I don't recall reading this book before.

It is a unique piece that attempts to be more than just a simple satire of travel novels. In fact, it also delves into a discussion on culture and seems to carry the weight of a moral tale. However, its execution is a bit uneven.

The first couple of sections are a straightforward and often humorous satire of travel novels, which is quite engaging. But then, we enter a section where the protagonist lives among certain creatures and forever after compares all to them.

My main issue with this part is that the author goes on and on about how bad English culture is. It comes across as very bitter and lacking in nuance. After this section, he also spends a significant amount of time focusing on morals, as the culture he is in is, in his opinion, far superior.

As a result, the book, to me, feels rather long-winded and inconsistent in its apparent point. It jumps from one idea to another without a smooth transition.

That said, I now realize that I should stop calling people yahoos. Yikes! Also, there are a few really strange and perhaps even scandalous things in this novel that probably made the readers blush back in the day. It's definitely a book that makes you think, even if its flaws are quite evident.

The English-Irish writer Jonathan Swift was renowned mainly for his satirical style, which he applied to various aspects such as politics, religion, and contemporary society.

Swift's Gulliver, penned in the early 18th century, provides him with the perfect setting for satire as his traveler embarks on voyages to four distinct lands across the sea. Among these, Lilliput is the most famous.

The edition I perused also encompassed some of Swift's poems and letters. It is highly advisable to obtain an edition that features an Introduction or notes. These can offer valuable insights into the'satirical context and targets', enabling a deeper understanding of Swift's work.

By delving into the Introduction or notes, readers can gain a better appreciation of the subtleties and nuances of Swift's satire, and thus enhance their overall reading experience.

In conclusion, while Gulliver's Travels is a captivating and entertaining work on its own, the addition of an Introduction or notes can truly enrich the reader's encounter with this classic piece of literature.

Worst.

Terrible.

I was supposed to read this for English, but it was so bad that I used SparkNotes :/

This book was an absolute disappointment. The writing was dull and unengaging, making it a chore to get through even a few pages. The story lacked depth and originality, and the characters were one-dimensional and uninteresting. I found myself constantly losing focus and having to reread passages just to understand what was going on.

Thankfully, SparkNotes came to my rescue. It provided a summary of the book's plot and main themes, as well as analysis and interpretations that helped me make sense of the text. While I still had to read some of the original book, using SparkNotes made the process a lot less painful.

In the future, I'll be more careful when choosing books to read for English class. I'll look for reviews and recommendations to make sure I'm not stuck with another dud like this one.

G: FAMILY

This rating indicates that the content has minimal violence and no gratuitous frightening descriptions. It also means that there is no profanity, sex, or nudity. However, it may contain some offensive slang.

E: Easy

The content is designed to be easily understood by a 3rd grade level of vocabulary. This makes it accessible to a wide range of readers, especially those who are just beginning to develop their reading skills.

Overall, this combination of ratings suggests that the content is suitable for a family-friendly audience and can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. It provides an entertaining and engaging experience without being overly complex or inappropriate.

What a high adventure it was!

Maybe in my youth, I was like Gulliver, embarking on an extraordinary adventure.

I vividly remember that day when I set off with excitement and anticipation.

The journey was filled with unknowns and challenges, but it also brought me countless thrills and discoveries.

I encountered strange landscapes, met unique people, and faced various difficulties along the way.

However, I never gave up. I persevered and overcame every obstacle that came my way.

That adventure truly shaped me and made me who I am today.

It taught me to be勇敢, to embrace the unknown, and to believe in myself.

Looking back, I am grateful for that unforgettable adventure.

It will always remain a precious memory in my heart.

A Bantam paperback from 1962, with a reprint in 1981. Some of the content was written way back in 1697. It's really old.

Into the gutter on the left and right, about two-letters' worth of a span, the text is nearly illegible. But for fifty coppers, I knew what I was getting. One makes do. And there are plans for a better annotated, more nicely bound edition in the future.

