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Gulliver's Travels
When Lemuel Gulliver is washed up on the distant shore of Lilliput, he becomes a giant among men. As his travels continue, Gulliver is dwarfed by the people of Brobdingnag and bewildered by the customs of the Laputians. Will Gulliver find the humanity he seeks in the Land of the Talking Horses? A retelling of Jonathan Swift's story in graphic novel format.
- GenresGraphic NovelsClassics
48 pages
Published January 1, 2009
About the author
John Malam
386 books14 followersJohn Malam is a British historian, archaeologist, and author of children’s non-fiction books. Trained in Ancient History and Archaeology, he worked on excavations and led an archaeology unit before becoming an editor and later a full-time writer specializing in ancient civilizations.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 11, 2016
Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver's Travels: Graphic Classics” (Hauppauge, NY: Barron's, 2009)
Retold by John Malam, illustrated by Penko Gelev.
I'm reviewing this on the Barron's Classic Graphic. Excellent illustrations by Penko Gelev, and well scripted by John Malam. A very good retelling. The original story itself is a clever satire but I struggle with the limited biases of Swift's own era.
The story goes that Gulliver sets sail from Bristol, England, encounters strange lands, returns home and to his wife's frustration immediately departs for another round of bizarre interactions with “other-worldly” cultures.
Can't tell if the author is satirizing class prejudice or expounding it!
“My wife and family were overjoyed to see me, I did not feel the same toward them – my time among the Houyhnhnms had caused me to think of the human race as no better than vile Yahoos.” (p39)
“They seem like odious animals to me.” - Gulliver's thought-bubble about his wife and kids. (p39)
“For the first year after my return I could not bear to be in the presence of my family. I detested the smell of humans, and I much preferred to company of my two horses.” (p39)
Swift was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland, and is best known for his satirical novels and criticisms of people and society. 'Gulliver's Travels' took several years to write and and was published in 1726 as 'Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.'
As with other 'Graphic Classics' by 'Barron's' this book has realistic drawings, title description on each double-page, helpful footnotes explaining antiquated terms, full page character listing, page numbers, and in addition to the story there are double-page features on the life of the author (p40-41), historical contexts (p42-45), stage and screen adaptations (p46), map (p47) and and index (p48).
Retold by John Malam, illustrated by Penko Gelev.
I'm reviewing this on the Barron's Classic Graphic. Excellent illustrations by Penko Gelev, and well scripted by John Malam. A very good retelling. The original story itself is a clever satire but I struggle with the limited biases of Swift's own era.
The story goes that Gulliver sets sail from Bristol, England, encounters strange lands, returns home and to his wife's frustration immediately departs for another round of bizarre interactions with “other-worldly” cultures.
Can't tell if the author is satirizing class prejudice or expounding it!
“My wife and family were overjoyed to see me, I did not feel the same toward them – my time among the Houyhnhnms had caused me to think of the human race as no better than vile Yahoos.” (p39)
“They seem like odious animals to me.” - Gulliver's thought-bubble about his wife and kids. (p39)
“For the first year after my return I could not bear to be in the presence of my family. I detested the smell of humans, and I much preferred to company of my two horses.” (p39)
Swift was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland, and is best known for his satirical novels and criticisms of people and society. 'Gulliver's Travels' took several years to write and and was published in 1726 as 'Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.'
As with other 'Graphic Classics' by 'Barron's' this book has realistic drawings, title description on each double-page, helpful footnotes explaining antiquated terms, full page character listing, page numbers, and in addition to the story there are double-page features on the life of the author (p40-41), historical contexts (p42-45), stage and screen adaptations (p46), map (p47) and and index (p48).
November 16, 2018
Obviously this could not possibly cover enough at it given length so the grade is based on that.
I read (audio) it in full years ago and just loved it other than the fact that I became ashamed of being a Yahoo. Thankfully, Houyhnhnms are treated much better today.
I read (audio) it in full years ago and just loved it other than the fact that I became ashamed of being a Yahoo. Thankfully, Houyhnhnms are treated much better today.
September 17, 2018
I read this as a young girl and now that I’ve read the graphic novel, I need to revisit the original. The illustrations in this graphic novel are wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews