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喔佮副喔ム弗喔脆箑喔о腑喔｀箤喔溹笀喔嵿笭喔编涪
喔椸箞喔侧笝喔溹腹喙夃腑喙堗覆喔權笚喔掂箞喔∴傅喔勦抚喔侧浮喙€喔∴笗喔曕覆喔佮福喔膏笓喔�, 喙€喔涏箛喔權腑喔编笝喔о箞喔侧競喙夃覆喔炧箑喔堗箟喔侧箘喔斷箟喔氞福喔｀涪喔侧涪喙傕笖喔⑧箘喔∴箞喔赋喔炧福喔侧竾喙€喔｀阜喙堗腑喔囙福喔侧抚喙佮斧喙堗竾喔佮覆喔｀笚喙堗腑喔囙箑喔椸傅喙堗涪喔о箒喔ム赴喔弗喔侧涪喔勦福喔编箟喔囙競喔竾喔傕箟喔侧笧喙€喔堗箟喔� 喔嬥付喙堗竾喔佮复喔權箑喔о弗喔侧笚喔编箟喔囙斧喔∴笖喔复喔氞斧喔佮笡喔掂箒喔ム赴喔佮抚喙堗覆喙€喔堗箛喔斷箑喔斷阜喔笝. 喙傕笡喔｀笖喔｀副喔氞福喔灌箟喔斷箟喔о涪喔о箞喔� 喙冟笝喔佮覆喔｀箑喔傕傅喔⑧笝喔笝喔编竾喔阜喔箑喔ム箞喔∴笝喔掂箟 喔傕箟喔侧笧喙€喔堗箟喔侧笧喔⑧覆喔⑧覆喔∴腑喔⑧箞喔侧竾喔父喔斷竸喔о覆喔∴釜喔侧浮喔侧福喔� 喙€喔ム箞喔侧箑喔夃笧喔侧赴喙佮笗喙堗竸喔о覆喔∴笀喔｀复喔囙涪喔脆箞喔囙竵喔о箞喔侧笀喔班箑喔ム箞喔侧箖喔箟喙€喔涏箛喔權箑喔｀阜喙堗腑喔囙笗喔粪箞喔權箑喔曕箟喔權斧喔о覆喔斷箑喔傅喔⑧抚
304 pages
First published January 1, 1726
11.8k people are currently reading
182k people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Swift
4,528听books2,061听followersJonathan 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 Encyclop忙dia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms鈥攕uch as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier鈥攐r 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".
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 Encyclop忙dia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms鈥攕uch as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier鈥攐r 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".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 8,365 reviews
June 23, 2024
imagine if you lived in the 1700s and this was like...the most fun book available.
screaming and crying.
so grateful to live in a time when the only reason i read this book is because its cover is pretty, and not because i live a life of suffering and no running water and my idea of a raging good time is...this.
phew.
bottom line: this was fine, that's all.
screaming and crying.
so grateful to live in a time when the only reason i read this book is because its cover is pretty, and not because i live a life of suffering and no running water and my idea of a raging good time is...this.
phew.
bottom line: this was fine, that's all.
January 31, 2012
尝别迟鈥檚 face 颈迟鈥�.
Jonathan Swift was a snarky, snarky bitch.
Gulliver鈥檚 Travels is like a giant pimp slap across the humanrace face and I am so glad I finally read this in a non-school, non-structured environment because I had a whole lot more fun with it this time around. Swift鈥檚 wit, insight and delivery are often, though not always, remarkable and he crams more well thought out jabs and toe-steppings in this slim 250 page novel than I would have thought possible in a work twice this long. 听
听
This is certainly a classic that I believe people should read and experience for themselves outside of any required scholarly endeavors because I think that many of the ills, injustices and idiocies that Swift addresses in this novel are still, unfortunately, very relevant today. While Swift is short on resolutions or ideas for improvement (one of my disappointments) he does a marvelous job of exposing the problems that he perceived as existing within the 18th Century world, most particularly England, and opening the door for a more expansive, popular discussion on these issues.
Kudos for that, Mr Swift.听
听
From a plot perspective, Gulliver鈥檚 Travels is a series of adventures by Lemuel Gulliver to various undiscovered, fictional worlds that act as a backdrop for Swift, through his main character/mouthpiece, to scathe, rebuke, poke fun at and/or question all manner of political, religious 听and social institutions, philosophies and groups. Everything from blind adherence to political ideologies or religious dogma, to ideological intolerance, to arbitrary social divisions and even the non-practical aspects of the rampant scientific explorations so in vogue at the time. Few groups were spared from Swift's caustic lens and many of his attacks are vehement bordering on brutal.听
Good. That is how such a work should be IMHO.听
听
Overall, I thought this was very worthwhile and many of Swift鈥檚 commentaries were piercing, 听brilliant and exceptionally well done. Some of my personal favorites include:听
听
** Parodying the massive waste of energy and resources expended in political infighting in Great Britain between the Whigs and Tories by having the two Lilliputian political parties separated solely by the aesthetic choice between wearing high heels and low heels. I can only imagine how this parody played out among the MP of England at the time.听
听
** Making light of the tremendous importance placed on seemingly trivial differences in religious doctrine that often lead to the most acrimonious wars and civil strife by explaining that the genesis of a long and bloody war between rival factions of Lilliputians stems from a disagreement over where to crack eggs. One group break their eggs on the small end (Small Endians) and the other break their eggs on the large end (Big Endians). What I found most clever about this attack was the use of an ambiguous reference in each side's 鈥渉oly book鈥� that states, 鈥渁ll true believers break their eggs at the convenient end.鈥� That is just about perfect satire Mr. Swift.
听
** A biting jab at traditions and customs that people cling to long after there is no practical reason to do so is eloquently made when Gulliver describes the Lilliputians custom of burying their dead head first.
** A wonderful anti-war statement is made through the horror and disgust with which the King of the giant Brobdingnagians (their size depicted as representing moral superiority) reacts to Gulliver鈥檚 description of gunpowder and his offer to teach the Brobdingnagians the formula for producing it:
听
** My personal favorite (purely from an enjoyment standpoint) is the depiction of the scientifically adept and common-senseless Laputans 听who exemplify Swift鈥檚 serious gripe against scientific research that doesn鈥檛 have a practical and foreseeable benefit to society.
听
Now I must drop some ice in the bath water.听
As much as there was to enjoy in this work, I was not as blown away by it as I would have liked to have been. For one thing, I thought that Swift鈥檚 prose was merely serviceable and I didn鈥檛 find much in the way of eloquence in his delivery. It was missing the ear-pleasing lyrical quality that I have come to expect when reading classic literature. The writing wasn鈥檛 bad by any means but it wasn鈥檛 as enjoyable or memorable as I had hoped. This may be an unfair critique given that this book鈥檚 legacy lies with its content, but the lack of beautiful prose kept me from being able to enjoy the interludes and non-meaty passages of the work. 听听
听
Also, some of Swift鈥檚 critiques fell a bit flat and didn't resonate with me as much as those mentioned above. For instance, the recasting of famous historical figures like Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar as being more subject to the moral frailties of the human animal than the established texts would have us believe. Swift uses this as the springboard to discuss the less than wholesome practices of securing political power today and that is a good thing. I just found the use of the legends of antiquity unnecessary and not particularly effective. That鈥檚 probably a personal bias of mine as I have always found those figures fascinating to read about. 听听
听
Here's my biggest problem. One of the principal arguments that Swift makes in his novel is that balance and moderation are the keys to success both individually and as a people. Extremes of behavior and belief are the seeds from which disastrous consequences are born, according to Swift. That鈥檚 easy to say and it has an attractive ring to it, but I wish Swift had done a little more with it. This walkmy right into my biggest complaint about the story鈥he ending.
听
I thought that the ambiguity of Gulliver鈥檚 condition at the end of the novel was a bit of a cop out. It appears as though the reader is left to determine whether Gulliver was (1) a man disgusted with humanity as a result of his exposure to the morally righteous and logically rational Houyhnhnm or (2) a man whose ill-conceived and intemperate worship of, and infatuation with the Houyhnhnm made him just another unbalanced yahoo whose loss of perspective and left him deranged. 听
听
Part of the answer of this would stem from determining whether Swift was holding up the Houyhnhnms as a model to follow or whether their own passionless adherence to logic was itself a subject of parody. However, as with the end, I think Swift was less than certain of his position (or of the position he wanted to state) and thus left too much ambiguity to the reader.
听
Now I understand that often these kinds of soft endings are perfect as they allow the reader to interpret the work for themselves. However, here where Swift has been bludgeoning the reader with his opinions throughout the entire work, to suddenly punt and not clearly express a case for his protagonist seems to be a miss.
听
That said, I am the first to acknowledge that it is anywhere from a distinct possibility to a metaphysical certainty that the 鈥渕iss鈥� here is on my part, but that was how I saw it. I wanted Swift to wrap up and summarize the effect of the journey on Gulliver and provide a statement about what should be drawn from his experience so that a better road could be paved for using his travels to address the problems on which it shined its light. 听
听
3.0 to 3.5 stars. Still鈥IGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Jonathan Swift was a snarky, snarky bitch.
Gulliver鈥檚 Travels is like a giant pimp slap across the human
听
This is certainly a classic that I believe people should read and experience for themselves outside of any required scholarly endeavors because I think that many of the ills, injustices and idiocies that Swift addresses in this novel are still, unfortunately, very relevant today. While Swift is short on resolutions or ideas for improvement (one of my disappointments) he does a marvelous job of exposing the problems that he perceived as existing within the 18th Century world, most particularly England, and opening the door for a more expansive, popular discussion on these issues.
Kudos for that, Mr Swift.听
听
From a plot perspective, Gulliver鈥檚 Travels is a series of adventures by Lemuel Gulliver to various undiscovered, fictional worlds that act as a backdrop for Swift, through his main character/mouthpiece, to scathe, rebuke, poke fun at and/or question all manner of political, religious 听and social institutions, philosophies and groups. Everything from blind adherence to political ideologies or religious dogma, to ideological intolerance, to arbitrary social divisions and even the non-practical aspects of the rampant scientific explorations so in vogue at the time. Few groups were spared from Swift's caustic lens and many of his attacks are vehement bordering on brutal.听
Good. That is how such a work should be IMHO.听
听
Overall, I thought this was very worthwhile and many of Swift鈥檚 commentaries were piercing, 听brilliant and exceptionally well done. Some of my personal favorites include:听
听
** Parodying the massive waste of energy and resources expended in political infighting in Great Britain between the Whigs and Tories by having the two Lilliputian political parties separated solely by the aesthetic choice between wearing high heels and low heels. I can only imagine how this parody played out among the MP of England at the time.听
听
** Making light of the tremendous importance placed on seemingly trivial differences in religious doctrine that often lead to the most acrimonious wars and civil strife by explaining that the genesis of a long and bloody war between rival factions of Lilliputians stems from a disagreement over where to crack eggs. One group break their eggs on the small end (Small Endians) and the other break their eggs on the large end (Big Endians). What I found most clever about this attack was the use of an ambiguous reference in each side's 鈥渉oly book鈥� that states, 鈥渁ll true believers break their eggs at the convenient end.鈥� That is just about perfect satire Mr. Swift.
听
** A biting jab at traditions and customs that people cling to long after there is no practical reason to do so is eloquently made when Gulliver describes the Lilliputians custom of burying their dead head first.
They bury their dead with their heads directly downwards, because they hold an opinion that in eleven thousand moons they are all to rise again, in which period the earth (which they conceive to be flat) will turn upside down, and by this means they shall, at their resurrection, be found ready standing on their feet. The learned among them confess the absurdity of this doctrine, but the practice still continues, in compliance to the vulgar.When Swift is on his game, he is very, very effective.
** A wonderful anti-war statement is made through the horror and disgust with which the King of the giant Brobdingnagians (their size depicted as representing moral superiority) reacts to Gulliver鈥檚 description of gunpowder and his offer to teach the Brobdingnagians the formula for producing it:
I told him of 鈥榓n invention, discovered between three and four hundred years ago, to make a certain powder鈥t]hat a proper quantity of this powder鈥ould drive a ball of iron or lead, with such violence and speed, as nothing was able to sustain its force. That the largest balls thus discharged, would not only destroy whole ranks of an army at once, but batter the strongest walls to the ground, sink down ships, with a thousand men in each, to the bottom of the sea, and when linked together by a chain, would cut through masts and rigging, divide hundreds of bodies in the middle, and lay all waste before them. That we often put this powder into large hollow balls of iron, and discharged them by an engine into some city we were besieging, which would rip up the pavements, tear the houses to pieces, burst and throw splinters on every side, dashing out the brains of all who came near鈥�Sorry for the long quote, but I thought that was a particularly moving passage.
...The king was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made. 鈥楬e was amazed, how so impotent and groveling an insect as I鈥ould entertain such inhuman ideas, and in so familiar a manner, as to appear wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and desolation which I had painted as the common effects of those destructive machines; whereof,鈥� he said, 鈥榮ome evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been the first contriver.鈥� As for himself, he protested, that although few things delighted him so much as new discoveries in art or in nature, yet he would rather lose half his kingdom, than be privy to such a secret; which he commanded me, as I valued any life, never to mention any more.
听
** My personal favorite (purely from an enjoyment standpoint) is the depiction of the scientifically adept and common-senseless Laputans 听who exemplify Swift鈥檚 serious gripe against scientific research that doesn鈥檛 have a practical and foreseeable benefit to society.
