About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

Perhaps satire doesn't travel, 22 Aug 2007
It's a good read and probably every bit the masterpiece its reputation claims. The problem with satire, however, is that it doesn't stand alone. Parody, on the other hand, ought to make sense in itself, but obviously more sense if the object of the parody is understood and familiar. Satire only seems to make sense if you know the original.

The section in Lilliput describing the bloke with different sized heels on his shoes, for instance, is very funny, but only when the footnote has provided the context. He is described as having to negotiate a political line between the faction that likes high heels and the other that likes low ones. He makes awkward progress with both groups, since he can barely walk or stand up straight in a pair of shoes made up so he can have a foot in each camp. The reference is beautiful. It refers to High Church and Low Church in the Anglican tradition, and therefore to Whig and Tory, the opposing political parties of the time. To stay sweet with both, certain royals kept a foot in both camps, making their progress as ridiculous as the rough-shod Lilliputian.

In the books three sections, Gulliver is too big, then too small, then everyone is a horse except for the noxious Yahoos, of course. It was still a lot of fun and, probably, hard witting. The trouble, again, was knowing the targets. If today's Yahoos are considered... perhaps Swift might have googled his yahoos if he had been writing today.

One last observation is about well-known classics in general. The most famous scene from Gulliver's Travels, at least the one most depicted, is of Gulliver strapped to the ground by Lilliputian string and twine, while the little blighters run all over him. In Don Quixote, an equally quintessential scene is the tilting at windmills, mistaken by the knight for giants. It is interesting that both of these much quoted scenes appear very early in their respective books. I wonder if that might have something to do with certain people never getting very far through them!


a thriller of the age, 01 Sep 2006
This is quite a fun 'novel', but I'm not wowed by it. It can be viewed as a travel book, an adventure story, a spoof travel book, and even a momentous political satire.

Gulliver is an impulsive man who can't resist the calling of the seas and foreign lands. He is quickly lured away from his comfortable homelife by a desire to explore, and that he does, in a big way.

His travels are effectively logged in separate books, each one describing a different kingdom or country, its inhabitants, its manners. Lilliput has tiny people, Brobdingnag has huge people, Laputa is a floating island, Houynhnmland has horses with great virtues. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and Gulliver has a great talent for the languages of each land.

The book works to enlarge humankind to a vulgar degree, belittle it by shrinking, and make vices look absurd. It's not seriously clever, but it is fun.

About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

Perhaps satire doesn't travel, 22 Aug 2007
It's a good read and probably every bit the masterpiece its reputation claims. The problem with satire, however, is that it doesn't stand alone. Parody, on the other hand, ought to make sense in itself, but obviously more sense if the object of the parody is understood and familiar. Satire only seems to make sense if you know the original.

The section in Lilliput describing the bloke with different sized heels on his shoes, for instance, is very funny, but only when the footnote has provided the context. He is described as having to negotiate a political line between the faction that likes high heels and the other that likes low ones. He makes awkward progress with both groups, since he can barely walk or stand up straight in a pair of shoes made up so he can have a foot in each camp. The reference is beautiful. It refers to High Church and Low Church in the Anglican tradition, and therefore to Whig and Tory, the opposing political parties of the time. To stay sweet with both, certain royals kept a foot in both camps, making their progress as ridiculous as the rough-shod Lilliputian.

In the books three sections, Gulliver is too big, then too small, then everyone is a horse except for the noxious Yahoos, of course. It was still a lot of fun and, probably, hard witting. The trouble, again, was knowing the targets. If today's Yahoos are considered... perhaps Swift might have googled his yahoos if he had been writing today.

One last observation is about well-known classics in general. The most famous scene from Gulliver's Travels, at least the one most depicted, is of Gulliver strapped to the ground by Lilliputian string and twine, while the little blighters run all over him. In Don Quixote, an equally quintessential scene is the tilting at windmills, mistaken by the knight for giants. It is interesting that both of these much quoted scenes appear very early in their respective books. I wonder if that might have something to do with certain people never getting very far through them!


a thriller of the age, 01 Sep 2006
This is quite a fun 'novel', but I'm not wowed by it. It can be viewed as a travel book, an adventure story, a spoof travel book, and even a momentous political satire.

Gulliver is an impulsive man who can't resist the calling of the seas and foreign lands. He is quickly lured away from his comfortable homelife by a desire to explore, and that he does, in a big way.

His travels are effectively logged in separate books, each one describing a different kingdom or country, its inhabitants, its manners. Lilliput has tiny people, Brobdingnag has huge people, Laputa is a floating island, Houynhnmland has horses with great virtues. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and Gulliver has a great talent for the languages of each land.

The book works to enlarge humankind to a vulgar degree, belittle it by shrinking, and make vices look absurd. It's not seriously clever, but it is fun.