The first piece, popularly known as Gulliver’s Travels, I have failed to review elsewhere. I hesitate to link to that review, knowing that such an appearance of self-promotion is and ought to be frowned upon. But I also recognize that the mere mention of the fact that I've made mention of it here will impel you to seek it out and like it anyway. Or not. What you will read there, should you head that way, is the mere recommendation of it as “required reading”, a spurned designation which says little more than “classic.” It has both its wit and its entertainment value. The Travels, I mean.

The second piece is a lovely novel called A Tale of a Tub: Written for the Universal Improvement of Mankind (with the spelling here slightly modernized). What is bound in this Bantam is a reproduction of the fifth edition, described as “With Author’s Apology and Explanatory Notes. By W. W--tt--n, B.D. and others.” The following treatises written by the author are announced as forthcoming (I'm still waiting) ::

A Character of the present Set of Wits in this Island.

A panegyric Essay upon the Number Three. (would that he had written one upon Four).

A Dissertation upon the principal Productions of Grub Street.

Lectures upon a Dissection of Human Nature.

A Panegyric upon the World.

An analytical Discourse upon Zeal, histori-theo-physi-logically considered.

A general History of Ears (for a general theory of noses, see Tristram Shandy).

A modest Defence of the Proceedings of the Rabble in all Ages.

A Description of the Kingdom of Absurdities.

A Voyage into England, by a Person of Quality in Terra Australis incognita, translated from the Original.

A critical Essay upon the Art of Canting, philosophically, physically, and musically considered.

These several treatises are touched upon and lightly discussed in the work under discussion.

A Tale of a Tub, being a charming, if rather standard and traditional kind of novel, is organized along the following lines. (I make this delineation if only to demonstrate the rather straightforward and conventional nature of what has been previously dismissed as a “difficult” work).

The first :: “An Apology, For the, &c.”. This from our Author’s hand, June 3, 1709.

Secondly :: “Postscript”. The which is an apparent appendage to the first.

Followed by “To the Right Honourable, John Lord Somers.” which will be acknowledged as an entirely justifiable practice. (from the hand of “The Bookseller”).

Fourth, “The Bookseller to the Reader”. (a nice touch, if a bit overdone).

The next piece is of high-conventional fictioneering, “The Epistle Dedicatory to His Royal Highness Prince Posterity.”

Properly placed in the succeeding position, “The Preface” which is well placed towards the beginning of our novel.

And thus with the meat of the matter taken care of, wrapped warmly in packaging paper and set aside we continue to the middle matter ::

“Section I. The Introduction.”

In order to more fully sketch the true structure of this work, the following items will be delineated along two lines, namely, the central thread first followed by a sketch of the digressive matter. Thusly we read ::

“Section III. A Digression Concerning Critics.”

“Section V. A Digression in the Modern Kind.”

“Section VII. A Digression in Praise of Digressions.”

“Section IX. A Digression concerning the Original, The Use, And Improvement of Madness in a Commonwealth.” (self-explanatory)

“The Conclusion” (in which a number of conclusionary remarks and remarks by way of concluding are made ; all without being superfluous).

Into this novel Mr Swift has felt it necessary, perhaps due to a fit of pretentiousness, to weave in a little moral story about three brothers and their Dead Father. It’s a nice enough tale and perhaps he needed to include it in order to get his novel past the censors, but it would have been nice if he stuck straight to his narrative and had disallowed his own propensity for showing off from getting in the way of what would have been a very enjoyable novel with real characters that just jump off the page like Salmon at Leixlip! That digressionary tale is structured in the following manner ::

“Section II.” (bears no subtitle).

“Section IV. A Tale of a Tub”.

“Section VI. A Tale of a Tub.” (Our author is rather annoyingly redundant in the subtitling of these digressive passages).

“Section VIII. A Tale of a Tub.” [sic]

“Section X. A Tale of a Tub.” [ditto]

“Section XI. A Tale of a Tub.” (Our author’s lack of originality really starts to show in these section-titles).

So much for what ought to count as Swift’s mastery of the form of the novel, entire and complete. For we must recognize that those little digressionary passages containing the story of those three brothers and their Dead Father must count as that part of the novel-definition in which we understand “something wrong with it.”