The first man I saw was of a meagre aspect, with sooty hands and face鈥H]e has been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put in phials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers. He told me, he did not doubt, that, in eight years more, he should be able to supply the governor鈥檚 gardens with sunshine, at a reasonable rate鈥�.Gulliver鈥檚 exploration of the scientific academy of Laputa was my favorite part of the novel and I thought Swift鈥檚 satiric chops were at there sharpest in relaying the societal dysfunction of the Laputans.听
听
Now I must drop some ice in the bath water.听
As much as there was to enjoy in this work, I was not as blown away by it as I would have liked to have been. For one thing, I thought that Swift鈥檚 prose was merely serviceable and I didn鈥檛 find much in the way of eloquence in his delivery. It was missing the ear-pleasing lyrical quality that I have come to expect when reading classic literature. The writing wasn鈥檛 bad by any means but it wasn鈥檛 as enjoyable or memorable as I had hoped. This may be an unfair critique given that this book鈥檚 legacy lies with its content, but the lack of beautiful prose kept me from being able to enjoy the interludes and non-meaty passages of the work. 听听
听
Also, some of Swift鈥檚 critiques fell a bit flat and didn't resonate with me as much as those mentioned above. For instance, the recasting of famous historical figures like Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar as being more subject to the moral frailties of the human animal than the established texts would have us believe. Swift uses this as the springboard to discuss the less than wholesome practices of securing political power today and that is a good thing. I just found the use of the legends of antiquity unnecessary and not particularly effective. That鈥檚 probably a personal bias of mine as I have always found those figures fascinating to read about. 听听
听
Here's my biggest problem. One of the principal arguments that Swift makes in his novel is that balance and moderation are the keys to success both individually and as a people. Extremes of behavior and belief are the seeds from which disastrous consequences are born, according to Swift. That鈥檚 easy to say and it has an attractive ring to it, but I wish Swift had done a little more with it. This walkmy right into my biggest complaint about the story鈥he ending.
听
I thought that the ambiguity of Gulliver鈥檚 condition at the end of the novel was a bit of a cop out. It appears as though the reader is left to determine whether Gulliver was (1) a man disgusted with humanity as a result of his exposure to the morally righteous and logically rational Houyhnhnm or (2) a man whose ill-conceived and intemperate worship of, and infatuation with the Houyhnhnm made him just another unbalanced yahoo whose loss of perspective and left him deranged. 听
听
Part of the answer of this would stem from determining whether Swift was holding up the Houyhnhnms as a model to follow or whether their own passionless adherence to logic was itself a subject of parody. However, as with the end, I think Swift was less than certain of his position (or of the position he wanted to state) and thus left too much ambiguity to the reader.
听
Now I understand that often these kinds of soft endings are perfect as they allow the reader to interpret the work for themselves. However, here where Swift has been bludgeoning the reader with his opinions throughout the entire work, to suddenly punt and not clearly express a case for his protagonist seems to be a miss.
听
That said, I am the first to acknowledge that it is anywhere from a distinct possibility to a metaphysical certainty that the 鈥渕iss鈥� here is on my part, but that was how I saw it. I wanted Swift to wrap up and summarize the effect of the journey on Gulliver and provide a statement about what should be drawn from his experience so that a better road could be paved for using his travels to address the problems on which it shined its light. 听
听
3.0 to 3.5 stars. Still鈥IGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
March 19, 2012
Okay, I didn't finish this sucker. It was poor. I was kind of shocked. I was thinking why does no one point out that this is a giant rip off of Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Honey I Blew Up the Kid? It's painfully obvious. I don't see why this Danial Defoe mope has not had his ass sued, maybe he avoided that by writing his ripoff in a long ass frankly boring olde-worlde style so that all the lawyers would fall asleep before they got their writ typed up. The other stuff that isn't Lillypoot and Borodbynag or whatever is talking horses and shit and I'm pretty sure they're in Lord of the Rings so more ripoff although I never saw that movie all the way through because it's kind of boring and also kind of gay.
ps - some real geek types have PMed me saying that Daniel Dafoe didn't write thia d it was Jonathon Swift. I mean, get a life. They're all dead right? they're like deader than dead. who cares. lol.
ps - some real geek types have PMed me saying that Daniel Dafoe didn't write thia d it was Jonathon Swift. I mean, get a life. They're all dead right? they're like deader than dead. who cares. lol.
July 7, 2023
Tiny manifestations of human social models
One of the earliest forms of satire, just as Twains Yankee and Cervantes Don Quichote, but not that good
/book/show/3...
/book/show/1...
That麓s simply because Swift isn麓t such a talented, solid writer as Cervantes and not as ingenious as Twain. Swift tries to
Make some clever allegories about the stupidity of imbalanced power structures
And yes, it麓s witty and somewhat deep, but it麓s just not really absorbing because Swift hasn麓t the same intuition and talent for creative writing, leading to permanently losing focus while reading. What is interesting is the
Description of different cultures of that time
I didn麓t dig that deep, but history nerds will definitively find interesting connections and be able to compare and drivel for hours. As with many century old classics, a bit of racism and discrimination can麓t be kept out of the mix, but it麓s modest in comparision to other works like for instance the terrible Robinson Crusoe. All in all, it麓s a short, not as exhausting work as the mentioned Don Quichote and can rather be seen as an average, entertaining short story collection with one, uniting character. I麓ve seen that Swift has
Written some other satirical stuff
That hugely varies in quality and thereby
ratings. Sadly it麓s kind of tricky to choose the good ones, but no matter how good or bad the stuff is, it shows the immense power of satire, the most important way to criticize and open minds. Because people don麓t like being bored by proselytizing progressive forces, no matter how true, right, and good their intentions are, they prefer
Subtle subtext behind the seemingly trivial and superficial satire
That麓s what the really good high class comedy does, hiding the message of being aware of the malfunctionings and grievances of societies by ridiculing the ones causing them. Swift does this far too direct in the reader麓s face and kills many subtilities that way. That麓s also the reason why the censors of the time immediately recognized the messages and exterminated everything that was deemed too hot and critical, reducing the old editions of the work to a children麓s book after having eliminated everything that could get the rulers angry.
Because of the rarity of witty classic writing and because it麓s not that long and easy to consume it麓s still no bad choice for skimming and scanning action, especially if one is interested in the theory of humor and how traditions, nationalism, patriotism, sociology, etc yada yada yada, of that time worked.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
One of the earliest forms of satire, just as Twains Yankee and Cervantes Don Quichote, but not that good
/book/show/3...
/book/show/1...
That麓s simply because Swift isn麓t such a talented, solid writer as Cervantes and not as ingenious as Twain. Swift tries to
Make some clever allegories about the stupidity of imbalanced power structures
And yes, it麓s witty and somewhat deep, but it麓s just not really absorbing because Swift hasn麓t the same intuition and talent for creative writing, leading to permanently losing focus while reading. What is interesting is the
Description of different cultures of that time
I didn麓t dig that deep, but history nerds will definitively find interesting connections and be able to compare and drivel for hours. As with many century old classics, a bit of racism and discrimination can麓t be kept out of the mix, but it麓s modest in comparision to other works like for instance the terrible Robinson Crusoe. All in all, it麓s a short, not as exhausting work as the mentioned Don Quichote and can rather be seen as an average, entertaining short story collection with one, uniting character. I麓ve seen that Swift has
Written some other satirical stuff
That hugely varies in quality and thereby
ratings. Sadly it麓s kind of tricky to choose the good ones, but no matter how good or bad the stuff is, it shows the immense power of satire, the most important way to criticize and open minds. Because people don麓t like being bored by proselytizing progressive forces, no matter how true, right, and good their intentions are, they prefer
Subtle subtext behind the seemingly trivial and superficial satire
That麓s what the really good high class comedy does, hiding the message of being aware of the malfunctionings and grievances of societies by ridiculing the ones causing them. Swift does this far too direct in the reader麓s face and kills many subtilities that way. That麓s also the reason why the censors of the time immediately recognized the messages and exterminated everything that was deemed too hot and critical, reducing the old editions of the work to a children麓s book after having eliminated everything that could get the rulers angry.
Because of the rarity of witty classic writing and because it麓s not that long and easy to consume it麓s still no bad choice for skimming and scanning action, especially if one is interested in the theory of humor and how traditions, nationalism, patriotism, sociology, etc yada yada yada, of that time worked.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
March 18, 2025
There are many here among us
Who think that life is but a joke.
Bob Dylan
When Gulliver first came to the light of day in the climate of a more genteel, and historically Georgian reader than those who read Pilgrim's Progress in the previous century, echoes of its hero, Christian, must have resounded through his or her mind!
This fantasy has haunted my steps and dogged my days all my life. It represents a Pilgrim's Progress for me, too - as well as for Dean Swift, being an Anglican priest - through the insalubriously and most lugubriously harrowing paysage moralis茅 that was my, and Swift's life.
But placed in historical context it鈥檚 a harangue against religious narrow-mindedness, liberalism, and intellectual freedom. A mixed kettle of fish!
Nevertheless, the politely Houyhnimic, and thus archly knowing Pilosopher-Kings of Georgian Britain judged Swift to be rather odd, as their modern counterparts, too, judged me. For we were both bipolar.
Just outta bounds. Beyond simple decency. A Stranger to intellectual progress. Why?
You see, when a kid first wakes up and chooses ethical behaviour, he often sees himself as catapulted into a Land of Liliputians. If he rebels, he is blacklisted by their establishment, tied to the ground with tiny inextricably knotted threads while he sleeps, and roundly excoriated by their tiny, tinnily middle-class voices.
In short, he is just too proud by a very unhealthy margin. In my case, to make matters worse, I just chuckled at them. Hence my bipolarity. I needed an outlet!
If he still is not heeled, he will then be courted and thus grossed out by the humunguously odorific Brobdingnagians. That鈥檚 his second temptation, and it is seldom met with diffidence. Gulliver, though, reacts with panic. As did I.
If still unrepentant and self-willed, his next stop will be Laputia and its surrounding archipilago of islands. For he must at least learn humility.
There he will be pegged as a danger both to himself and polite society, when he continues to value himself over others.
Refusing to recant, his final stop is the Isle of enervately intellectual Houyhmnms. Who disdain him. And rightly so, for they dwarf him in their paradoxical intelligence.
He will be from thenceforth exiled into ignominy - up crap creek without a paddle: he is condemned to SWIM back to Ireland. Thank heaven, then, for the small mercy (a canoe) he is then afforded!
And like Gulliver, crushed, I was finally humble.
Oh, and it's not a fantasy.
It鈥檚 the enforced progress of a half-baked pilgrim, who STILL only Regresses until he learned. That was me.
John Bunyan woulda just sighed and said that鈥檚 LIFE for us Christians, as we grow in faith, pride intact at first.
If we want to be saved, we must swallow that pride. Holus bolus.
We must not live a life that is a Slaughterhouse Five -
For you MAY be saved (and maybe not, if you haven't survived the trial).
For just like Billy Pilgrim, we still have a chronically Enlarged Ego that has simply gotta go:
By letting the Lord 鈥渢rample out His wine press where His Grapes of Wrath are stored.鈥� And believe me, we all deserve it. But how.
And so we reach Heaven.
The end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive at the place we started
And know the place for the first time.
Who think that life is but a joke.
Bob Dylan
When Gulliver first came to the light of day in the climate of a more genteel, and historically Georgian reader than those who read Pilgrim's Progress in the previous century, echoes of its hero, Christian, must have resounded through his or her mind!
This fantasy has haunted my steps and dogged my days all my life. It represents a Pilgrim's Progress for me, too - as well as for Dean Swift, being an Anglican priest - through the insalubriously and most lugubriously harrowing paysage moralis茅 that was my, and Swift's life.
But placed in historical context it鈥檚 a harangue against religious narrow-mindedness, liberalism, and intellectual freedom. A mixed kettle of fish!
Nevertheless, the politely Houyhnimic, and thus archly knowing Pilosopher-Kings of Georgian Britain judged Swift to be rather odd, as their modern counterparts, too, judged me. For we were both bipolar.
Just outta bounds. Beyond simple decency. A Stranger to intellectual progress. Why?
You see, when a kid first wakes up and chooses ethical behaviour, he often sees himself as catapulted into a Land of Liliputians. If he rebels, he is blacklisted by their establishment, tied to the ground with tiny inextricably knotted threads while he sleeps, and roundly excoriated by their tiny, tinnily middle-class voices.
In short, he is just too proud by a very unhealthy margin. In my case, to make matters worse, I just chuckled at them. Hence my bipolarity. I needed an outlet!
If he still is not heeled, he will then be courted and thus grossed out by the humunguously odorific Brobdingnagians. That鈥檚 his second temptation, and it is seldom met with diffidence. Gulliver, though, reacts with panic. As did I.
If still unrepentant and self-willed, his next stop will be Laputia and its surrounding archipilago of islands. For he must at least learn humility.
There he will be pegged as a danger both to himself and polite society, when he continues to value himself over others.
Refusing to recant, his final stop is the Isle of enervately intellectual Houyhmnms. Who disdain him. And rightly so, for they dwarf him in their paradoxical intelligence.
He will be from thenceforth exiled into ignominy - up crap creek without a paddle: he is condemned to SWIM back to Ireland. Thank heaven, then, for the small mercy (a canoe) he is then afforded!
And like Gulliver, crushed, I was finally humble.
Oh, and it's not a fantasy.
It鈥檚 the enforced progress of a half-baked pilgrim, who STILL only Regresses until he learned. That was me.
John Bunyan woulda just sighed and said that鈥檚 LIFE for us Christians, as we grow in faith, pride intact at first.
If we want to be saved, we must swallow that pride. Holus bolus.
We must not live a life that is a Slaughterhouse Five -
For you MAY be saved (and maybe not, if you haven't survived the trial).
For just like Billy Pilgrim, we still have a chronically Enlarged Ego that has simply gotta go:
By letting the Lord 鈥渢rample out His wine press where His Grapes of Wrath are stored.鈥� And believe me, we all deserve it. But how.
And so we reach Heaven.
The end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive at the place we started
And know the place for the first time.
September 23, 2021
(Book 983 from 1001 books) - Gulliver鈥檚 Travels (1736), Jonathan Swift
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon & then a Captain of Several Ships, Jonathan Swift
Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput.
Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag.
Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan.