Fab, 08 Mar 2007
In response to the review from 'a reader' below- have you never heard of a satire?? I read this in the first year of an english degree and have to say that I found it really thought provoking as it has a very dry witty theme throughout and it is meant to be taken lightly after all!

a modest mistake?, 26 Jan 2007
The book A Modest Proposal, written in the first instance by Swift in pamphlet form, is a wonderful piece of social commentary. The reviewer "a reader" appears to have completely missed the point, however, in not recognising the desired effect of this pamplet on the citizens of London. Plagued by crime and poverty, London of Swift's time was a place run as an autocracy, with many politicians and other people with high and influential social standing of a mentality far removed from reality. Swift's intended readership was these people, of upper middle and higher status, and in offering them a "solution" to the problems involved with mass poverty and crime, was actually illuminating their own misconceptions and haughtiness concerning the issue. His "modest proposal" was designed to shock and cause a reconsideration of opinion, rather than to amuse in the same way a horror film does today. Indeed, it is in this fashion that Swift is one of the first employers of "shock tactics" in politics.

The book was an insight., 23 Mar 2001
This book opened my eyes to ideas that hadn't even occured to me before. Even the thought of some of the suggestions that were mentioned made me cringe with a gripping fear that someone could think of things like that. I thouroughly enjoyed the book as it takes a great deal of guts to wrote what he did and I only hope that his proposal is not prophetic! It amazes me that someone could create such ideas, but the way that he proposes them is clever and well thought out.

About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

Perhaps satire doesn't travel, 22 Aug 2007
It's a good read and probably every bit the masterpiece its reputation claims. The problem with satire, however, is that it doesn't stand alone. Parody, on the other hand, ought to make sense in itself, but obviously more sense if the object of the parody is understood and familiar. Satire only seems to make sense if you know the original.

The section in Lilliput describing the bloke with different sized heels on his shoes, for instance, is very funny, but only when the footnote has provided the context. He is described as having to negotiate a political line between the faction that likes high heels and the other that likes low ones. He makes awkward progress with both groups, since he can barely walk or stand up straight in a pair of shoes made up so he can have a foot in each camp. The reference is beautiful. It refers to High Church and Low Church in the Anglican tradition, and therefore to Whig and Tory, the opposing political parties of the time. To stay sweet with both, certain royals kept a foot in both camps, making their progress as ridiculous as the rough-shod Lilliputian.

In the books three sections, Gulliver is too big, then too small, then everyone is a horse except for the noxious Yahoos, of course. It was still a lot of fun and, probably, hard witting. The trouble, again, was knowing the targets. If today's Yahoos are considered... perhaps Swift might have googled his yahoos if he had been writing today.

One last observation is about well-known classics in general. The most famous scene from Gulliver's Travels, at least the one most depicted, is of Gulliver strapped to the ground by Lilliputian string and twine, while the little blighters run all over him. In Don Quixote, an equally quintessential scene is the tilting at windmills, mistaken by the knight for giants. It is interesting that both of these much quoted scenes appear very early in their respective books. I wonder if that might have something to do with certain people never getting very far through them!


a thriller of the age, 01 Sep 2006
This is quite a fun 'novel', but I'm not wowed by it. It can be viewed as a travel book, an adventure story, a spoof travel book, and even a momentous political satire.

Gulliver is an impulsive man who can't resist the calling of the seas and foreign lands. He is quickly lured away from his comfortable homelife by a desire to explore, and that he does, in a big way.

His travels are effectively logged in separate books, each one describing a different kingdom or country, its inhabitants, its manners. Lilliput has tiny people, Brobdingnag has huge people, Laputa is a floating island, Houynhnmland has horses with great virtues. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and Gulliver has a great talent for the languages of each land.

The book works to enlarge humankind to a vulgar degree, belittle it by shrinking, and make vices look absurd. It's not seriously clever, but it is fun.

Fab, 08 Mar 2007
In response to the review from 'a reader' below- have you never heard of a satire?? I read this in the first year of an english degree and have to say that I found it really thought provoking as it has a very dry witty theme throughout and it is meant to be taken lightly after all!

a modest mistake?, 26 Jan 2007
The book A Modest Proposal, written in the first instance by Swift in pamphlet form, is a wonderful piece of social commentary. The reviewer "a reader" appears to have completely missed the point, however, in not recognising the desired effect of this pamplet on the citizens of London. Plagued by crime and poverty, London of Swift's time was a place run as an autocracy, with many politicians and other people with high and influential social standing of a mentality far removed from reality. Swift's intended readership was these people, of upper middle and higher status, and in offering them a "solution" to the problems involved with mass poverty and crime, was actually illuminating their own misconceptions and haughtiness concerning the issue. His "modest proposal" was designed to shock and cause a reconsideration of opinion, rather than to amuse in the same way a horror film does today. Indeed, it is in this fashion that Swift is one of the first employers of "shock tactics" in politics.

