Gulliver’s Travels in Reading the Classics

Apr 10, 2012 Angie Palau rated it liked it

OK, another book I might never have read, were it not for book club. It wasn't a favorite, but it goes on the list of reading "accomplishments"... things that I read because ultimately I think it makes me more well-rounded... or something like that. For the record, I didn't read the edition that I'm attaching my review to; it was just the first apparently unabridged version that popped up (I checked out a musty hard-cover from the library, and it's not an easy matter to find which edition it was OK, another book I might never have read, were it not for book club. It wasn't a favorite, but it goes on the list of reading "accomplishments"... things that I read because ultimately I think it makes me more well-rounded... or something like that. For the record, I didn't read the edition that I'm attaching my review to; it was just the first apparently unabridged version that popped up (I checked out a musty hard-cover from the library, and it's not an easy matter to find which edition it was; be aware, however, the edition matters! Read on to find out what I mean by that).

Gulliver's Travels is usually regarded as a child's book, which it emphatically isn't, and most people don't know there's anything other than his visit to Lilliput, but that journey represents only about one-third of the book. Lilliput is probably the high point, but the visit to the Houyhnhnms was actually my favorite. All of the lands were clever, but ultimately it seemed like the book lasted far too long.

The book reads mostly like a travel-log written by a very dull man; there's no dialog, and the descriptions are sometimes almost clinical. Gulliver is a bit of a doofus, entirely lacking in self-awareness. Read from a modern perspective, he's not at all likeable and neither is he amusing, and perhaps that was also the case when it was written in 1726. He's not really intended to be heroic, just an every-man illustrating/discovering what's wrong with humanity (then, and sadly, now).

The book is historically significant, and it's highly satirical. So a strong sense of history is helpful in understanding the undertones throughout the book - particularly if you're versed in the British politics of the day. I am not, but I found the SparkNotes writeups to be very helpful in understanding the implications of the story.

What I found funny and surprising is that the original is FULL of potty-humor. Regrettably, I didn't KNOW that, nor did I realize that some well-meaning editors would excise that part in editions NOT marketed for kids. If you intend to read it and are a fan of ORIGINALS, be aware there are MANY published versions out there that have been sanitized and may not even be labeled as such... the version I got from the adult section of the library was not marked as abridged or edited, but many key sections that had off-color descriptions had been removed; the Kindle free edition has not been edited and has all baudiness retained). I don't know how you can be certain that you don't end up with an edited book; I really tried to get the complete original and somehow failed. It seems funny to be so irritated that I accidentally read a sanitized version, but if I'm going to the effort to read historically significant stuff (particularly since i didn't really enjoy this one all that much), I sure do want to read what the author actually wrote... Call me purist. I like my potty-humor straight-up.

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Aug 05, 2011 Megan rated it liked it

Ok, so saying I liked this book would be a bit of a stretch, however, looking at it in retrospect now, I think it was important for my cultural literacy. The real value in this work lies in it being the first of its kind and Swift's writing ability. Gulliver as a person kind of drove me insane and Swift's diatribes were a bit too obvious for my taste. Also, what's with all the talk of excrement?! Most of the time, Swift's writing was superb most of the time, but every once in a while I thought I ...more

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