Part IV: A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms
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爻賮乇 亘賴 芦賱丕倬賵鬲丕禄 噩夭蹖乇賴 蹖 倬乇賳丿賴貨 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄 丿賵亘丕乇賴 丿乇 丿乇蹖丕 爻乇诏乇丿丕賳 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 鬲丕 丕蹖賳鈥屭┵� 噩夭蹖乇賴 鈥屫й� 乇丕 丿乇 丨丕賱 倬乇賵丕夭 亘乇 亘丕賱丕蹖 爻乇卮 賲蹖鈥屫ㄛ屬嗀� 賲乇丿賲丕賳 噩夭蹖乇賴 蹖 倬乇賳丿賴貙 賲賵爻賵賲 亘賴 芦賱丕倬賵鬲丕蹖蹖鈥屬囏回� 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄 乇丕 亘丕賱丕 賲蹖鈥屭┴促嗀� 賵 賳噩丕鬲 賲蹖鈥屫囐嗀� 芦賱丕倬賵鬲丕蹖蹖鈥屄毁囏� 賲乇丿賲丕賳蹖 毓賱賲鈥� 夭丿賴 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 讴賴 賴賲賴 趩蹖夭 乇丕 毓賱賲蹖 賲蹖鈥屬嗂辟嗀� 丌賳鈥屬囏� 鬲賲丕賲 賵賯鬲貙 亘乇乇賵蹖 賲賵囟賵毓丕鬲 禺賳丿賴 丿丕乇貙 賵 亘蹖鈥屬佖й屫団€� 丕蹖 賴賲趩賵賳 芦鬲賵賱蹖丿 賳賵乇 丕夭 禺蹖丕乇禄貙 芦爻丕禺鬲 亘丕賱卮 丕夭 爻賳诏 賲乇賲乇禄貙 賵 芦鬲卮禺蹖氐 賲禺丕賱賮丕賳 賳馗丕賲 亘丕 丌夭賲丕蹖卮 賲丿賮賵毓 丕賮乇丕丿 賲卮讴賵讴禄貙 倬跇賵賴卮 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 亘丕 丕蹖賳鈥屬囐呝囏� 丌賳鈥屬囏� 亘賴 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄 丕賲讴丕賳丕鬲蹖 亘乇丕蹖 丕丿丕賲賴 蹖 爻賮乇 賲蹖鈥屫囐嗀� 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄 賴賲 賲丿鬲 讴賵鬲丕賴蹖 丿乇 芦亘丕賱 賳蹖亘 乇丕亘蹖禄貙 芦賱賵诏 賳丕诏禄貙 賵 芦诏賱賵亘 丿賵亘 丿乇蹖亘禄貙 亘賴 爻蹖丕丨鬲 賲蹖鈥屬矩必ж藏� 賵 亘丕 丕卮亘丕丨蹖 爻禺賳诏賵貙 賵 賲乇丿賲丕賳蹖 賳丕賲蹖乇丕貙 丿蹖丿丕乇 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀�
爻賮乇 亘賴 芦賴賵卅蹖鈥� 賴賽賳賽賲禄: 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲貙 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄 亘賴 爻乇夭賲蹖賳 芦賴賵卅蹖鈥� 賴賽賳賽賲鈥屄毁囏� 賲蹖鈥屫必池� 丿乇 丌賳 爻乇夭賲蹖賳貙 丕爻亘鈥屬囏й屰� 亘丕賴賵卮貙 亘乇 丕賳爻丕賳鈥屬囏й屰� 賵丨卮蹖貙 丨讴賲乇丕賳蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁嗀� 芦诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貙 亘賴鈥� 毓賳賵丕賳 丕賳爻丕賳蹖 亘丕 丿乇噩賴鈥� 丕蹖 丕夭 賮賴賲 賵 賴賵卮貙 丕夭 賳馗乇 丕爻亘鈥屬囏ж� 亘乇丕蹖 丨讴賲乇丕賳蹖鈥屫簇з� 亘乇 丕賳爻丕賳鈥屬囏й� 賵丨卮蹖貙 禺胤乇賳丕讴 丕乇夭蹖丕亘蹖 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳貙 丕賵 乇丕 亘蹖乇賵賳 賲蹖鈥屫必з嗁嗀� 賵 ...貨
賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 乇丕 丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇爻蹖 夭亘丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 丿賴賴 蹖 趩賴賱 賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖 丿乇 丿亘蹖乇爻鬲丕賳 禺賵丕賳丿蹖賲貙 賵 爻倬爻 讴鬲丕亘 丕氐賱蹖 乇丕 丿乇 亘賳诏丕賴 賳卮乇 賵 鬲乇噩賲賴 蹖丕賮鬲賲 賵 賳賵卮蹖丿賲
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 24/08/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 31/06/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon & then a Captain of Several Ships, Jonathan Swift
Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput.
Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag.
Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan.
Part IV: A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貨 芦爻賮乇賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貨 芦賲爻丕賮乇鬲賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貨 芦賲丕噩乇丕賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩賵賳丕鬲丕賳 (噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳) 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 (丕賲蹖乇讴亘蹖乇貨 亘賳诏丕賴 賳卮乇 賵 鬲乇噩賲賴貙 丕賳鬲卮丕乇丕鬲 毓賱賲蹖 賵 賮乇賴賳诏蹖貨 賲丕賴蹖貙 賲卮賴丿 亘賳诏丕賴 讴鬲丕亘貙 賲卮賴丿 亘丕乇亘丿貨 孬丕賱孬貨 賳卮乇 賳蹖貙 ) 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖乇賱賳丿 爻丿賴 18賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 賲丕賴 跇賵卅賳 爻丕賱 1970賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 诏丕賱蹖賵乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲賳賵趩賴乇 丕賲蹖乇蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 亘賳诏丕賴 賳卮乇 賵 鬲乇噩賲賴貙 1335貨 丿乇 498氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 毓賱賲蹖 賮乇賴賳诏蹖貙 爻丕賱1365貙 丿乇 529氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲丕賴蹖貙 1387貙 丿乇 536氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9789649971839貨 賲賵囟賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕蹖乇賱賳丿 - 爻丿賴 蹖 - 18賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 賲丕噩乇丕賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲丨賲丿 丌夭丕丿貨 賲卮賴丿貙 亘賳诏丕賴 讴鬲丕亘貙 1369貨 丿乇 155氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 賲卮賴丿貙 亘丕乇亘丿貙 1372貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 爻賴蹖賱 爻賲蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丌亘卮賳貙 1391貨 丿乇 380氐貨 趩丕倬 丿蹖诏乇 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賲蹖讴丕賳貙 1393貨 卮丕亘讴9786007845011貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 卮蹖賵丕 賲賯丕賳賱賵貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 孬丕賱孬貙 1391貨 丿乇 195氐貨 卮丕亘讴9789643807979貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 乇囟丕 乇賵夭亘賴貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 賳蹖貙 1391貨 丿乇 197氐貨 卮丕亘讴9789641852971貨
毓賳賵丕賳: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 诏丕賱蹖賵乇 (禺賱丕氐賴)貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賴賵賲丕賳 賯卮賯丕蹖蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 丕賲蹖乇讴亘蹖乇 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 胤賱丕蹖蹖貙 1349貨 丿乇 48氐貨
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趩丕倬 賳禺爻鬲 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇 爻丕賱 1735賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 賵 鬲噩丿蹖丿賳馗乇 亘賴 爻丕賱 1736賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳 讴丕賲賱賽: 芦爻賮乇賴丕蹖蹖 亘賴 亘乇禺蹖 賲賲丕賱讴 丿賵乇丕賮鬲丕丿賴 蹖 噩賴丕賳禄貙 丿乇 趩賴丕乇 亘禺卮貙 賳賵卮鬲賴 蹖 芦賱賲賵卅賱 诏丕賱蹖賵乇禄貨 賳禺爻鬲 丿乇 賳賯卮 倬夭卮讴 讴卮鬲蹖貙 賵 爻倬爻 亘賴鈥� 毓賳賵丕賳 賳丕禺丿丕貨 丿丕爻鬲丕賳蹖 鬲禺蹖賱蹖 賳賵卮鬲賴 蹖 芦噩丕賳丕鬲丕賳 爻賵蹖賮鬲禄 丕爻鬲貨
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賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 亘禺卮蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 乇丕 丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇爻蹖 夭亘丕賳 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 丿賴賴 蹖 趩賴賱 賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖 丿乇 丿亘蹖乇爻鬲丕賳 禺賵丕賳丿蹖賲貙 賵 爻倬爻 讴鬲丕亘 丕氐賱蹖 乇丕 丿乇 亘賳诏丕賴 賳卮乇 賵 鬲乇噩賲賴 蹖丕賮鬲賲 賵 賳賵卮蹖丿賲
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 24/08/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 31/06/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
March 14, 2022
Lemuel Gulliver was the first who discovered the theory of relativity: he comprehended that everything in the world is relative therefore while amongst Lilliputians he is a giant, amongst Brobdingnagians he is a midget.
Eccentricity excellently stands against the erosion of time 鈥� much better than any fashion. But it takes a genius to see everything ordinary and commonplace in a bizarre light and to make it withstand the ages.
Rejoice, Jonathan Swift was an inventor of computer and he was the first programmer!
Eccentricity excellently stands against the erosion of time 鈥� much better than any fashion. But it takes a genius to see everything ordinary and commonplace in a bizarre light and to make it withstand the ages.
Everyone knows how laborious the usual method is of attaining to arts and sciences; whereas by his contrivance, the most ignorant person at a reasonable charge, and with a little bodily labour, may write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, law, mathematics and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study. He then led me to the frame, about the sides whereof all his pupils stood in ranks. It was twenty foot square, placed in the middle of the room. The superficies was composed of several bits of wood, about the bigness of a die, but some larger than others. They were all linked together by slender wires. These bits of wood were covered on every square with papers pasted on them; and on these papers were written all the words of their language in their several moods, tenses, and declensions, but without any order. The professor then desired me to observe, for he was going to set his engine at work.
Rejoice, Jonathan Swift was an inventor of computer and he was the first programmer!
February 20, 2022
賴賷 賲噩賲賵毓丞 氐賮毓丕鬲 賲鬲鬲丕賱賷丞 毓賱賶 賵噩賴 丕賱亘卮乇賷丞 噩賲毓丕亍..賮毓賳丿賲丕 鬲乇賮囟賰 丕賱噩賷丕丿 丕賱賳丕胤賯丞 亘賱胤賮..賱丕賳賴丕 丕賰孬乇 賲賳賰 鬲丨囟乇丕 賵 乇卮丿丕..丕匕賳 賮賱鬲毓丿 賷丕 "噩丕賱賷賮乇 "賲賳 乇丨賱丕鬲賰 丕賱丕乇亘毓丞..丨夭賷賳丕 賰爻賷乇丕
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賮賯乇丕鬲賴丕 賲賱禺氐丞 亘丕賱廿賳噩賱賷夭賷丞..孬賲 賮賷 賳爻禺鬲賴丕 丕賱賰丕賲賱丞 賮賷 爻賳 30
兀丨亘亘鬲 丕賴賱 賱賷賱賷亘賵鬲 丕賱丕賯夭丕賲 丕賱爻禺賮丕亍 丕賱賲鬲賲爻賰賷賳 亘丕賱鬲賯丕賱賷丿..賵 丕賱卮賰賱賷丕鬲 ..賵 丕賱毓賲丕賱賯丞 丕賱賴賲噩 丕賱匕賷賳 賰卮賮賵丕 賱噩丕賱賷賮乇 睾乇賵乇賴 賵 囟丕賱鬲賴. .賵 丕賱賮賱丕爻賮丞 ..丕賱爻丨乇丞. .賵丕賱賲禺賱丿賵賳 丕賱鬲毓爻丕亍
賵兀禺賷乇丕 賵 乇睾賲 禺賷丕賱賴 丕賱賮賱爻賮賷 丕賱噩丕賲丨 ..賱賲 賷丨賯賯 爻賵賷賮鬲..賴丿賮賴 賲賳 丕賱丨乇亘 丕賱鬲賷 卮賳賴丕 毓賱賶 丕賱噩賳爻 丕賱亘卮乇賷..賳賮匕鬲 胤亘毓丕鬲 賰鬲丕亘賴..賵 賱賰賳 囟丨賰 丕賱噩賲賷毓 賲賳 丕賱賲睾丕賲乇丕鬲 賵丕毓鬲亘乇賵賴丕. .胤乇丕卅賮 毓賳 丨賲丕賯丕鬲 卮毓賵亘 丕禺乇賶
..賵賴賰匕丕 乇丨賱 爻賵賷賮鬲 氐丕賲鬲丕...賵 賮丕賯丿丕 賱毓賯賱賴
丕賱兀爻賱賵亘 賯丿賷賲 賵 毓賱賶 卮賰賱 賲匕賰乇丕鬲 ..賵 賰匕賱賰 丕賱賱睾丞 .. 賱匕丕 賯丿 賷賰賵賳 丕爻賴賱 毓賱賶 丕賱亘毓囟 賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賲禺鬲氐乇丞 賮賴賷 鬲賳鬲賲賷 賱毓丕賲 1700..賵 賱賰賳 丕賱丨賲丕賯丕鬲 ..賵丕賱丕賳丕賳賷丞 賵 丕賱丨乇賵亘 ..賴賷 賴賷..賵 爻鬲馗賱 賰賲丕 賴賷
賱賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丕鬲 賲賰丕賳丞 禺丕氐丞 賮賷 賯賱亘賷..賮賴賷 兀賵賱 乇丨賱丕鬲賷 丕賱胤賵賷賱丞 賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷丕 賵丕賱禺賷丕賱 亘賱丕 丨丿賵丿..賮賲賳 禺賱丕賱 丕賱鬲乇噩賲丞 丕賱乇卮賷賯丞 賱賱毓亘锟斤拷乇賷 賰丕賲賱 丕賱賰賷賱丕賳賷..賯乇丕鬲賴丕 賮賷 爻賳 丕賱毓丕卮乇丞 亘毓乇亘賷丞 賮氐賷丨丞 賵 鬲卮賰賷賱. .賵 賱賲 賷賳胤賮賶亍 丕賳亘賴丕乇賷
賮賯乇丕鬲賴丕 賲賱禺氐丞 亘丕賱廿賳噩賱賷夭賷丞..孬賲 賮賷 賳爻禺鬲賴丕 丕賱賰丕賲賱丞 賮賷 爻賳 30
兀丨亘亘鬲 丕賴賱 賱賷賱賷亘賵鬲 丕賱丕賯夭丕賲 丕賱爻禺賮丕亍 丕賱賲鬲賲爻賰賷賳 亘丕賱鬲賯丕賱賷丿..賵 丕賱卮賰賱賷丕鬲 ..賵 丕賱毓賲丕賱賯丞 丕賱賴賲噩 丕賱匕賷賳 賰卮賮賵丕 賱噩丕賱賷賮乇 睾乇賵乇賴 賵 囟丕賱鬲賴. .賵 丕賱賮賱丕爻賮丞 ..丕賱爻丨乇丞. .賵丕賱賲禺賱丿賵賳 丕賱鬲毓爻丕亍
賵兀禺賷乇丕 賵 乇睾賲 禺賷丕賱賴 丕賱賮賱爻賮賷 丕賱噩丕賲丨 ..賱賲 賷丨賯賯 爻賵賷賮鬲..賴丿賮賴 賲賳 丕賱丨乇亘 丕賱鬲賷 卮賳賴丕 毓賱賶 丕賱噩賳爻 丕賱亘卮乇賷..賳賮匕鬲 胤亘毓丕鬲 賰鬲丕亘賴..賵 賱賰賳 囟丨賰 丕賱噩賲賷毓 賲賳 丕賱賲睾丕賲乇丕鬲 賵丕毓鬲亘乇賵賴丕. .胤乇丕卅賮 毓賳 丨賲丕賯丕鬲 卮毓賵亘 丕禺乇賶
..賵賴賰匕丕 乇丨賱 爻賵賷賮鬲 氐丕賲鬲丕...賵 賮丕賯丿丕 賱毓賯賱賴
丕賱兀爻賱賵亘 賯丿賷賲 賵 毓賱賶 卮賰賱 賲匕賰乇丕鬲 ..賵 賰匕賱賰 丕賱賱睾丞 .. 賱匕丕 賯丿 賷賰賵賳 丕爻賴賱 毓賱賶 丕賱亘毓囟 賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賲禺鬲氐乇丞 賮賴賷 鬲賳鬲賲賷 賱毓丕賲 1700..賵 賱賰賳 丕賱丨賲丕賯丕鬲 ..賵丕賱丕賳丕賳賷丞 賵 丕賱丨乇賵亘 ..賴賷 賴賷..賵 爻鬲馗賱 賰賲丕 賴賷
March 7, 2022
"The rats on board carried away one of my sheep;"
"Care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man鈥檚 goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning;"
It seems that I had a completely incorrect opinion of what Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel would be. To be fair, my prior opinion was solely based on the children's cartoon that I had watched years ago, but the book holds a shocking contrast to that easy going adaptation with a bunch of Lilliputians in every conceivable way. Okay may be the humor is still here, but this humor on human nature is coming from a more complicated level altogether.
I'm not that used to these kind of satirical proses, so it took me a while to get used to things. At first, I was a somewhat confused as to why would the author be using such a complex prose for a children's book, but it quickly became apparent that this is even beyond the average YA book. Swift's witty remarks on general human conduct alone are quite complex, and he's not holding back in conveying his observations about society at that time, even resorting to several offensive comments.
The book is a compilations of four different adventures, though, each subsection is identical in the sense that Gulliver getting shipwrecked each time to be followed by arriving at an island populated by a strange civilization and proceeding to learning their culture and languages, providing a detailed description about the inhabitants encountered using Gulliver's POV. This, in my opinion, had been done in a masterful way, not once betraying the fact that Gulliver's perspective is not authentic. However, the identical sequence of events occurring after the initial encounter does start to feel repetitive after a while, making the book more of a 3-star read. But, since all this helped me to reminisce about the time I got to watch the cartoon a long time ago, I couldn't help but add another star.
"Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together."
"Truth always forces its way into rational minds,"
"Care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man鈥檚 goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning;"
It seems that I had a completely incorrect opinion of what Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel would be. To be fair, my prior opinion was solely based on the children's cartoon that I had watched years ago, but the book holds a shocking contrast to that easy going adaptation with a bunch of Lilliputians in every conceivable way. Okay may be the humor is still here, but this humor on human nature is coming from a more complicated level altogether.
I'm not that used to these kind of satirical proses, so it took me a while to get used to things. At first, I was a somewhat confused as to why would the author be using such a complex prose for a children's book, but it quickly became apparent that this is even beyond the average YA book. Swift's witty remarks on general human conduct alone are quite complex, and he's not holding back in conveying his observations about society at that time, even resorting to several offensive comments.
The book is a compilations of four different adventures, though, each subsection is identical in the sense that Gulliver getting shipwrecked each time to be followed by arriving at an island populated by a strange civilization and proceeding to learning their culture and languages, providing a detailed description about the inhabitants encountered using Gulliver's POV. This, in my opinion, had been done in a masterful way, not once betraying the fact that Gulliver's perspective is not authentic. However, the identical sequence of events occurring after the initial encounter does start to feel repetitive after a while, making the book more of a 3-star read. But, since all this helped me to reminisce about the time I got to watch the cartoon a long time ago, I couldn't help but add another star.
"Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together."
"Truth always forces its way into rational minds,"
January 24, 2022
鈥淯ndoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.鈥�
Swift鈥檚 masterpiece, brilliant satire was published in 1726. Swift lived in the 18th century, times of great societal changes when the legacy of Enlightenment culminated in French Revolution and caused a great political and cultural change. Also, European exploration of the world advanced, resulting in growing colonization of the Americas and other parts of the world. That intensified mass migrations as well as expanded the slave trade on a global scale.
The novel is dived into four parts, each describing one of Gulliver's adventures. It has an epistolary form as the narrator is Gulliver himself, Swift is laying out the events as they happened, striving to be emotionally detached and as objective as he can, without deeper reflections. Swift never breaks character, and we see the world exclusively through Gulliver鈥檚 eyes, making the narration unreliable to an extent. The language is quite similar to 's, in long, detailed descriptions, somewhat dry and preachy tone with racist and imperialist overtones, but Swift uses the form to ridicule the adventure genre of novels and break out some inappropriate jokes, with unexpected descriptions of excretory bodily functions or genitals. Swift also writes a fantastic story, that could be in parts even considered as speculative fiction. With imaginative events the narrator claims have happened, he precisely mocks those who include untrue events in their travelogues and claim them to be true. Through his satirical overtones, Swift gives a critique of colonialism and slavery, European governments, rulers and scientists, doctors and attorneys, the complete human nature.
The first Gulliver adventure is the most famous one, in the land of Lilliputians, people 15.24 centimeters tall. Here Swift highlights the human tendency to consider themselves the most important creatures despite their small size, being unaware of their insignificance in the universe. The government of Liliput is unable to make and adhere to important decisions and their ruler abuses power. Lilliputians have a heavily bureaucratic society, with absurd rules and social conventions and brutal punishments if one does not adhere to them. Their obsession with rules comes from an inflated ego, where they have to have a rigid system that will hide their insignificance. They also want to use Gulliver as a weapon in their petty wars, which shows that someone's grandiosity is a reason for calculation and exploitation by others, and Gulliver is endangered by their number and eventually accused of high treason. Their system of court and punishment is not a reflection of justice - the more innocent a man is, the heavier and more brutal is the punishment, and the absurdity of the legal system is highlighted. They have a conflict with other nation in regards to what is the best way to break an egg - on a smaller or larger end. Here Swift comments on the conflict between Catholics and Protestants - and Gulliver is not surprised by the absurdity of the conflict over breaking an egg, which shows how people are well adapted to insignificant differences causing large divisions and violence among menkind.
On the next adventure, Gulliver visits the land of Brobdingnag, a land of giants. The giants of Brobdingnag are in contrast to the Lilliputians, showing that the concept of a person's size, significance, and power differs as the world around him changes. Gulliver's dominance and grandiosity, but also vulnerability is a relative concept, dependant on the size of those around him. Gulliver here has constant anxiety and feeling of inferiority as he goes from being colossal to smallness and endangered insignificance in Brobdingnag. Residents of Brobdinagnag have a tendency towards extremes, they are prone to both greed and tenderness. Here Gulliver is being exploited again by a farmer, which shows that exploitation is a matter of opportunity, not size, social status, or wealth. The king and queen of Brobdingnag are not malevolent, and they care for Gulliver, but at the same time regard him as a funny puppet. For them, it is unimaginable that Gulliver is a complete person, a man with a homeland with history, laws, philosophy. The king is interested in Gulliver's stories but only as entertainment, mirroring the European sentiment of the time, towards foreigners and other cultures, considering them fun and interesting, but not to be taken seriously. The king also has a very narrow, limited perspective of the world - he has absolute authoritarian power, the country is isolated, they do not travel, they learn only a few subjects in education, only ones with practical significance and they are not interested in philosophy and abstract ideas. They are very bodily, sensual and sexual, prone to pleasures and celebrations, with no interest in the progress of mind or culture. Their king does not understand war or democracy, representing the peaceful but limited and isolated monarchy. After the rescue from the land of giants, Gulliver can't get used to the size of normal people and he consideres himself bigger than them.
Gulliver鈥檚 third adventure is in the land of Laputa, floating island Swifts uses for satire of scholars and scientists, philosophers, Pythagoreans, and Enlightenment. In the contrast to Brobdinagnag, in the land of Laputa mathematics and music are of the highest importance, and the importance of theory and science is taken to an extreme. Lauptans know complex geometry but are at the same unable to build proportionate houses or make a decent suit. Their theoretical knowledge is deeply impractical, they do absurd experiments that are useless or even destructive, they complicate to an obscure level that becomes counterproductive. The wise man of Laputa embodies the futility of the search for knowledge as a means to an end, without taking into account the practical and concrete world. This is a reflection of Swift鈥檚 thought that the philosophers of the Enlightenment were theoretical in their thinking to the point of obscurity. It is a critique of schools and educational institutions, societies of top intellectuals. Gulliver also goes to the land of sorcerers where he encounters the spirits of the past - Alexander the Great, Caesar, Homer, Aristotle, Descartes. Gulliver here realizes how knowledge of history is used manipulatively for someone's interest as the history he knew was full of misinterpretation and learns that all knowledge of history is subjective.
The last adventure takes Gulliver in the land of noble talking horses, Houyhnhnms. Houyhnhnms use the benefits of a rational mind combined with moral virtues, creating a country where the common good is of the greatest value. Houyhnhnms tell only truth and live without lies, injustice, corruption, class, diseases, in an atmosphere of seemingly minimal suffering and inequality. They maintain domination with physical strength and reason. Here, friendship and goodwill replace romantic love and family. The marriages are arranged for the production of specifically two children of different sexes and they exchange of children if they are of the same sex, granting absolute gender equality, but with loss of emotional connections. Houyhnhnms have no emotional experiences of love (the death of a member of society is insignificant) which gives meaning to life, they do not celebrate and do not rejoice, creating a peaceful, but somewhat cold utopia with loss of individual identity and diversity.
In this utopian society, the ideal of Enlightenment, where reason rules everything, horses rule over the Yahoos- the savage, hairy, primitive, animal-like men. Houyhnhnms reject the primal human nature reflected in Yahoos, exposing their tendency toward superiority if one looks and behaves differently, rejecting everything that is not in line with their ideal of culture and reason. Benevolence and friendship are reserved only for their kind, embodying the basic idea of colonialism. Gulliver idealizes Houyhnhnmas, and being blind to their hypocrisy and narcissism, he wants to integrate into their society. In a quest in merging with the collective, he tries to give up the human identity that makes him different, being ashamed of his similarity to Yahoos.
But Gulliver is deceived because he identifies with the horses. Houyhnhnms are a reflection of himself 鈥� his superiority he felt towards every culture he came to, but also his superiority he feels towards the European society.
Gulliver is ultimely the antihero that used the exploration of the world and different societies for making the faults of human nature visible to him, but not being aware he himself is also part of society, akin to human nature he keeps critiquing, full of flaws. Gulliver is both 鈥済ullible鈥� and full of prejudges and false concepts. He is grandiose, egocentric, pliable, without a firm attitude, restless, adventurous, insensitive, unsympathetic, always running from everything less than ideal, even if that means running away from his pregnant wife and children. Gulliver seeks the fantom of a perfect society and rejects the dark and primal side of human nature as unworthy of love. He criticizes and mocks others but never ridicules himself and his shortcomings. It is not a great wonder that Gulliver becomes the figure of repulsion and rejection in any society - he ultimately cannot integrate even in the society of narcissistic horses he regards as ideal. Unlike , his illusions and prejudices remain to the end, as well as disgust of others.
Through the novel in each adventure and the culture Gulliver encounters, we see a progression of the political systems from the unjust, brutal authoritarian bureaucracy of Liliput, to benevolent but ignorant monarchy of Brobdinagnag, to leaders that value science and philosophy of Laputa, and, in the end, to land of Houyhnhnms, the society that values reason, morality and equality - the utopian society that revolutions promised in the 18th century. But even the ideal society enlightened by reason and morality dominates tribes and races that are different, the ones they decide are not decent, or cultural enough to be equal. The morally superior horses push violently against the primal part of human nature symbolically represented by Yahoos, revealing the criticism of enlighted, morally superior European societies that continue to flourish in colonialism and the exponentially growing slave trade, brutal oppression of different cultures they call 鈥渟avages鈥� in the period that is known as "century of lights" or the "century of reason". Colonization is the ultimate expression of pride and narcissism. Even worse than open tyranny, is the oppression that comes from moral superiority.
Recommended for the readers going through the literary canon, lovers of satire, misanthropes and social critics but also for narcissists who think all humans are corrupt, except themselves.
Swift鈥檚 masterpiece, brilliant satire was published in 1726. Swift lived in the 18th century, times of great societal changes when the legacy of Enlightenment culminated in French Revolution and caused a great political and cultural change. Also, European exploration of the world advanced, resulting in growing colonization of the Americas and other parts of the world. That intensified mass migrations as well as expanded the slave trade on a global scale.