The book was an insight., 23 Mar 2001
This book opened my eyes to ideas that hadn't even occured to me before. Even the thought of some of the suggestions that were mentioned made me cringe with a gripping fear that someone could think of things like that. I thouroughly enjoyed the book as it takes a great deal of guts to wrote what he did and I only hope that his proposal is not prophetic! It amazes me that someone could create such ideas, but the way that he proposes them is clever and well thought out.

hidden messages are little too well hidden, 21 Oct 2008
Written over 250 years ago: we are told that it is intended as a political satire and an attack on the nastier aspects of human behaviour. This particular version of the book has a considerable amount of letters , comments and criticisms written by various people since it was first published in 1726. This additional material is probably more interesting than the original stories. The significance of what the author intended to achieve by publishing the stories is lost in time and this additional material gives a useful insight into the hidden meanings in the book. It is written in ye olde English with phonetic spelling which makes an interesting contribution to the debate about the need for accurate disciplined spelling. It is hard to believe now that Swift had the book published under an assumed name as a hoax ; presumably to see how long it would take some people to realise that the stories were a practical joke. There are four stories , with Lilliput being the best known; the other three less well known. According to academics, the four stories are the same stories with the same meaning ; they are presented differently, with each story making it's message more blatantly obvious for the benefit of thick people like me. I re-read the first and fourth stories after reading the additional material. I found the Lilliput story boring and the hidden symbolism was too well hidden ; the fourth story about the Hounynhynms is more direct and therefore much easier to understand the author's message. This story contains characters which are half-man , half-ape called Yahoos. According to the additional material , these characters were inspired by a debate among the so-called gentleman scientist of the time about a possible evolutionary link between African negroes, apes and Europeans. The interesting significance of this is that it is happening 100 years before Darwin's `Origin of the Species'. About half way through the fourth story, the author lets loose a tirade of abuse about the immorality of politicians and war , lawyers and the legal/justice system and the knock-out punch comes when the author starts to refer to the human race as Yahoos. If someone were to hand you a copy of the author's criticisms of politics and war , or the lawyers and legal/justice system as printed in the fourth book; you could probably be convinced that the text was copied from one of the present-day newspapers or books. The message I get from reading this type of book is that human society has changed over the span of 250 years , but the tyranny and injustice of our human society remains unchanged. The enthusiasm shown by the British government and legal/justice system towards implementing the Human Rights Legislation and the Big Brother state surveillance shows that 250 years later the author has failed miserably to get his message across.

Witty and wry, 29 Nov 2002
On one level, of course this is the story of your childhood. On another it is a sometimes light sometimes vicious always sharp as a razor satire on politics, science, religion, war and many other aspects of the human condition. The writer has a gift for exposing the ridiculous in many of the things we do and displaying it so it appears described but is in fact lampooned.

misanthropic? who cares if he can write like this, 25 Aug 2000
this book is stunning. I am 28 and only read what i assumed was a diverting childrens yarn from boredom. since then I have read it 3 times and still laugh out loud. Swift satirises the pomposity and mendacity of man so ruthlessly. the voice of the well meaning gulliver is used so adeptly throughout. the last chapter (land of the hounyhoums) was slated in the introduction for misanthropy. I found it brilliant and the funniest part of the book. an excellent read

A "darn" good book, 22 Feb 1999
Hi my name is robin and i'm doing a school work at gullivers travels if you find a good page mail it to me

About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

Perhaps satire doesn't travel, 22 Aug 2007
It's a good read and probably every bit the masterpiece its reputation claims. The problem with satire, however, is that it doesn't stand alone. Parody, on the other hand, ought to make sense in itself, but obviously more sense if the object of the parody is understood and familiar. Satire only seems to make sense if you know the original.

The section in Lilliput describing the bloke with different sized heels on his shoes, for instance, is very funny, but only when the footnote has provided the context. He is described as having to negotiate a political line between the faction that likes high heels and the other that likes low ones. He makes awkward progress with both groups, since he can barely walk or stand up straight in a pair of shoes made up so he can have a foot in each camp. The reference is beautiful. It refers to High Church and Low Church in the Anglican tradition, and therefore to Whig and Tory, the opposing political parties of the time. To stay sweet with both, certain royals kept a foot in both camps, making their progress as ridiculous as the rough-shod Lilliputian.

In the books three sections, Gulliver is too big, then too small, then everyone is a horse except for the noxious Yahoos, of course. It was still a lot of fun and, probably, hard witting. The trouble, again, was knowing the targets. If today's Yahoos are considered... perhaps Swift might have googled his yahoos if he had been writing today.