If I may intrude just for a brief moment. In order to settle things even, fair & square, &c., with the current critical and perspicacious practice among our Good Readers, I do owe it to point out that this edition contains at least one typographical error. I recall not precisely where, which page, although it was verso, the final word. The err’r consists of a failing “i” in the word “critic.” Make of that what you will, but I think the joke is quite plain.

Which reminds me. Also according to standard practice, I, your Faithful Reviewer, will float this Review into your literary and critical Feed Troughs each time I endeavor to correct a comma, dot an i or perform like function upon a tee, or should any peas and cues require Verbesserung. I confess my failure heretofore in properly performing this social grace and vow, &c, &c, & &c.

Back to our book...

Next in our Bantam :: “A Full and true Account of the Battel Fought last Friday, Between the Antient and the Modern Books in St. James’s Library.” The astute reader will recognize this as the purist of plagiarisms, ripping off almost without blushing the current story underway, namely, “The Present and Continuing Account of the Bottle Being Fought Presently and Currently Right Now, Between Good Books and Popular Books on goodreads.camp.” Nevertheless, there is a charming story contained herein about a battle between a spider and a bee. Not to be missed!

“A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit in a Letter to a Friend. A Fragment.” This and the above were at one time bound together with the above-twice. But this “discourse” is entirely disappointing for this reason :: it leaves me failing the capacity to make the comment I had intended to make upon reading its title but prior to reading its text. Namely of course, that Swift has written the wrong thing here. Instead of writing a satirical piece about the gaseous wailing of persons religious and spirituoso, he ought to have written about the mechanistic philosophy of mind then detectable in the likes of philosophers such as Mr Hobbes. Had he done so then herein this Review I could have remarked about how little progress have we made in the direction of a truly philosophical understanding of the mind ; substituting for ourselves instead a bunch of erroneous naturalistic superstitions and neuro-xyz junk. So I’ll just say what I want to say anyway and let the rest of you take the easy- and cheap- shots at the religiously clownish.

Had Swift been a man of the Left instead of the conservative creep and party-switcher which he in fact was, we could have imagined a present-day Swift writing a satirical piece entitled “An Argument to Prove That the Abolishing of the Private Health Insurance Industry In the USofA. May, as Things Now Stand, Be Attended with Some Inconveniences, and Perhaps Not Produce Those Many Good Effects Proposed Thereby.” Instead, he predicts our present times quite perspicaciously whereby we retain nominal christianity and nominal atheism both as our national religions. [I confess that this locution, “nominal atheism” may prove controversial. By it one should understand merely that assemblage of atheists who feel compelled to confess their atheism. The parallel with the nominal christian should be made clear enough when considered in contrast to each their opposite, the ‘real’ or ‘true’ version of each.]

There’s more stuff in this Bantam. Not to spoil plot or anything by putting flowers on its grave, but here’s what’s there ::

“The Bickerstaff Papers” (three items) -- So a target easy which might be an equivalent today to the (still) easy target of astrological prognostication, may I suggest the TED talks?

“The Examiner: No. 14, Nov. 9, 1710”. I don’t know what this is because I’ve not read it yet but the title is rather appealing, to use an understatement expression.

“The Drapier’s Letters: The First Letter”. Required Reading, probably, for Wakeans and a variety of Finnegans, whether awake, alive or merely asleep.

“A Modest Proposal” I understand this to be a kind of PoMo cookbook (ie, a PoMoCoBo).

Swift’s Correspondence (a meager three exemplars). Again, do you know Stella & Stella? Ppt!

Swift’s Poems. God help us all if we’ve gotta read poems just for in order to get page-count credit!

Chronology. I always skip these things. As boring as History.

Selected Bibliography -- Please don’t tell me what to read. I’m perfectly happy just knowing what I like.

And to conclude, the opening line of the Introduction, not from Our Author’s hand ::

“Of satire in general and of Jonathan Swift in particular, this may safely be prognosticated -- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “✝

✝”\\"Here is pretended a defect in the manuscript, and this is very frequent with Our Reviewer, either when He thinks He cannot say anything worth reading, or when He has no mind to enter on the subject, or when it is a matter of little moment, or perhaps to amuse His reader (whereof he is frequently very fond) or lastly, with some satirical and plagiaristic intention.\\"\\"

I actually found this piece to be extremely fluid and effortlessly easy to follow. Swift's work endures with an abundance of substance, particularly within his satire. It is truly remarkable how his words still hold relevance and captivate readers even after all these years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the incisive critique he offers on modern-day society. His observations on the naivety that pervades our world are both thought-provoking and eye-opening. The overall humor and the use of unrealistic fairytale-like tropes add an element of entertainment and make the reading experience all the more engaging.

However, I must admit that I gave it a 3/5 ⭐️ rating. While it has its strengths, there were also some aspects that I felt could have been developed further or explored in more depth. Nevertheless, it is still a worthwhile read and a testament to Swift's literary genius.

I'm truly glad that I read this particular piece. It offered some interesting perspectives and perhaps even a few valuable insights. However, at the same time, I'm also glad that I won't be reading it again. The experience of reading it was unique, but once was enough. It might have had its moments of excitement or thought-provoking content, but overall, it didn't leave such a lasting impression that I would feel the need to revisit it. There are so many other wonderful books and articles out there waiting to be discovered and explored. I'm looking forward to moving on and finding new literary treasures that will capture my attention and imagination in different ways.

Such a sad view of humanity as a whole. It seems to paint a rather depressing picture. This was an unabridged version, which perhaps delved too deeply into the darker aspects. I would have enjoyed the children’s version much better. The children’s version, I imagine, would have presented a more hopeful and optimistic side of things. It might have been filled with brighter colors and more positive messages. This one, on the other hand, is so bleak. It makes me wonder if this is really the true nature of humanity. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope somewhere within this darkness, but it is difficult to see at the moment.

Some interesting stories

There are numerous fascinating tales that can capture our imagination. These stories often have unique plots and characters that draw us in and keep us engaged. They can range from thrilling adventures to heartwarming romances, and everything in between.

Lots of connections to pop culture references

Moreover, many of these stories have strong connections to pop culture references. They may incorporate elements from movies, TV shows, music, or books that we are familiar with. This not only adds an extra layer of趣味性 but also allows us to relate to the stories on a deeper level. For example, a story might reference a famous superhero or a beloved fictional world, making it more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience. By incorporating these pop culture references, the stories can become part of a larger cultural conversation and gain even more popularity.

I picked up this book as a last-minute decision for airplane reading. It was completely by chance, but as it turned out, it was an appropriate book to take to Japan.

This book is such a perfect fantasy in so many ways. Especially the first section, which is about Lilliput. It takes the reader into a world of tiny people and their unique customs and adventures. It's truly a captivating and imaginative piece of writing.

However, "Tale of a Tub" is a bit more of a challenge. It requires more concentration and effort to understand. The language and the concepts presented can be quite complex. But despite this, it still offers valuable insights and a different perspective.

Overall, this book has been an interesting read so far, with both its enchanting and its more difficult aspects. I'm looking forward to seeing what else it has in store as I continue my journey through its pages.

I don't think I read this as a kid, or if I did, I only read the Lilliput part.

Though I do remember that Gulliver also met big people who treated him like a little doll. Those were parts 1 and 2.

In part 3, he visits a number of different places in his attempt to get home.

He encounters people whose dedication to science makes them incapable of doing anything practical.

There are also some humans who never die but continue to age, being "written off" by their culture when their contemporaries die, thus living a painful and miserable death.

Finally, in part 4, he lands in the land of the Houyhnhnms, who are rational horses and don't even have words for lie, deceit, murder, etc.

There are also Yahoos, and they look just like Gulliver but are assumed to be completely irrational as all they do is scrap and fight.

Gulliver is finally forced to leave because he appears to be a Yahoo, even though he's made friends among the Houyhnnms.

He makes his way back to England and turns in revulsion from his wife and children and all other humans, being so traumatized by the Yahoos and his own sense that he's really one of them.

The satire is funny, even when you don't track down all the specific references to Swift's contemporary world.

But the last part where Gulliver is revolted by the Yahoos and their behavior is no longer so funny.

The reader is tempted, like Gulliver, to revile one's own kind who, even 300 years later, are still busy lying, cheating and making war.