The novel is dived into four parts, each describing one of Gulliver's adventures. It has an epistolary form as the narrator is Gulliver himself, Swift is laying out the events as they happened, striving to be emotionally detached and as objective as he can, without deeper reflections. Swift never breaks character, and we see the world exclusively through Gulliver鈥檚 eyes, making the narration unreliable to an extent. The language is quite similar to 's, in long, detailed descriptions, somewhat dry and preachy tone with racist and imperialist overtones, but Swift uses the form to ridicule the adventure genre of novels and break out some inappropriate jokes, with unexpected descriptions of excretory bodily functions or genitals. Swift also writes a fantastic story, that could be in parts even considered as speculative fiction. With imaginative events the narrator claims have happened, he precisely mocks those who include untrue events in their travelogues and claim them to be true. Through his satirical overtones, Swift gives a critique of colonialism and slavery, European governments, rulers and scientists, doctors and attorneys, the complete human nature.
The first Gulliver adventure is the most famous one, in the land of Lilliputians, people 15.24 centimeters tall. Here Swift highlights the human tendency to consider themselves the most important creatures despite their small size, being unaware of their insignificance in the universe. The government of Liliput is unable to make and adhere to important decisions and their ruler abuses power. Lilliputians have a heavily bureaucratic society, with absurd rules and social conventions and brutal punishments if one does not adhere to them. Their obsession with rules comes from an inflated ego, where they have to have a rigid system that will hide their insignificance. They also want to use Gulliver as a weapon in their petty wars, which shows that someone's grandiosity is a reason for calculation and exploitation by others, and Gulliver is endangered by their number and eventually accused of high treason. Their system of court and punishment is not a reflection of justice - the more innocent a man is, the heavier and more brutal is the punishment, and the absurdity of the legal system is highlighted. They have a conflict with other nation in regards to what is the best way to break an egg - on a smaller or larger end. Here Swift comments on the conflict between Catholics and Protestants - and Gulliver is not surprised by the absurdity of the conflict over breaking an egg, which shows how people are well adapted to insignificant differences causing large divisions and violence among menkind.
On the next adventure, Gulliver visits the land of Brobdingnag, a land of giants. The giants of Brobdingnag are in contrast to the Lilliputians, showing that the concept of a person's size, significance, and power differs as the world around him changes. Gulliver's dominance and grandiosity, but also vulnerability is a relative concept, dependant on the size of those around him. Gulliver here has constant anxiety and feeling of inferiority as he goes from being colossal to smallness and endangered insignificance in Brobdingnag. Residents of Brobdinagnag have a tendency towards extremes, they are prone to both greed and tenderness. Here Gulliver is being exploited again by a farmer, which shows that exploitation is a matter of opportunity, not size, social status, or wealth. The king and queen of Brobdingnag are not malevolent, and they care for Gulliver, but at the same time regard him as a funny puppet. For them, it is unimaginable that Gulliver is a complete person, a man with a homeland with history, laws, philosophy. The king is interested in Gulliver's stories but only as entertainment, mirroring the European sentiment of the time, towards foreigners and other cultures, considering them fun and interesting, but not to be taken seriously. The king also has a very narrow, limited perspective of the world - he has absolute authoritarian power, the country is isolated, they do not travel, they learn only a few subjects in education, only ones with practical significance and they are not interested in philosophy and abstract ideas. They are very bodily, sensual and sexual, prone to pleasures and celebrations, with no interest in the progress of mind or culture. Their king does not understand war or democracy, representing the peaceful but limited and isolated monarchy. After the rescue from the land of giants, Gulliver can't get used to the size of normal people and he consideres himself bigger than them.
Gulliver鈥檚 third adventure is in the land of Laputa, floating island Swifts uses for satire of scholars and scientists, philosophers, Pythagoreans, and Enlightenment. In the contrast to Brobdinagnag, in the land of Laputa mathematics and music are of the highest importance, and the importance of theory and science is taken to an extreme. Lauptans know complex geometry but are at the same unable to build proportionate houses or make a decent suit. Their theoretical knowledge is deeply impractical, they do absurd experiments that are useless or even destructive, they complicate to an obscure level that becomes counterproductive. The wise man of Laputa embodies the futility of the search for knowledge as a means to an end, without taking into account the practical and concrete world. This is a reflection of Swift鈥檚 thought that the philosophers of the Enlightenment were theoretical in their thinking to the point of obscurity. It is a critique of schools and educational institutions, societies of top intellectuals. Gulliver also goes to the land of sorcerers where he encounters the spirits of the past - Alexander the Great, Caesar, Homer, Aristotle, Descartes. Gulliver here realizes how knowledge of history is used manipulatively for someone's interest as the history he knew was full of misinterpretation and learns that all knowledge of history is subjective.
The last adventure takes Gulliver in the land of noble talking horses, Houyhnhnms. Houyhnhnms use the benefits of a rational mind combined with moral virtues, creating a country where the common good is of the greatest value. Houyhnhnms tell only truth and live without lies, injustice, corruption, class, diseases, in an atmosphere of seemingly minimal suffering and inequality. They maintain domination with physical strength and reason. Here, friendship and goodwill replace romantic love and family. The marriages are arranged for the production of specifically two children of different sexes and they exchange of children if they are of the same sex, granting absolute gender equality, but with loss of emotional connections. Houyhnhnms have no emotional experiences of love (the death of a member of society is insignificant) which gives meaning to life, they do not celebrate and do not rejoice, creating a peaceful, but somewhat cold utopia with loss of individual identity and diversity.
In this utopian society, the ideal of Enlightenment, where reason rules everything, horses rule over the Yahoos- the savage, hairy, primitive, animal-like men. Houyhnhnms reject the primal human nature reflected in Yahoos, exposing their tendency toward superiority if one looks and behaves differently, rejecting everything that is not in line with their ideal of culture and reason. Benevolence and friendship are reserved only for their kind, embodying the basic idea of colonialism. Gulliver idealizes Houyhnhnmas, and being blind to their hypocrisy and narcissism, he wants to integrate into their society. In a quest in merging with the collective, he tries to give up the human identity that makes him different, being ashamed of his similarity to Yahoos.
But Gulliver is deceived because he identifies with the horses. Houyhnhnms are a reflection of himself 鈥� his superiority he felt towards every culture he came to, but also his superiority he feels towards the European society.
Gulliver is ultimely the antihero that used the exploration of the world and different societies for making the faults of human nature visible to him, but not being aware he himself is also part of society, akin to human nature he keeps critiquing, full of flaws. Gulliver is both 鈥済ullible鈥� and full of prejudges and false concepts. He is grandiose, egocentric, pliable, without a firm attitude, restless, adventurous, insensitive, unsympathetic, always running from everything less than ideal, even if that means running away from his pregnant wife and children. Gulliver seeks the fantom of a perfect society and rejects the dark and primal side of human nature as unworthy of love. He criticizes and mocks others but never ridicules himself and his shortcomings. It is not a great wonder that Gulliver becomes the figure of repulsion and rejection in any society - he ultimately cannot integrate even in the society of narcissistic horses he regards as ideal. Unlike , his illusions and prejudices remain to the end, as well as disgust of others.
Through the novel in each adventure and the culture Gulliver encounters, we see a progression of the political systems from the unjust, brutal authoritarian bureaucracy of Liliput, to benevolent but ignorant monarchy of Brobdinagnag, to leaders that value science and philosophy of Laputa, and, in the end, to land of Houyhnhnms, the society that values reason, morality and equality - the utopian society that revolutions promised in the 18th century. But even the ideal society enlightened by reason and morality dominates tribes and races that are different, the ones they decide are not decent, or cultural enough to be equal. The morally superior horses push violently against the primal part of human nature symbolically represented by Yahoos, revealing the criticism of enlighted, morally superior European societies that continue to flourish in colonialism and the exponentially growing slave trade, brutal oppression of different cultures they call 鈥渟avages鈥� in the period that is known as "century of lights" or the "century of reason". Colonization is the ultimate expression of pride and narcissism. Even worse than open tyranny, is the oppression that comes from moral superiority.
Recommended for the readers going through the literary canon, lovers of satire, misanthropes and social critics but also for narcissists who think all humans are corrupt, except themselves.
October 11, 2018
Everyone remembers poor Gulliver in breeches and three-cornered hat, pinned down with cords on a beach, by an army of minute soldiers. A young boy鈥檚 nightmare, no doubt, but there is much more to this book than this rosy image, reproduced endlessly on the pediments of toy shops and theme parks. This is indeed an astonishing book.
Gulliver鈥檚 Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World presents itself as the plain and faithful account of the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon from Redriff and a captain of ships. The name of Jonathan Swift is omitted, as well as the fact that the whole narrative is a heap of whoppers from cover to cover. Moreover, the straight-faced narrator, fooling his 鈥渃andid鈥� reader鈥檚 credulity, concludes the books and declares that he 鈥渞ather chose to relate plain Matter of Fact in the simplest Manner and Style; because my principal Design was to inform, and not to amuse thee鈥� (IV, 12).
Swift鈥檚 novel 鈥� a masterful sham 鈥� is indeed written in the detailed and earnest manner of an ethnographic documentary. Through the four parts of this book, Gulliver first discovers the islands of Lilliput and Blefuscu, with its diminutive inhabitants, off the coast of Java (if you ever fancy going there, the narrator provides a few maps and GPS coordinates); he then sails to the West coast of America and discovers Brobdingnag, where people are, on the contrary, of gigantic proportions; later on, he travels across the Pacific Ocean and visits the flying island of Laputa (no pun intended?) and Balnibarbi, as well as the necromancers of Glubbdubdrib, the immortals of Luggnagg, and finally Japan (spot the odd one out, if you can). On his last trip, around New-Holland (aka Australia), he travels to the idyllic island of the neighing and rational Houyhnhnms and of the despicable Yahoos 鈥� the most politically loaded and, in my opinion, best part of this book. A total of seven discoveries.
Each time, Gulliver鈥檚 ship is caught in a storm and shipwrecked, he lands on a strange island, meets the inhabitants, is the host of an important figure of that country, relates a couple of toilet-humour anecdotes, learns their tongue-twisting language, describes their strange manners, laws, gastronomy and architecture, provides 鈥� to his host鈥檚 great surprise and dismay 鈥� an account of the Europeans habits and customs.
However, what makes Gulliver鈥檚 Travels one of the significant works of the early 18th century is, apart from the Irish clergyman鈥檚 zany imagination in devising fictional countries and populations, his astounding deadpan humour, tongue-in-cheek mockery, and even savage assault, against his contemporaries and human nature in general. The universal ridicule and relentless attacks aim at practically everything, in a sort of encyclopaedic undertaking: nobility titles, impractical scientific achievements and Royal Academies, philosophical jargon, the quackery of physicians, the general falsehood that runs among lawyers, the foolish wish for a long life, European politics and wars, the English constitution, Western colonialism, human grandeur (i.e. vanity) itself, and 鈥� apologies to half my 欧宝娱乐 friends! 鈥� the fake gloss of women鈥檚 skin.
Some of the fiercest invectives against the human race are, of course, put in the mouths of Gulliver鈥檚 non-human hosts; for instance, the Prince of Brobdingnag: 鈥淚 cannot but conclude the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth鈥� (II, 6). Sometimes, Gulliver speaks for himself: 鈥渉aving strictly examined all the Persons of greatest Name in the Courts of Princes for an hundred Years past, I found how the World had been misled by prostitute Writers, to ascribe the greatest Exploits in War to Cowards, the Wisest Counsel to Fools, Sincerity to Flatterers, Roman Virtue to Betrayers of their Country, Piety to Atheists, Chastity to Sodomites, Truth to Informers鈥�; adding just after that, with a magnificent irony: 鈥淚 hope I may be pardoned if these Discoveries inclined me a little to abate of that profound Veneration which I am naturally apt to pay to Persons of high Rank, who ought to be treated with the utmost Respect due to their sublime Dignity, by us their Inferiors鈥� (III, 8). However harsh and offensive these comments might sound, even today, I must confess, there is always something extraordinarily amusing and toe-curling, invigorating even, about Swift鈥檚 prose. It is, all in all, an essential book on the human condition.
Needless to say, Gulliver鈥檚 Travels it at the epicentre of a literary tradition of both adventures on sea (to which it is an obvious parody) and social satire, that goes as far back as Homer鈥檚 Odyssey, through Sindbad鈥檚 tales, the Travels of Marco Polo, Rabelais鈥� Gargantua and Pantagruel, Erasmus鈥� In Praise of Folly, Thomas More鈥檚 Utopia, Dafoe鈥檚 Robinson Crusoe, Montesquieu's Persian Letters, up to a significant part of modern literature: Voltaire鈥檚 Candide and 惭颈肠谤辞尘茅驳补蝉, James Cook鈥檚 Voyages of Discovery, 笔辞别鈥檚 Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Carroll鈥檚 Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland, Wells鈥� Island of Dr Moreau, Orwell鈥檚 Animal Farm, and all their more recent avatars 鈥� say, The Hitchicker鈥檚 Guide to the Galaxy, to name just one book, or even Godzilla and King Kong, on the big screen.
Gulliver鈥檚 Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World presents itself as the plain and faithful account of the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon from Redriff and a captain of ships. The name of Jonathan Swift is omitted, as well as the fact that the whole narrative is a heap of whoppers from cover to cover. Moreover, the straight-faced narrator, fooling his 鈥渃andid鈥� reader鈥檚 credulity, concludes the books and declares that he 鈥渞ather chose to relate plain Matter of Fact in the simplest Manner and Style; because my principal Design was to inform, and not to amuse thee鈥� (IV, 12).