One last observation is about well-known classics in general. The most famous scene from Gulliver's Travels, at least the one most depicted, is of Gulliver strapped to the ground by Lilliputian string and twine, while the little blighters run all over him. In Don Quixote, an equally quintessential scene is the tilting at windmills, mistaken by the knight for giants. It is interesting that both of these much quoted scenes appear very early in their respective books. I wonder if that might have something to do with certain people never getting very far through them!


a thriller of the age, 01 Sep 2006
This is quite a fun 'novel', but I'm not wowed by it. It can be viewed as a travel book, an adventure story, a spoof travel book, and even a momentous political satire.

Gulliver is an impulsive man who can't resist the calling of the seas and foreign lands. He is quickly lured away from his comfortable homelife by a desire to explore, and that he does, in a big way.

His travels are effectively logged in separate books, each one describing a different kingdom or country, its inhabitants, its manners. Lilliput has tiny people, Brobdingnag has huge people, Laputa is a floating island, Houynhnmland has horses with great virtues. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and Gulliver has a great talent for the languages of each land.

The book works to enlarge humankind to a vulgar degree, belittle it by shrinking, and make vices look absurd. It's not seriously clever, but it is fun.

Fab, 08 Mar 2007
In response to the review from 'a reader' below- have you never heard of a satire?? I read this in the first year of an english degree and have to say that I found it really thought provoking as it has a very dry witty theme throughout and it is meant to be taken lightly after all!

a modest mistake?, 26 Jan 2007
The book A Modest Proposal, written in the first instance by Swift in pamphlet form, is a wonderful piece of social commentary. The reviewer "a reader" appears to have completely missed the point, however, in not recognising the desired effect of this pamplet on the citizens of London. Plagued by crime and poverty, London of Swift's time was a place run as an autocracy, with many politicians and other people with high and influential social standing of a mentality far removed from reality. Swift's intended readership was these people, of upper middle and higher status, and in offering them a "solution" to the problems involved with mass poverty and crime, was actually illuminating their own misconceptions and haughtiness concerning the issue. His "modest proposal" was designed to shock and cause a reconsideration of opinion, rather than to amuse in the same way a horror film does today. Indeed, it is in this fashion that Swift is one of the first employers of "shock tactics" in politics.

The book was an insight., 23 Mar 2001
This book opened my eyes to ideas that hadn't even occured to me before. Even the thought of some of the suggestions that were mentioned made me cringe with a gripping fear that someone could think of things like that. I thouroughly enjoyed the book as it takes a great deal of guts to wrote what he did and I only hope that his proposal is not prophetic! It amazes me that someone could create such ideas, but the way that he proposes them is clever and well thought out.

hidden messages are little too well hidden, 21 Oct 2008
Written over 250 years ago: we are told that it is intended as a political satire and an attack on the nastier aspects of human behaviour. This particular version of the book has a considerable amount of letters , comments and criticisms written by various people since it was first published in 1726. This additional material is probably more interesting than the original stories. The significance of what the author intended to achieve by publishing the stories is lost in time and this additional material gives a useful insight into the hidden meanings in the book. It is written in ye olde English with phonetic spelling which makes an interesting contribution to the debate about the need for accurate disciplined spelling. It is hard to believe now that Swift had the book published under an assumed name as a hoax ; presumably to see how long it would take some people to realise that the stories were a practical joke. There are four stories , with Lilliput being the best known; the other three less well known. According to academics, the four stories are the same stories with the same meaning ; they are presented differently, with each story making it's message more blatantly obvious for the benefit of thick people like me. I re-read the first and fourth stories after reading the additional material. I found the Lilliput story boring and the hidden symbolism was too well hidden ; the fourth story about the Hounynhynms is more direct and therefore much easier to understand the author's message. This story contains characters which are half-man , half-ape called Yahoos. According to the additional material , these characters were inspired by a debate among the so-called gentleman scientist of the time about a possible evolutionary link between African negroes, apes and Europeans. The interesting significance of this is that it is happening 100 years before Darwin's `Origin of the Species'. About half way through the fourth story, the author lets loose a tirade of abuse about the immorality of politicians and war , lawyers and the legal/justice system and the knock-out punch comes when the author starts to refer to the human race as Yahoos. If someone were to hand you a copy of the author's criticisms of politics and war , or the lawyers and legal/justice system as printed in the fourth book; you could probably be convinced that the text was copied from one of the present-day newspapers or books. The message I get from reading this type of book is that human society has changed over the span of 250 years , but the tyranny and injustice of our human society remains unchanged. The enthusiasm shown by the British government and legal/justice system towards implementing the Human Rights Legislation and the Big Brother state surveillance shows that 250 years later the author has failed miserably to get his message across.

Witty and wry, 29 Nov 2002
On one level, of course this is the story of your childhood. On another it is a sometimes light sometimes vicious always sharp as a razor satire on politics, science, religion, war and many other aspects of the human condition. The writer has a gift for exposing the ridiculous in many of the things we do and displaying it so it appears described but is in fact lampooned.

misanthropic? who cares if he can write like this, 25 Aug 2000
this book is stunning. I am 28 and only read what i assumed was a diverting childrens yarn from boredom. since then I have read it 3 times and still laugh out loud. Swift satirises the pomposity and mendacity of man so ruthlessly. the voice of the well meaning gulliver is used so adeptly throughout. the last chapter (land of the hounyhoums) was slated in the introduction for misanthropy. I found it brilliant and the funniest part of the book. an excellent read

A "darn" good book, 22 Feb 1999
Hi my name is robin and i'm doing a school work at gullivers travels if you find a good page mail it to me

hidden messages are little too well hidden, 21 Oct 2008
Written over 250 years ago: we are told that it is intended as a political satire and an attack on the nastier aspects of human behaviour. This particular version of the book has a considerable amount of letters , comments and criticisms written by various people since it was first published in 1726. This additional material is probably more interesting than the original stories. The significance of what the author intended to achieve by publishing the stories is lost in time and this additional material gives a useful insight into the hidden meanings in the book. It is written in ye olde English with phonetic spelling which makes an interesting contribution to the debate about the need for accurate disciplined spelling. It is hard to believe now that Swift had the book published under an assumed name as a hoax ; presumably to see how long it would take some people to realise that the stories were a practical joke. There are four stories , with Lilliput being the best known; the other three less well known. According to academics, the four stories are the same stories with the same meaning ; they are presented differently, with each story making it's message more blatantly obvious for the benefit of thick people like me. I re-read the first and fourth stories after reading the additional material. I found the Lilliput story boring and the hidden symbolism was too well hidden ; the fourth story about the Hounynhynms is more direct and therefore much easier to understand the author's message. This story contains characters which are half-man , half-ape called Yahoos. According to the additional material , these characters were inspired by a debate among the so-called gentleman scientist of the time about a possible evolutionary link between African negroes, apes and Europeans. The interesting significance of this is that it is happening 100 years before Darwin's `Origin of the Species'. About half way through the fourth story, the author lets loose a tirade of abuse about the immorality of politicians and war , lawyers and the legal/justice system and the knock-out punch comes when the author starts to refer to the human race as Yahoos. If someone were to hand you a copy of the author's criticisms of politics and war , or the lawyers and legal/justice system as printed in the fourth book; you could probably be convinced that the text was copied from one of the present-day newspapers or books. The message I get from reading this type of book is that human society has changed over the span of 250 years , but the tyranny and injustice of our human society remains unchanged. The enthusiasm shown by the British government and legal/justice system towards implementing the Human Rights Legislation and the Big Brother state surveillance shows that 250 years later the author has failed miserably to get his message across.

Witty and wry, 29 Nov 2002
On one level, of course this is the story of your childhood. On another it is a sometimes light sometimes vicious always sharp as a razor satire on politics, science, religion, war and many other aspects of the human condition. The writer has a gift for exposing the ridiculous in many of the things we do and displaying it so it appears described but is in fact lampooned.

misanthropic? who cares if he can write like this, 25 Aug 2000
this book is stunning. I am 28 and only read what i assumed was a diverting childrens yarn from boredom. since then I have read it 3 times and still laugh out loud. Swift satirises the pomposity and mendacity of man so ruthlessly. the voice of the well meaning gulliver is used so adeptly throughout. the last chapter (land of the hounyhoums) was slated in the introduction for misanthropy. I found it brilliant and the funniest part of the book. an excellent read

A "darn" good book, 22 Feb 1999
Hi my name is robin and i'm doing a school work at gullivers travels if you find a good page mail it to me

About the bigness of a Bristol barrel, 18 Nov 2005
It has been suggested that only one reader in ten thousand can appreciate the full merit of Gulliver’s Travels as it is a satire on forgotten politics. Do not be misled, this is a timeless classic. The absolute relation to the past whether to politics or otherwise is not an essential premise for one’s amusement of this book. The novel operates on many levels and the reader can easily make a rudimentary guess (without but usually with the aid of notes) at the satire. Political history has a reoccurring theme and much of what Swift wrote three hundred years ago resoundingly rings true today. We can plainly identify repeating general patterns and specific examples of events from the last three hundred years which mirror exactly what Swift alluded to -we do of course have the advantage of retrospection to amplify or even reassign the meaning.

The literal reading and interpretation of little people, giants, a flying island and talking horses can be dazzling. No-kidding, great imagination, marvellous observation and juxtapositional brilliance. Highlights are the whole of Part II and references to the ‘Academy’ in Part III (definite ‘laugh out loud’ humour).

Swift makes arguments and counter arguments along with very credible undisputable criticisms of humankind without preaching in a work of genius. There are lessons for us all here, we can take delight in the book and take heart from the value of its reading.

A word about the edition., 25 Dec 2004
The literary worth of this text is beyond doubt. Rather than extol its merits - beyond the fact that Swift's prose is of unsurpasssed clarity and elegance - I will warn prospective buyers that, for serious, or even intelligent, reading, this edition is unsuitable. An understanding of its contextual allusions and references is necessary to appreciate the satire of Gulliver's Travels, but this edition is lacking in notes. Of course, it is ideal for children, but readers searching beyond the surface fable should look elsewhere. (Oxford University Press or Penguin Classics, I suggest.)

A brain-raking model in English literature, 06 Jan 2004
I am rather disappointed by the book that definitely is a classic. Lilliput is just another image of monarchy, but in no way different from what Swift knew. The criticism comes from the scale of the people who are extremely small. Brogdingnag does not change this approach, only the scale of the people who are extremely big, though in this case there is a direct criticism of the exploitation the « grotesque » Gulliver is the object of. Laputa, Balnibarbi and Luggnagg show a strange floating saucer in a kingdom dominated by unpractical scientists who try to do everything upside down. It is a satire of scientists in general who are so little concerned by the welfare of the community that they can ruin just for the sake of implementing their hypotheses. Glubbdubdrib is funnier because it enables Gulliver to meet all kinds of people from the past and this leads to remarks about philosophers or politicians or generals that show how small and little and even tiny they were. Japan only shows the extreme anti-christian policy that can be reached there and the extreme self-centeredness of the Dutch, which is probably a criticism of the crown in England. But the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms is by far the best because here we reach both a severe criticism of the human race reduced to its animal instincts and behaviors, and a utopian society in which evil does not exist because it cannot even be conceived, because it is totally out of reach for these kind reasoning and reasonable horses. And yet Gulliver is expelled because he is a Yahoo, no matter what, and the natural reason of these dominant horses leads to rejection, after having found in Gulliver's explanations a solution to get rid of the Yahoo by sterilizing them into extinction, just the way men do with horses in European countries, just a little bit more systematically. This leads to the idea that genocide and ethnic cleansing is a natural attitude, an attitude that goes along with natural reason that says that the species standing in the way of reason have to be exterminated. But the book never reaches that level of thinking, since Swift could not know about such policies that will flourish in later centuries, and yet the Irish occupation should lead him to some idea of what such a principle can lead to. Thus at a second level of reading we find a criticism of « natural reason » though it is not fully expressed and developed. After all it is that « natural reason » that led, already in Swift's times, to the genocide of Indians in America : they were not human, they were attributed all kinds of shortcomings like aggressivity, the love of war, the lack of cleanliness, a strong stench, and many other elements of the type. We can even note that beyond the genocide, the sterilisation policy will be implemented, but not on males, rather on females, and this in some US states up to the 1950s and maybe the 1960s. And this policy initiated by the Scandinavians in the early 20th century (and it was to last at least fifty or sixty decades) was to be systematically used against physically or psychologically impaired people. Hitler will follow that model, pushing it one bit further. In a way the book becomes then some vision of the future. This book hence is a prefiguration of many other books on the subject, such as « The time Machine », « Brave New World », « Animal Farm », etc. This book seems to be the archetype of a literary genre in English literature, and of course the archetype of many films dealing with the same subject, particularly extraterrestrials.To conclude I will say that such a book is definitely not for children even if it is often assigned to young children in some schools.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Relatively Great, 24 Aug 2001
This is not a children's book. Swift ensured that Gulliver's account is an easily readable piece of literature, but this is certainly not a book to be read on the surface. The depth of ideas and satire is unmatched by any other author. The first two chapters concentrate on the problems of our political systems and ridicule our customs. Gulliver is cleverly interposed in two worlds of opposites - in one he is a giant, in the next he is a dwarf. Swift uses this fact to show how everything is only relative to what you compare against. The final two chapters take a deep, long swipe at the failings of humanity - going right to the very bones. Again Swift uses the device of comparison and relatity to satirise his targets - the main one being humankind's lack of reason. DO NOT think that you have read this book if you have only watched it on TV, it is so much more than that. Read it if only to hear of the experiment to harvest sunbeams from cucumbers.

Classic piece of English satire, 13 Jun 2001
Gulliver's Travels is widely regarded as a children's book, when in fact it is a comic and yet strongly political view of English society from many different perspectives. The ludicrous places that Gulliver visits are all based on England, but with just one of 'our' features completely overemphasised, ie our love of science and reason, in order to parody it and to highlight faults in society. I love Gulliver's travels, because it is one of the few so-called 'classics' that are accessible to the modern reader; the fact that children can read it shows how clear Swift's writing is. In fact, it's like a reverse Harry Potter - the grown-up's book that kids love too!

Perhaps satire doesn't travel, 22 Aug 2007
It's a good read and probably every bit the masterpiece its reputation claims. The problem with satire, however, is that it doesn't stand alone. Parody, on the other hand, ought to make sense in itself, but obviously more sense if the object of the parody is understood and familiar. Satire only seems to make sense if you know the original.

The section in Lilliput describing the bloke with different sized heels on his shoes, for instance, is very funny, but only when the footnote has provided the context. He is described as having to negotiate a political line between the faction that likes high heels and the other that likes low ones. He makes awkward progress with both groups, since he can barely walk or stand up straight in a pair of shoes made up so he can have a foot in each camp. The reference is beautiful. It refers to High Church and Low Church in the Anglican tradition, and therefore to Whig and Tory, the opposing political parties of the time. To stay sweet with both, certain royals kept a foot in both camps, making their progress as ridiculous as the rough-shod Lilliputian.

In the books three sections, Gulliver is too big, then too small, then everyone is a horse except for the noxious Yahoos, of course. It was still a lot of fun and, probably, hard witting. The trouble, again, was knowing the targets. If today's Yahoos are considered... perhaps Swift might have googled his yahoos if he had been writing today.

One last observation is about well-known classics in general. The most famous scene from Gulliver's Travels, at least the one most depicted, is of Gulliver strapped to the ground by Lilliputian string and twine, while the little blighters run all over him. In Don Quixote, an equally quintessential scene is the tilting at windmills, mistaken by the knight for giants. It is interesting that both of these much quoted scenes appear very early in their respective books. I wonder if that might have something to do with certain people never getting very far through them!


a thriller of the age, 01 Sep 2006
This is quite a fun 'novel', but I'm not wowed by it. It can be viewed as a travel book, an adventure story, a spoof travel book, and even a momentous political satire.

Gulliver is an impulsive man who can't resist the calling of the seas and foreign lands. He is quickly lured away from his comfortable homelife by a desire to explore, and that he does, in a big way.

His travels are effectively logged in separate books, each one describing a different kingdom or country, its inhabitants, its manners. Lilliput has tiny people, Brobdingnag has huge people, Laputa is a floating island, Houynhnmland has horses with great virtues. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and Gulliver has a great talent for the languages of each land.

The book works to enlarge humankind to a vulgar degree, belittle it by shrinking, and make vices look absurd. It's not seriously clever, but it is fun.

Fab, 08 Mar 2007
In response to the review from 'a reader' below- have you never heard of a satire?? I read this in the first year of an english degree and have to say that I found it really thought provoking as it has a very dry witty theme throughout and it is meant to be taken lightly after all!

a modest mistake?, 26 Jan 2007
The book A Modest Proposal, written in the first instance by Swift in pamphlet form, is a wonderful piece of social commentary. The reviewer "a reader" appears to have completely missed the point, however, in not recognising the desired effect of this pamplet on the citizens of London. Plagued by crime and poverty, London of Swift's time was a place run as an autocracy, with many politicians and other people with high and influential social standing of a mentality far removed from reality. Swift's intended readership was these people, of upper middle and higher status, and in offering them a "solution" to the problems involved with mass poverty and crime, was actually illuminating their own misconceptions and haughtiness concerning the issue. His "modest proposal" was designed to shock and cause a reconsideration of opinion, rather than to amuse in the same way a horror film does today. Indeed, it is in this fashion that Swift is one of the first employers of "shock tactics" in politics.

The book was an insight., 23 Mar 2001
This book opened my eyes to ideas that hadn't even occured to me before. Even the thought of some of the suggestions that were mentioned made me cringe with a gripping fear that someone could think of things like that. I thouroughly enjoyed the book as it takes a great deal of guts to wrote what he did and I only hope that his proposal is not prophetic! It amazes me that someone could create such ideas, but the way that he proposes them is clever and well thought out.

hidden messages are little too well hidden, 21 Oct 2008
Written over 250 years ago: we are told that it is intended as a political satire and an attack on the nastier aspects of human behaviour. This particular version of the book has a considerable amount of letters , comments and criticisms written by various people since it was first published in 1726. This additional material is probably more interesting than the original stories. The significance of what the author intended to achieve by publishing the stories is lost in time and this additional material gives a useful insight into the hidden meanings in the book. It is written in ye olde English with phonetic spelling which makes an interesting contribution to the debate about the need for accurate disciplined spelling. It is hard to believe now that Swift had the book published under an assumed name as a hoax ; presumably to see how long it would take some people to realise that the stories were a practical joke. There are four stories , with Lilliput being the best known; the other three less well known. According to academics, the four stories are the same stories with the same meaning ; they are presented differently, with each story making it's message more blatantly obvious for the benefit of thick people like me. I re-read the first and fourth stories after reading the additional material. I found the Lilliput story boring and the hidden symbolism was too well hidden ; the fourth story about the Hounynhynms is more direct and therefore much easier to understand the author's message. This story contains characters which are half-man , half-ape called Yahoos. According to the additional material , these characters were inspired by a debate among the so-called gentleman scientist of the time about a possible evolutionary link between African negroes, apes and Europeans. The interesting significance of this is that it is happening 100 years before Darwin's `Origin of the Species'. About half way through the fourth story, the author lets loose a tirade of abuse about the immorality of politicians and war , lawyers and the legal/justice system and the knock-out punch comes when the author starts to refer to the human race as Yahoos. If someone were to hand you a copy of the author's criticisms of politics and war , or the lawyers and legal/justice system as printed in the fourth book; you could probably be convinced that the text was copied from one of the present-day newspapers or books. The message I get from reading this type of book is that human society has changed over the span of 250 years , but the tyranny and injustice of our human society remains unchanged. The enthusiasm shown by the British government and legal/justice system towards implementing the Human Rights Legislation and the Big Brother state surveillance shows that 250 years later the author has failed miserably to get his message across.

Witty and wry, 29 Nov 2002
On one level, of course this is the story of your childhood. On another it is a sometimes light sometimes vicious always sharp as a razor satire on politics, science, religion, war and many other aspects of the human condition. The writer has a gift for exposing the ridiculous in many of the things we do and displaying it so it appears described but is in fact lampooned.

misanthropic? who cares if he can write like this, 25 Aug 2000
this book is stunning. I am 28 and only read what i assumed was a diverting childrens yarn from boredom. since then I have read it 3 times and still laugh out loud. Swift satirises the pomposity and mendacity of man so ruthlessly. the voice of the well meaning gulliver is used so adeptly throughout. the last chapter (land of the hounyhoums) was slated in the introduction for misanthropy. I found it brilliant and the funniest part of the book. an excellent read

A "darn" good book, 22 Feb 1999
Hi my name is robin and i'm doing a school work at gullivers travels if you find a good page mail it to me

hidden messages are little too well hidden, 21 Oct 2008
Written over 250 years ago: we are told that it is intended as a political satire and an attack on the nastier aspects of human behaviour. This particular version of the book has a considerable amount of letters , comments and criticisms written by various people since it was first published in 1726. This additional material is probably more interesting than the original stories. The significance of what the author intended to achieve by publishing the stories is lost in time and this additional material gives a useful insight into the hidden meanings in the book. It is written in ye olde English with phonetic spelling which makes an interesting contribution to the debate about the need for accurate disciplined spelling. It is hard to believe now that Swift had the book published under an assumed name as a hoax ; presumably to see how long it would take some people to realise that the stories were a practical joke. There are four stories , with Lilliput being the best known; the other three less well known. According to academics, the four stories are the same stories with the same meaning ; they are presented differently, with each story making it's message more blatantly obvious for the benefit of thick people like me. I re-read the first and fourth stories after reading the additional material. I found the Lilliput story boring and the hidden symbolism was too well hidden ; the fourth story about the Hounynhynms is more direct and therefore much easier to understand the author's message. This story contains characters which are half-man , half-ape called Yahoos. According to the additional material , these characters were inspired by a debate among the so-called gentleman scientist of the time about a possible evolutionary link between African negroes, apes and Europeans. The interesting significance of this is that it is happening 100 years before Darwin's `Origin of the Species'. About half way through the fourth story, the author lets loose a tirade of abuse about the immorality of politicians and war , lawyers and the legal/justice system and the knock-out punch comes when the author starts to refer to the human race as Yahoos. If someone were to hand you a copy of the author's criticisms of politics and war , or the lawyers and legal/justice system as printed in the fourth book; you could probably be convinced that the text was copied from one of the present-day newspapers or books. The message I get from reading this type of book is that human society has changed over the span of 250 years , but the tyranny and injustice of our human society remains unchanged. The enthusiasm shown by the British government and legal/justice system towards implementing the Human Rights Legislation and the Big Brother state surveillance shows that 250 years later the author has failed miserably to get his message across.

Witty and wry, 29 Nov 2002
On one level, of course this is the story of your childhood. On another it is a sometimes light sometimes vicious always sharp as a razor satire on politics, science, religion, war and many other aspects of the human condition. The writer has a gift for exposing the ridiculous in many of the things we do and displaying it so it appears described but is in fact lampooned.

misanthropic? who cares if he can write like this, 25 Aug 2000
this book is stunning. I am 28 and only read what i assumed was a diverting childrens yarn from boredom. since then I have read it 3 times and still laugh out loud. Swift satirises the pomposity and mendacity of man so ruthlessly. the voice of the well meaning gulliver is used so adeptly throughout. the last chapter (land of the hounyhoums) was slated in the introduction for misanthropy. I found it brilliant and the funniest part of the book. an excellent read