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What Members Thought
As Samuel Johnson stated, Gulliver's Travels is a work "so new and strange, that it filled the reader with a mingled emotion of merriment and amazement." One must remember that at the time of Gulliver's Travels, readers had rarely encountered prose fiction in the form of stories, let along the fantastical stories and adventures of Gulliver. They didn't quite know how to respond.
In the last chapter of the this book, its purpose is laid out to the reader, that Swift's "principal Design was to info ...more
In the last chapter of the this book, its purpose is laid out to the reader, that Swift's "principal Design was to info ...more
I give Jonathan Swift a lot of credit for writing this in the early 1700's. For me though Gulliver's Travels is better in memory that when actually listening to it (or reading it). Previously I had rated it 4 stars based on my recollection from long ago. This time, well, it's spotty. While it may be biting and witty at times, and it is most certainly imaginative, it is lacking in any element of suspense to grab me and wrap me up in the story.
This time it is only 3 stars for me.
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This time it is only 3 stars for me.
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This was a bit of a slog for me and I was disturbed by Swift's obvious fixation on bodily discharges, especially that of excrement. This wasn't just the Yahoos either. I've read some speculate that this was to show the disgustingness of human nature, but while this may fit with what he was trying to convey with the Yahoos it doesn't explain why he had to include it into *every* other section of the book. The man was fixated. He also didn't think much of women or children. Overall, I'm glad I rea
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Strange, but glad I read it.
Jun 13, 2013
Ashley
added it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
the-well-educated-mind,
2017-reading-list
Jan 10, 2017
Jason Britt
marked it as to-read
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review of another edition
Shelves:
essential-to-read,
twem-novel
Aug 17, 2019
Armi
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
british-isles,
film-tv-show,
1001-books,
audiobook,
classics,
fantasy,
adventure,
18th-centary
