A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, 1 star

[Amy]

I think now that I can fairly say that I am done with Ireland.

A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, an essay written in 1729 is meant to be a satirical look at the problem of poverty in Ireland at the time. However the satire belies certain negative beliefs about class struggles and poor people in general. In this well noted essay, Swift's solution, toward which he outlines completely and expediently, is simply to sell and eat all of the poor children, thereby reducing the burden onto the public and effectively promoting good commerce.

Yup! I'm done with Ireland.

[Joi]

Pretty outlandish topic. I might be reading this for March if I can't fit anything else in!

[Marina]

I have this on my Kindle, but I'm unsure whether to read it or not now that I read your review and rating. I loved Swift's Gulliver's Travels, I gave it 5 stars, so I thought I might like his shorter satirical works as well... But now I don't know...

[annapi]

I loved this when I first read it, I thought it was hilarious. Great shock value in its biting sarcasm. I do admit I wasn't reading it for study so I will have to revisit it to check out what you mentioned about the beliefs about class struggles and the poor, but it was 1729 after all. Marina, you should read it - it's so short it really IMO doesn't qualify as a "book". Here it is in its entirety: http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

[Marina]

annapi wrote: "I loved this when I first read it, I thought it was hilarious. Great shock value in its biting sarcasm. I do admit I wasn't reading it for study so I will have to revisit it to check out what you m..."

Thanks for the recommendation, annapi. I've seen that the most popular edition here on GR has 48 pages, whilst others have even fewer than that, so I should probably follow your advice. At least, if I don't like it, I won't have wasted hours of my time.

[Regina Lindsey]

Ouch! And, lol. Guess you didn't vote for Italy?

[Nicole R]

I want you all to know that I just realized that the same person wrote Modest and Gullivers! lol. If you were here, you could have seen the light bulb above my head light up.

[Amy]

Just bought the photographer's wife on a whim! No, I'm settling in for best sellers and will knock off, A History of Love, Hotel on the Corner, Britt Marie, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Lightning Theif for starters!