ;)

I chose this book with a bit of knowledge about the story. Most people associate it with giants, tiny people, and talking horses, and generally assume it to be a children's book. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. I have read Swift's "A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works," in which he proposes, in a tone of complete reasonableness, that the solution to Ireland's starvation and overcrowding is for the poor to eat their own babies. So, I am familiar with Jonathan Swift as a sharp satirist. And that's precisely what "Gulliver's Travels" is: layer upon layer of satire.

In one sense, it parodies travel writing. In the 1700s, explorers were uncovering the "weird and wonderful" and writing exaggerated literature about it. Gulliver insists that he is simply presenting the "plain facts" while reporting his outrageously fantastical accounts. And the uninteresting writing style is all part of the parody.

Moreover, it is filled with political commentary. The giants, the Houyhnhms, and all the creatures and peoples he encounters are merely platforms for Swift's critiques of human pride, self-deception, and more. The giant king, after listening to Gulliver's rants about England, concludes that the English people are "the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth." Subtle? From voting to taxes, from arithmetic and science to gaming and alcohol, from war and weaponry to the legal system and the plight of the poor amidst the excessive spending and corruption of the upper classes. He covers it all.

So, it's not the easiest read. There is no captivating story to draw you in; it's like reading a series of letters or essays, and there is no dialogue throughout the entire book.

However, it is clever, simply because Jonathan Swift is clever. And the dry wit is entertaining. It is also a precursor in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. So, I would rate it 3.5 stars, perhaps 4. If you enjoy satire and are interested in English history and politics through literature, you would like it. But it's even better to read "A Modest Proposal" - it's funnier and much shorter.

Gulliver's Travels is so much more than just a fantastical tale of a man journeying to mystical lands. It is, in fact, a thinly veiled satire, and I mean super thin. A seafaring Englishman embarks on adventures that lead him to four fairytale worlds. In one, the people are small; in another, they are gigantic. There's a world where people are smarties in the maths, and yet another where people are horses. By the second journey, you might think he'd be done with all this, but in the end, he becomes disillusioned with humans and has trouble living amongst his own kind.

Written in the old style where listing off occurrences constituted an adventure and a perfectly well constructed story, Gulliver's Travels can be at times a tedious read. It's filled with a laundry list of actions like "I did this and then I did this". And when you think some tension or conflict is brewing, you get simple expedients flatly stated such as "I was faced with an obstacle and so I overcame it by doing this." After a while, it all becomes trying and uninspiring, making the turning of pages ever more difficult.

However, if you've come to this book looking for condemnation of the human race's worst foibles, you've come to the right place. Swift dispatches venom towards the leeches of humanity. Lawyers, for instance, get blasted left, right and center. I, for one, feel that we're not much better, and sometimes not any better, than base animals, so I was okay with the author's bashing of my fellow man. Those who don't understand anything beyond "Humans! We're #1!" aren't going to like this.

Regardless of its faults, I'm glad I finally got around to reading the original, full-length version. In school, I read an abridged and sanitized version that left out all the mentions of genitalia and bodily functions. This is much better with all the pee and tits included!

PS: Check out my video review of Gulliver's Travels here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKpYD...