A Modest Proposal and Other Prose

by Jonathan Swift, Lewis Daly (Introduction)

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is generally acknowledged as the finest satirical writer in the English language, and it is no exaggeration to say, as Harold Bloom does, that he is likely the most savage and merciless satirist as well. Although Swift is best known for his longest and most ambitious work, the allegorical fiction "Gulliver s Travels," shorter works such as "A Modest Proposal, The Battle of the Books, "and "A Tale of a Tub," among other important pieces collected here, are no less accomplished and in some ways are more revealing of his satirical genius. The surprising, sometimes perverse humour and stinging mockery, the complex stylistic interplay of rhetoric, argument, and meaning, and the superb ironic control displayed throughout these pieces are the hallmarks not only of a master satirist, but of a skilled controversialist and public spirit, someone intensely concerned with engaging pressing issues and affecting his audience in certain ways. The art of satire has rarely provoked more controversy and had such lasting effect."

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Humor

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2009

About the author

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swift's prose is elegant and of its time. The issues that his satire relates are also, sadly, grounded in their time and lose some of their punch regarding political statements. There is a reason we know "A Modest Proposal" more than we know about "The Battle of the Books" or "A Tale of the Tub."

A better way to say this, Swift is at his best when his writing follows his name and the length is commiserate to the argument.