Swift鈥檚 novel 鈥� a masterful sham 鈥� is indeed written in the detailed and earnest manner of an ethnographic documentary. Through the four parts of this book, Gulliver first discovers the islands of Lilliput and Blefuscu, with its diminutive inhabitants, off the coast of Java (if you ever fancy going there, the narrator provides a few maps and GPS coordinates); he then sails to the West coast of America and discovers Brobdingnag, where people are, on the contrary, of gigantic proportions; later on, he travels across the Pacific Ocean and visits the flying island of Laputa (no pun intended?) and Balnibarbi, as well as the necromancers of Glubbdubdrib, the immortals of Luggnagg, and finally Japan (spot the odd one out, if you can). On his last trip, around New-Holland (aka Australia), he travels to the idyllic island of the neighing and rational Houyhnhnms and of the despicable Yahoos 鈥� the most politically loaded and, in my opinion, best part of this book. A total of seven discoveries.
Each time, Gulliver鈥檚 ship is caught in a storm and shipwrecked, he lands on a strange island, meets the inhabitants, is the host of an important figure of that country, relates a couple of toilet-humour anecdotes, learns their tongue-twisting language, describes their strange manners, laws, gastronomy and architecture, provides 鈥� to his host鈥檚 great surprise and dismay 鈥� an account of the Europeans habits and customs.
However, what makes Gulliver鈥檚 Travels one of the significant works of the early 18th century is, apart from the Irish clergyman鈥檚 zany imagination in devising fictional countries and populations, his astounding deadpan humour, tongue-in-cheek mockery, and even savage assault, against his contemporaries and human nature in general. The universal ridicule and relentless attacks aim at practically everything, in a sort of encyclopaedic undertaking: nobility titles, impractical scientific achievements and Royal Academies, philosophical jargon, the quackery of physicians, the general falsehood that runs among lawyers, the foolish wish for a long life, European politics and wars, the English constitution, Western colonialism, human grandeur (i.e. vanity) itself, and 鈥� apologies to half my 欧宝娱乐 friends! 鈥� the fake gloss of women鈥檚 skin.
Some of the fiercest invectives against the human race are, of course, put in the mouths of Gulliver鈥檚 non-human hosts; for instance, the Prince of Brobdingnag: 鈥淚 cannot but conclude the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth鈥� (II, 6). Sometimes, Gulliver speaks for himself: 鈥渉aving strictly examined all the Persons of greatest Name in the Courts of Princes for an hundred Years past, I found how the World had been misled by prostitute Writers, to ascribe the greatest Exploits in War to Cowards, the Wisest Counsel to Fools, Sincerity to Flatterers, Roman Virtue to Betrayers of their Country, Piety to Atheists, Chastity to Sodomites, Truth to Informers鈥�; adding just after that, with a magnificent irony: 鈥淚 hope I may be pardoned if these Discoveries inclined me a little to abate of that profound Veneration which I am naturally apt to pay to Persons of high Rank, who ought to be treated with the utmost Respect due to their sublime Dignity, by us their Inferiors鈥� (III, 8). However harsh and offensive these comments might sound, even today, I must confess, there is always something extraordinarily amusing and toe-curling, invigorating even, about Swift鈥檚 prose. It is, all in all, an essential book on the human condition.
Needless to say, Gulliver鈥檚 Travels it at the epicentre of a literary tradition of both adventures on sea (to which it is an obvious parody) and social satire, that goes as far back as Homer鈥檚 Odyssey, through Sindbad鈥檚 tales, the Travels of Marco Polo, Rabelais鈥� Gargantua and Pantagruel, Erasmus鈥� In Praise of Folly, Thomas More鈥檚 Utopia, Dafoe鈥檚 Robinson Crusoe, Montesquieu's Persian Letters, up to a significant part of modern literature: Voltaire鈥檚 Candide and 惭颈肠谤辞尘茅驳补蝉, James Cook鈥檚 Voyages of Discovery, 笔辞别鈥檚 Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Carroll鈥檚 Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland, Wells鈥� Island of Dr Moreau, Orwell鈥檚 Animal Farm, and all their more recent avatars 鈥� say, The Hitchicker鈥檚 Guide to the Galaxy, to name just one book, or even Godzilla and King Kong, on the big screen.
November 8, 2017
"And he gave it for his opinion, "that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together."
I don't think there will ever be a time when Gulliver's Travels doesn't feel like a perfect mirror of humankind. I remember the first time I read it, as a child. I was immeasurably impressed with the sudden insight that things are small or great depending on comparison with other things, and that there are no absolute values. That knowledge, combined with the idea that you learn to understand yourself by seeing your peculiarities through the eyes of people who do not share your social and cultural background, helped me navigate my globetrotting childhood. When I reread the Travels as a grown-up, I focused more on the political satire, finding pleasure in discovering that the typical idiocies of my own time apparently had their correspondences centuries ago. Somehow, that made life easier to bear.
But now I am beginning to wonder. Are the yahoos degenerating further? When will they hit rock bottom? And could we maybe ship off some of our worst yahoos to Lilliput, where they can claim they are great without lying?
Thank Goodness there are authors like Swift, who are capable of making humanists in despair laugh on dark November nights after reading the never-ending misery called news. Oh Lordy, I wish they were fake.
But they are likely to mirror the world - without the wit and irony that Swift added to make life endurable, enjoyable even! That is a quality in an author that is always needed, now more than ever!
Yahooooooooooooooooo!
I don't think there will ever be a time when Gulliver's Travels doesn't feel like a perfect mirror of humankind. I remember the first time I read it, as a child. I was immeasurably impressed with the sudden insight that things are small or great depending on comparison with other things, and that there are no absolute values. That knowledge, combined with the idea that you learn to understand yourself by seeing your peculiarities through the eyes of people who do not share your social and cultural background, helped me navigate my globetrotting childhood. When I reread the Travels as a grown-up, I focused more on the political satire, finding pleasure in discovering that the typical idiocies of my own time apparently had their correspondences centuries ago. Somehow, that made life easier to bear.
But now I am beginning to wonder. Are the yahoos degenerating further? When will they hit rock bottom? And could we maybe ship off some of our worst yahoos to Lilliput, where they can claim they are great without lying?
Thank Goodness there are authors like Swift, who are capable of making humanists in despair laugh on dark November nights after reading the never-ending misery called news. Oh Lordy, I wish they were fake.
But they are likely to mirror the world - without the wit and irony that Swift added to make life endurable, enjoyable even! That is a quality in an author that is always needed, now more than ever!
Yahooooooooooooooooo!
March 10, 2009
Oh man.
This book was sheer torture.
The writing was dry and bland and boring.
Swift had some really interesting ideas - An island of people no larger than your finger. Another island with people that are 60 feet tall. A floating island, an island of scientists, the island of Yahoos...but the execution was hard to appreciate.
I came very close to putting this novel down many many times.
I admit to not being a fan of early, victorian literature, but this was just painful.
This book was sheer torture.
The writing was dry and bland and boring.
Swift had some really interesting ideas - An island of people no larger than your finger. Another island with people that are 60 feet tall. A floating island, an island of scientists, the island of Yahoos...but the execution was hard to appreciate.
I came very close to putting this novel down many many times.
I admit to not being a fan of early, victorian literature, but this was just painful.
December 12, 2022
"Y esta, consider茅, ser铆a la menor de mis desgracias, puesto que siendo los humanos, tal como se ha comprobado, m谩s salvajes y crueles cuando mayor es su tama帽o. 驴qu茅 pod铆a esperar yo que no fuera el convertirme en un simple bocado en las fauces del primero de aquellos gigantes que me atrapara?"
鈥淟os viajes de Gulliver鈥� es del tipo de libros que podr铆an agruparse con otros relatos de viajes para ser le铆dos en cadena, puesto que las experiencias que se narran en ellos en general son afines entre s铆.
Por la naturaleza de lo que sucede en 茅l, se pueden establecer relaciones entre 茅ste libro y 鈥淩obinson Crusoe鈥�, de Daniel Defoe, a partir de las experiencias de Lemuel Gulliver como n谩ufrago en varias ocasiones, o 鈥淟a isla del tesoro鈥� de Robert Louis Stevenson e incluso por el tipo de personajes con los que Gulliver se encuentra con el libro 鈥淎licia en el pa铆s de las maravillas鈥� de Lewis Carroll y por qu茅 no con aquellas novelas sobre los avances cient铆ficos escritas por Julio Verne ("Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarino"), m谩s precisamente cuando describe la isla flotante de Laputa y tambi茅n de ciertos acercamientos a aquellos libros que pertenecen a la ciencia ficci贸n -se me ocurre "Cr贸nicas Marcianas" de Ray Bradbury- dado que por momentos lo que Gulliver narra en cada uno de sus cuatro viajes se asemeja a visitar otro planeta, particularmente en el tercer y cuarto viaje.
Este libro es para muchos un claro ejemplo de ese g茅nero literario denominado S谩tira: "Discurso o composici贸n literaria en prosa o verso en que se critican agudamente las costumbres o vicios de alguien con intenci贸n moralizadora, l煤dica o meramente burlesca.".
Tambi茅n podr铆a atribu铆rsele el mote de novela pol铆tica sat铆rica, puesto que lo que Swift expone en 茅l es un racconto de las distintas sociedades modernas adaptadas a extra帽os pa铆ses, razas y seres dejando bien en claro que todos aquellos reinos que visita contienen defectos excepto el del pa铆s de los houyhnhnms, a los que declara como una raza impecable tanto por sus valores como sus virtudes y ninguna imperfecci贸n.
De todos modos, Swift siempre se las ingenia para dejar muy bien parado a su pa铆s, Inglaterra, al cual posiciona como el emblema de Europa y pr谩cticamente como la mejor naci贸n del mundo.
Puede entenderse esa obsesi贸n en el autor de dejar bien en claro la supremac铆a brit谩nica sobre Francia, pa铆s enemistado con Inglaterra durante el siglo XVIII.
Un rasgo interesante del libro es el de la dificultad al leer los nombres propios, de pa铆ses y vocabulario inventado por Swift, algo que demuestra su l煤cida inteligencia.
Cito un ejemplo: en Lilliput lo llaman Quihnbus Flestrin, que significa Hombre-Monta帽a, mientras que en Broddingnag, su nombre es Grildrig y la ni帽a que lo cuida se llama Glumdalclitch.
Otro detalle acerca de la lectura de este libro es que me cost贸 mucho dimensionar las diferencias de tama帽os tanto en su estad铆a en Lilliput como en Brobdingnag, ya que tanto el autor como los traductores utilizan el sistema de medidas que incluyen pulgadas, yardas, pies y millas. Para un lector acostumbrado al sistema m茅trico que utiliza mil铆metros, metros y kil贸metros, aunque parezca un detalle tonto, el sistema del autor no ofrece una orientaci贸n clara.
Un dato pintoresco es que las diferencias de tama帽os est谩n marcadamente diferenciadas, a punto tal que cuando uno se acostumbr贸 al tama帽o gigante de Gulliver en Lilliput, le cuesta imaginarse el tama帽o opuesto cuando pone un pie en el reino de Brobdingnag en donde esos tama帽os se invierten durante su segundo viaje. All铆, Gulliver es un min煤sculo ser humano.
Durante su tercer viaje cuando conoce losa los dominios de Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdi y Luggnagg el lector descubre que los tama帽os son iguales pero que esa raza de laputienses son pr谩cticamente como las de verdaderos extraterrestres, "con un ojo vuelo y otro apuntando al c茅nit", como indica Gulliver.
Viven en un ambiente que se caracteriza por la geometr铆a, las matem谩ticas y la m煤sica. Fue para m铆 el viaje m谩s desconcertante, pero a su vez, debo reconocer el talento y la incre铆ble imaginaci贸n de Jonathan Swift para crear semejantes personajes. Tengamos en cuenta que este libro fue publicado en 1726, 隆139 a帽os antes de "Alicia en el pa铆s de las maravillas!, libro en el que Carroll despliega tambi茅n una maravillosa imaginer铆a de personajes incre铆bles.
Durante el cuarto viaje, en las tierra de los houyhnhnms, que son una raza de caballos con inteligencia que dominan a otros seres inferiores, en estado bruto llamados yahoos, que son muy inferiores pero a la vez muy parecidos a los humanos, algo me remite a la pel铆cula "El planeta de los simios" en donde los seres humanos son esclavizados por una raza de monos dotados de una inteligencia avanzada.
En definidas cuentas, "Los viajes de Gulliver" es un libro entretenido, un tanto tedioso en algunas partes, sobre todo en aquellas donde vuelve a explicar c贸mo es Inglaterra a cada raza que visita; que tiene un costado verdaderamente de publicidad pol铆tica y ensalzamiento de Inglaterra en detrimento de otras naciones y tambi茅n expone, aunque sin denunciar, el tema de la esclavitud.
Es dif铆cil que se sientan ofendidos por este tema, dado que es mundialmente conocido el pasado pirata y de trata de esclavos de los ingleses, aunque en el caso de su libro, Swift se saca el peso de encima ech谩ndole la culpa a los portugueses, los holandeses y los espa帽oles.
Nuevamente destaco el poder de la imaginaci贸n de Jonathan Swift, un adelantado a su 茅poca, puesto que escribi贸 un su libro que a煤n hoy tiene la vigencia intacta de los m谩s afamados cl谩sicos que nunca pasan de moda.
鈥淟os viajes de Gulliver鈥� es del tipo de libros que podr铆an agruparse con otros relatos de viajes para ser le铆dos en cadena, puesto que las experiencias que se narran en ellos en general son afines entre s铆.
Por la naturaleza de lo que sucede en 茅l, se pueden establecer relaciones entre 茅ste libro y 鈥淩obinson Crusoe鈥�, de Daniel Defoe, a partir de las experiencias de Lemuel Gulliver como n谩ufrago en varias ocasiones, o 鈥淟a isla del tesoro鈥� de Robert Louis Stevenson e incluso por el tipo de personajes con los que Gulliver se encuentra con el libro 鈥淎licia en el pa铆s de las maravillas鈥� de Lewis Carroll y por qu茅 no con aquellas novelas sobre los avances cient铆ficos escritas por Julio Verne ("Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarino"), m谩s precisamente cuando describe la isla flotante de Laputa y tambi茅n de ciertos acercamientos a aquellos libros que pertenecen a la ciencia ficci贸n -se me ocurre "Cr贸nicas Marcianas" de Ray Bradbury- dado que por momentos lo que Gulliver narra en cada uno de sus cuatro viajes se asemeja a visitar otro planeta, particularmente en el tercer y cuarto viaje.
Este libro es para muchos un claro ejemplo de ese g茅nero literario denominado S谩tira: "Discurso o composici贸n literaria en prosa o verso en que se critican agudamente las costumbres o vicios de alguien con intenci贸n moralizadora, l煤dica o meramente burlesca.".
Tambi茅n podr铆a atribu铆rsele el mote de novela pol铆tica sat铆rica, puesto que lo que Swift expone en 茅l es un racconto de las distintas sociedades modernas adaptadas a extra帽os pa铆ses, razas y seres dejando bien en claro que todos aquellos reinos que visita contienen defectos excepto el del pa铆s de los houyhnhnms, a los que declara como una raza impecable tanto por sus valores como sus virtudes y ninguna imperfecci贸n.
De todos modos, Swift siempre se las ingenia para dejar muy bien parado a su pa铆s, Inglaterra, al cual posiciona como el emblema de Europa y pr谩cticamente como la mejor naci贸n del mundo.
Puede entenderse esa obsesi贸n en el autor de dejar bien en claro la supremac铆a brit谩nica sobre Francia, pa铆s enemistado con Inglaterra durante el siglo XVIII.
Un rasgo interesante del libro es el de la dificultad al leer los nombres propios, de pa铆ses y vocabulario inventado por Swift, algo que demuestra su l煤cida inteligencia.
Cito un ejemplo: en Lilliput lo llaman Quihnbus Flestrin, que significa Hombre-Monta帽a, mientras que en Broddingnag, su nombre es Grildrig y la ni帽a que lo cuida se llama Glumdalclitch.
Otro detalle acerca de la lectura de este libro es que me cost贸 mucho dimensionar las diferencias de tama帽os tanto en su estad铆a en Lilliput como en Brobdingnag, ya que tanto el autor como los traductores utilizan el sistema de medidas que incluyen pulgadas, yardas, pies y millas. Para un lector acostumbrado al sistema m茅trico que utiliza mil铆metros, metros y kil贸metros, aunque parezca un detalle tonto, el sistema del autor no ofrece una orientaci贸n clara.
Un dato pintoresco es que las diferencias de tama帽os est谩n marcadamente diferenciadas, a punto tal que cuando uno se acostumbr贸 al tama帽o gigante de Gulliver en Lilliput, le cuesta imaginarse el tama帽o opuesto cuando pone un pie en el reino de Brobdingnag en donde esos tama帽os se invierten durante su segundo viaje. All铆, Gulliver es un min煤sculo ser humano.
Durante su tercer viaje cuando conoce losa los dominios de Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdi y Luggnagg el lector descubre que los tama帽os son iguales pero que esa raza de laputienses son pr谩cticamente como las de verdaderos extraterrestres, "con un ojo vuelo y otro apuntando al c茅nit", como indica Gulliver.
Viven en un ambiente que se caracteriza por la geometr铆a, las matem谩ticas y la m煤sica. Fue para m铆 el viaje m谩s desconcertante, pero a su vez, debo reconocer el talento y la incre铆ble imaginaci贸n de Jonathan Swift para crear semejantes personajes. Tengamos en cuenta que este libro fue publicado en 1726, 隆139 a帽os antes de "Alicia en el pa铆s de las maravillas!, libro en el que Carroll despliega tambi茅n una maravillosa imaginer铆a de personajes incre铆bles.
Durante el cuarto viaje, en las tierra de los houyhnhnms, que son una raza de caballos con inteligencia que dominan a otros seres inferiores, en estado bruto llamados yahoos, que son muy inferiores pero a la vez muy parecidos a los humanos, algo me remite a la pel铆cula "El planeta de los simios" en donde los seres humanos son esclavizados por una raza de monos dotados de una inteligencia avanzada.
En definidas cuentas, "Los viajes de Gulliver" es un libro entretenido, un tanto tedioso en algunas partes, sobre todo en aquellas donde vuelve a explicar c贸mo es Inglaterra a cada raza que visita; que tiene un costado verdaderamente de publicidad pol铆tica y ensalzamiento de Inglaterra en detrimento de otras naciones y tambi茅n expone, aunque sin denunciar, el tema de la esclavitud.
Es dif铆cil que se sientan ofendidos por este tema, dado que es mundialmente conocido el pasado pirata y de trata de esclavos de los ingleses, aunque en el caso de su libro, Swift se saca el peso de encima ech谩ndole la culpa a los portugueses, los holandeses y los espa帽oles.
Nuevamente destaco el poder de la imaginaci贸n de Jonathan Swift, un adelantado a su 茅poca, puesto que escribi贸 un su libro que a煤n hoy tiene la vigencia intacta de los m谩s afamados cl谩sicos que nunca pasan de moda.
March 3, 2017
This was my favorite required reading in high school (well, actually, probably tied with Animal Farm). It was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise. The reference points I had were cartoon retellings of this from my youth. I only really had an image of Gulliver vs the Lilliputians - and that was only the most basic "giant in a land full of very small people" storylines (well, they were trying to entertain children, so it doesn't have to get much more complex than that). But, the book is made up of more stories than just Gulliver as a giant (hence the Travels - plural). The content of these stories is witty and not-so-thinly veiled political and social commentary. In the end, it didn't feel like required reading at all - it was a truly enjoyable adventure I was glad to take!
March 31, 2014
Jonathan Swift (1667 鈥� 1745) writes towards the end of his book:
...an author perfectly blameless, against whom the tribe of answerers, considerers, observers, reflecters, detecters, remarkers, will never be able to find matter for exercising their talents.
Had Swift known GR he would probably have included 鈥渞eviewers鈥� in the above sentence. This thought warns me against continuing any further with my review.
But the Travels of
The introduction in my edition by Michael Foot was almost as funny. For Foot surveys the history of the reaction to Swift鈥檚 book, from its immediate huge success and popularity during the Enlightenment to the deprecating opinion shared by many, but not all (John Keats was one of the exceptions), in puritanical Victorian times. They were affronted by the shameful indecency their own minds projected onto Swift鈥檚 lines.
Some of the quotes from Victorian responses made me laugh as heartily as Swift鈥檚 words.
.. a monster, gibbering shrieks and gnashing imprecations against mankind 鈥� tearing down all shreds of modesty, past all sense of manliness and shame; filthy in word, filthy in thought, furious, raging, obscene.
His rehabilitation started during WW1, beginning with a lecture in Cambridge in 1917. Gulliver鈥檚 attacks on war and the idiocies of nationalism would have met welcoming ears in that university hall. Some rejection still lingered for a while and surprisingly both George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were highly critical of Swift.
Nowadays, many aspects of this book appeal strongly to our more cynical and detached age. What we have now is filtered by the Disney Cartoons and The Economist has chosen Gulliver as the title to its Travel Section. And of course, the company Yahoo also got its name from the most detestable of Swift鈥檚 characters.
As everyone knows this is a book about travelling. The popularity of two of its four parts and their easy refashioning into tales for children disguise the fact that the book was written as a parody of the then prevailing travel writing. If for us Travel now means consumption, then it still meant discovery. But in all discoveries there is some degree of presumptuousness. And this is what bothered Swift.
But this book is a journey in itself: Travel into Acerbity. Each part becomes more acidic and sour than the previous one. And if the Victorians found it indecent we have to admit that there is a fair amount of stripping in this book, but not of clothes. Swift is stripping human nature. For apart from the hilarious and highly creative stories, the sum of reflections on the relativity of some of our beliefs, which we hold as absolute, constitutes a fully developed treatise on us.
The Fantastic and Utopian character is disguised by Swift's framing with exact dates each of the four trips. Gulliver sets off on the 4th of May 1699 and returns from his final trip on the 5th of December 1715. May be it was this kind of specificity that made one of Swift鈥檚 contemporaries go and have a look at his Atlas to check where Lilliput was. And another adamantly denied that the whole thing could be true!!
Apart from children, some mathematicians have also been delighted by Gulliver鈥檚 adventures (demonstrable proof). The third trip, to the Land of Laputa (some knowledge of Spanish helps in understanding this title) is an amusing diatribe against mathematicians and academics. A good reader of Swift must be willing to embrace self-parody.
The fourth and final trip is the most controversial one, since it is a direct blow at the arrogance of human nature. And yet, this part is an excellent exposition of Swift鈥檚 thinking and his deep aversion of brutality and despotism.
Apart from Swift鈥檚 exuberant imagination, I have greatly enjoyed his language. In spite of the irony and satire, his writing reads as coming directly from the pen of Mister Common Sense. Swift wrote in a limpid form, keeping a perfect pace that accompanied an impeccable stream of clear thinking. Swift was known for his conviction on the appropriate use of language:
That the use of speech was to make us understand one another, and to receive information of facts; now if any one said the thing which was not, these ends were defeated.
And to make sure of this, he would read aloud to his servants to confirm that his text would be understood.
He kept his humour until the end, and this is what he wrote for his own epitaph.
He gave the little wealth he had,
To build a House for Fools and Mad.
And shew鈥檇 by one Satyric Touch,
No Nation needed it so much.
I close this book feeling a great respect for the smart, polite Houyhnhnms who enjoy a level of wisdom and common sense that should be the envy of all of us.
April 7, 2024
My understanding of Gulliver's Travels was that it is a children/young adult adventure story. I really don't know how I formed this opinion, but it was how I viewed this book until now. I was very much surprised to find that this is no children/YA story, nor an ordinary adventure story. It is a prosaic satire directed at human nature and human conduct. There is adventure of course, but only to provide the background to work on satire.
The story consists of four different voyages of Gulliver and the many adventures that he encounters in the process. Swift uses Gulliver's experiences during these adventure and his trials to satirize the human nature and human conduct generally. There is no branch that escapes Swift's satire. The human greed for power and avarice are two areas that meet heavily with his satire. Under the first category, European governments (including his own), their politics, their diplomacy and international relations comes under heavy blows. Under the second category, many individuals ranging from politicians, lawyers, doctors to common man and woman suffer from his lashes.
The story is written in a "Voltairean" style. It was partly interesting, partly boring, partly annoying and partly offensive. I cannot really say that I "liked" the story, but this odd combination kept me going through it. And when I finished reading my heart was set for a 3 star rating which means that I must have enjoyed it enough to view it in a favourable light. According to Wikipedia, Swift has claimed to have written the book "to vex the world rather than divert it'. I certainly think he achieved his objective. :) And for my part, I think I've done fairly well and paid him his due. :)
The story consists of four different voyages of Gulliver and the many adventures that he encounters in the process. Swift uses Gulliver's experiences during these adventure and his trials to satirize the human nature and human conduct generally. There is no branch that escapes Swift's satire. The human greed for power and avarice are two areas that meet heavily with his satire. Under the first category, European governments (including his own), their politics, their diplomacy and international relations comes under heavy blows. Under the second category, many individuals ranging from politicians, lawyers, doctors to common man and woman suffer from his lashes.
The story is written in a "Voltairean" style. It was partly interesting, partly boring, partly annoying and partly offensive. I cannot really say that I "liked" the story, but this odd combination kept me going through it. And when I finished reading my heart was set for a 3 star rating which means that I must have enjoyed it enough to view it in a favourable light. According to Wikipedia, Swift has claimed to have written the book "to vex the world rather than divert it'. I certainly think he achieved his objective. :) And for my part, I think I've done fairly well and paid him his due. :)
January 29, 2020
I picked this up to do a re-read. Out side of the Lilliput part of the story, I remember little about this. I read it over 20 years ago.
The book is several different stories told by Gulliver on his wild travels. They are:
1. Lilliput - the most famous one people know this story for
2. Brobdingnag - the opposite of lilliput. He goes to a land of giants
3. Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan
4. Houyhnhnms
If this book had just been about Lilliput and Brobdingnag - it would have been a 4 star read for me, but taking the whole into account and it's barely 3 stars.
There are weird things that happen all through this story. In Lilliput, the royal quarters are set on fire and Gulliver rushes to helps. He urinates on the building to put out the fire. The queen is so upset about this that they want to blind Gulliver.
The first two parts are interesting. Starting in Part 3, things get very slow and somewhat miserable. Jonathan is a wonderful writer and that is something, but it was miserable trying to get through the end. I can't believe I got through this as a kid.
By the time we were in the land of the Houyhnhnms and he was describing the hair around their beasts anus and their utters, I was just done. It was horrible. The end became a torture. I was so glad to be done with this book. I'm surprised I don't give it a lower star.
I know this is supposed to be satire, but I don't know what was happening back in the 1700s enough to get the references. I can't really enjoy the satire.
One thing, I will never read this book again. If anyone asks. If you know European history and love Satire, then you might enjoy this book. All others should read the first two parts and put the book down.
The last two parts would be a good torture devise for someone you don't like. Just make them listen to it.
The book is several different stories told by Gulliver on his wild travels. They are:
1. Lilliput - the most famous one people know this story for
2. Brobdingnag - the opposite of lilliput. He goes to a land of giants
3. Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan
4. Houyhnhnms
If this book had just been about Lilliput and Brobdingnag - it would have been a 4 star read for me, but taking the whole into account and it's barely 3 stars.
There are weird things that happen all through this story. In Lilliput, the royal quarters are set on fire and Gulliver rushes to helps. He urinates on the building to put out the fire. The queen is so upset about this that they want to blind Gulliver.
The first two parts are interesting. Starting in Part 3, things get very slow and somewhat miserable. Jonathan is a wonderful writer and that is something, but it was miserable trying to get through the end. I can't believe I got through this as a kid.
By the time we were in the land of the Houyhnhnms and he was describing the hair around their beasts anus and their utters, I was just done. It was horrible. The end became a torture. I was so glad to be done with this book. I'm surprised I don't give it a lower star.
I know this is supposed to be satire, but I don't know what was happening back in the 1700s enough to get the references. I can't really enjoy the satire.
One thing, I will never read this book again. If anyone asks. If you know European history and love Satire, then you might enjoy this book. All others should read the first two parts and put the book down.
The last two parts would be a good torture devise for someone you don't like. Just make them listen to it.
March 23, 2014
Another excellent invention of the Laputan Academy is a kind of fellowship or club, which they call in their language Sdaerdoog, or superior literature; and indeed the name does not belie the thing, for it is quite the most superior manner of enjoying literature yet devized. Noting that every man will be well acquainted with the great books of the world, yet few have the inclination to read them, the Laputan savants have ordained a scheme, no less ingenious than equitable, whereby this onerous duty is divided among the members of the club. On completing the perusal of a book, the reader composes a short pamphlet, that they term a "weiver", containing all the knowledge a gentleman of good sense and education may learn from the writing in question. This he then distributes to his fellows, who can can now read a score of weivers in the time they would perforce have laid down on the reading of a single tome. There are members of the Academy who do naught but read weivers the length of the day; it is impossible to exaggerate the prodigious extent of their learning, which would be the envy of any Oxford or Cambridge professor.
May 12, 2024
So nice to finally enjoy Gulliver's Travels in its entirety - thanks to my library book club. We had a lively discussion and I was amazed how much I learned when we dissected and dug below the surface. Didn't know what I was missing and having the members of the book club (ages ranged from early 20s - 90+) to discuss and share ideas with taught me more than reading by myself ever could.
February 1, 2022
#产颈产濒颈辞迟别肠补补蹿别肠迟颈惫膬
Cine mai cite葯te ast膬zi cartea lui Jonathan Swift? Cine 葯tie c膬 yahoo.mail - pe care-l folosim to葲i - trimite chiar la acest minunat roman? Voi comenta doar un episod foarte amuzant.
脦苍 C膬l膬toriile lui Gulliver (III: 5), naratorul viziteaz膬 marea academie din Lagado, vede la lucru, 卯ntr-o aul膬, ma艧in膬ria lui Raymundus Lullus. Dar marea academie are o sec牛iune de savan牛i filologi, care se dedic膬 edific膬rii unui limbaj universal, accesibil oric膬rei fiin葲e din univers.
Cum arat膬 noul limbaj? Iat膬 un prim proiect. Cuvintele polisilabice s卯nt reduse la unit膬牛i lexicale, formate dintr-o singur膬 silab膬. S卯nt eliminate verbele, adjectivele, participiile. R膬m卯n doar substantivele, numele monosilabice. Oamenii vor discuta 卯ntre ei doar prin silabe: pa, vu, ga, di, ke, zo. Din fericire, savan葲ii lui Swift nu se mul葲umesc doar cu at卯t. Limba perfect膬 se va dispensa 葯i de silabe. Au sesizat un proiect nou.
Acum, cuvintele sunt desfiin牛ate complet. Dac膬 substantivele desemneaz膬 卯ntotdeauna lucruri 艧i numai lucruri, e mai potrivit s膬 aduci lucrurile 卯nsele, c卯nd vrei s膬 exprimi ceva. Limba este cu adev膬rat universal膬, poate fi priceput膬 de oricine, discut膬m ar膬t卯nd lucruri 葯i numai lucruri. Omul nu mai scoate sunete, nu-葯i mi葯c膬 buzele, arat膬 cu degetul. Avantajul acestui limbaj este, 卯n opinia academicienilor lui Jonathan Swift, protejarea g卯tlejului 艧i pl膬m卯nilor. Rostirea 卯nver葯unat膬 de propozi葲ii duce la coroziunea g卯tlejului 葯i la mic艧orarea volumul pl膬m卯nilor. E mai bine s膬 牛ii gura 卯nchis膬: te fere葯ti 卯n acest chip 葯i de viru葯i, r膬m卯i perfect s膬n膬tos p卯n膬 la moarte.
Dar e cu putin葲膬 oare s膬 cuv卯nt膬m cu lucruri 艧i numai cu lucruri? N-am mai rosti propozi牛ia 鈥濵膬rul e ro艧u鈥�. Am prezenta pur 艧i simplu un m膬r ro艧u. Dac膬 am avea nevoie de lumin膬, am ar膬ta iasca, amnarul, lampa cu fitil muiat 卯n petrol. Dac膬 am dori s膬 elogiem dulcele, am oferi celuilalt o stafid膬, o f膬r卯m膬 de zah膬r candel brun, un s膬rut. Nimic mai simplu, nu?
Cine mai cite葯te ast膬zi cartea lui Jonathan Swift? Cine 葯tie c膬 yahoo.mail - pe care-l folosim to葲i - trimite chiar la acest minunat roman? Voi comenta doar un episod foarte amuzant.
脦苍 C膬l膬toriile lui Gulliver (III: 5), naratorul viziteaz膬 marea academie din Lagado, vede la lucru, 卯ntr-o aul膬, ma艧in膬ria lui Raymundus Lullus. Dar marea academie are o sec牛iune de savan牛i filologi, care se dedic膬 edific膬rii unui limbaj universal, accesibil oric膬rei fiin葲e din univers.
Cum arat膬 noul limbaj? Iat膬 un prim proiect. Cuvintele polisilabice s卯nt reduse la unit膬牛i lexicale, formate dintr-o singur膬 silab膬. S卯nt eliminate verbele, adjectivele, participiile. R膬m卯n doar substantivele, numele monosilabice. Oamenii vor discuta 卯ntre ei doar prin silabe: pa, vu, ga, di, ke, zo. Din fericire, savan葲ii lui Swift nu se mul葲umesc doar cu at卯t. Limba perfect膬 se va dispensa 葯i de silabe. Au sesizat un proiect nou.
Acum, cuvintele sunt desfiin牛ate complet. Dac膬 substantivele desemneaz膬 卯ntotdeauna lucruri 艧i numai lucruri, e mai potrivit s膬 aduci lucrurile 卯nsele, c卯nd vrei s膬 exprimi ceva. Limba este cu adev膬rat universal膬, poate fi priceput膬 de oricine, discut膬m ar膬t卯nd lucruri 葯i numai lucruri. Omul nu mai scoate sunete, nu-葯i mi葯c膬 buzele, arat膬 cu degetul. Avantajul acestui limbaj este, 卯n opinia academicienilor lui Jonathan Swift, protejarea g卯tlejului 艧i pl膬m卯nilor. Rostirea 卯nver葯unat膬 de propozi葲ii duce la coroziunea g卯tlejului 葯i la mic艧orarea volumul pl膬m卯nilor. E mai bine s膬 牛ii gura 卯nchis膬: te fere葯ti 卯n acest chip 葯i de viru葯i, r膬m卯i perfect s膬n膬tos p卯n膬 la moarte.
Dar e cu putin葲膬 oare s膬 cuv卯nt膬m cu lucruri 艧i numai cu lucruri? N-am mai rosti propozi牛ia 鈥濵膬rul e ro艧u鈥�. Am prezenta pur 艧i simplu un m膬r ro艧u. Dac膬 am avea nevoie de lumin膬, am ar膬ta iasca, amnarul, lampa cu fitil muiat 卯n petrol. Dac膬 am dori s膬 elogiem dulcele, am oferi celuilalt o stafid膬, o f膬r卯m膬 de zah膬r candel brun, un s膬rut. Nimic mai simplu, nu?
February 7, 2017
So much more than just a fantastical tale of a man journeying to mystical lands. This is thinly veiled satire...super thin.
A seafaring Englishman ends up in four fairytale worlds where people are small, gigantic, smarties in the maths, and where people are horses. By the second journey you'd think he'd be done with all this, but in the end he's done with humans and has trouble living amongst his own kind.
Written in the old style where listing off occurrences constituted an adventure and a perfectly well constructed story, Gulliver's Travels can be at times a tedious read. It's filled with a laundry list of actions ("I did this and then I did this"), and when you think some tension or conflict is a brewin' you get simple expedients flatly stated ("I was faced with an obstacle and so I overcame it by doing this.") After a time it all becomes trying and uninspiring, making the turning of pages ever more difficult.
However, if you've come to this book looking for condemnation of the human race's worst foibles, you've come to the right place. Swift dispatches venom towards the leeches of humanity. Lawyers, for instance, get blasted left, right and center. I'm one of those people that feels we're not much better, and sometimes not any better, than base animals, so I was okay with the author's bashing of my fellow man. Those who don't understand anything beyond "Humans! We're #1!" aren't going to like this.
Regardless of its faults, I'm glad I finally got around to reading the original, full-length version. In school I read an abridged and sanitized version, which left out all the mentions of genitalia and bodily functions. This is much better with all the pee and tits included!
PS: Check out my video review of Gulliver's Travels here:
A seafaring Englishman ends up in four fairytale worlds where people are small, gigantic, smarties in the maths, and where people are horses. By the second journey you'd think he'd be done with all this, but in the end he's done with humans and has trouble living amongst his own kind.
Written in the old style where listing off occurrences constituted an adventure and a perfectly well constructed story, Gulliver's Travels can be at times a tedious read. It's filled with a laundry list of actions ("I did this and then I did this"), and when you think some tension or conflict is a brewin' you get simple expedients flatly stated ("I was faced with an obstacle and so I overcame it by doing this.") After a time it all becomes trying and uninspiring, making the turning of pages ever more difficult.
However, if you've come to this book looking for condemnation of the human race's worst foibles, you've come to the right place. Swift dispatches venom towards the leeches of humanity. Lawyers, for instance, get blasted left, right and center. I'm one of those people that feels we're not much better, and sometimes not any better, than base animals, so I was okay with the author's bashing of my fellow man. Those who don't understand anything beyond "Humans! We're #1!" aren't going to like this.
Regardless of its faults, I'm glad I finally got around to reading the original, full-length version. In school I read an abridged and sanitized version, which left out all the mentions of genitalia and bodily functions. This is much better with all the pee and tits included!
PS: Check out my video review of Gulliver's Travels here:
December 13, 2022
This was my favourite classic growing up, and don't ask me why! Re-reading it as an adult didn't really feel like a book a child would like but oh well, I guess I liked all that poop and pee talk!
I am not a fan of satire and political science, I also think that it's almost impossible to fully understand a book like this which is so deeply rooted in the society it was written into, but overall I think it's still very enjoyable for a modern reader, and an important - albeit weird - classic of literature. The absurdity of the society Swift describes, the imagination he's capable of and the crazy ideas he put into this work still amaze me after re-reading this for at least the third time! This is probably one of those weird books that everybody loves but you just can't quite pinpoint the exact reason why. Maybe because we're all a little gullible deep down... 馃槒
April 23, 2022
I viaggi di Gulliver, libro pi霉 famoso di Jonathan Swift racconta, come si evince dal libro, quattro viaggi in quattro paesi diversi del medico chirurgo Lemuel Gulliver.
Questo romanzo 猫 scritto sotto forma di diario in cui il narratore racconta ci貌 che gli accade durante i suoi mirabolanti viaggi ricchi di avventure e sventure.
L'autore in questo caso si spaccia per editore a cui viene affidato il compito di pubblicare codesto libro scritto per mano di Gulliver di cui afferma essere parente.
Ogni viaggio 猫 condotto a esprimere disprezzo verso la societ脿 inglese e man mano che il libro prosegue questo sentimento diventa sempre pi霉 evidente.
I primi due viaggi si basano su diverse prospettive e sui contrari, infatti, Gulliver a Lilliput si trova a essere un gigante tra i piccolissimi e meschini lillipuziani; mentre a Brobdingnag si trova a "vestire" i panni dei lillipuziani tra i giganteschi abitanti di Brobdingnag. Il dualismo che l'autore crea in questi primi due viaggi 猫 affascinante.
Il terzo viaggio 猫 quello che mi 猫 piaciuto di meno in quanto l'ho trovato assai confusionario anche se presenta una critica tagliente nei confronti della Royal Society.
L'ultimo viaggio 猫 veramente spettacolare, un mondo utopico governato dai cavalli e in cui l'uomo (anche se io ritengo essere una scimmia antropomorfa in quanto ha diverse fattezze dall'uomo moderno) 猫 solo una bestia selvaggia che obbedisce solo ai vizi di Natura.
Swift mette in atto con questo romanzo una satira senza precedenti nei confronti di ogni cosa, comincia con la religione parlando dello scisma della Chiesa Anglicana messo in atto da Enrico VIII e continua nei confronti della politica, della societ脿, della scienza e nei confronti dell'umanit脿 in s茅 arrivando a disprezzare tutti gli Yahoo (o almeno questo 猫 ci貌 che l'autore fa provare a Gulliver).
Altro fatto interessante di questo romanzo 猫 presentato dal fatto che esso 猫 scritto in chiave parodica per prendersi gioco dei romanzi marinareschi di cui Defoe 猫 "fondatore".
Non voglio aggiungere altro perch茅 nonostante alcune parti non siano state di mio gusto bisogna ammettere che questo libro 猫 veramente geniale sotto molti aspetti.
Questo romanzo 猫 scritto sotto forma di diario in cui il narratore racconta ci貌 che gli accade durante i suoi mirabolanti viaggi ricchi di avventure e sventure.
L'autore in questo caso si spaccia per editore a cui viene affidato il compito di pubblicare codesto libro scritto per mano di Gulliver di cui afferma essere parente.
Ogni viaggio 猫 condotto a esprimere disprezzo verso la societ脿 inglese e man mano che il libro prosegue questo sentimento diventa sempre pi霉 evidente.
I primi due viaggi si basano su diverse prospettive e sui contrari, infatti, Gulliver a Lilliput si trova a essere un gigante tra i piccolissimi e meschini lillipuziani; mentre a Brobdingnag si trova a "vestire" i panni dei lillipuziani tra i giganteschi abitanti di Brobdingnag. Il dualismo che l'autore crea in questi primi due viaggi 猫 affascinante.
Il terzo viaggio 猫 quello che mi 猫 piaciuto di meno in quanto l'ho trovato assai confusionario anche se presenta una critica tagliente nei confronti della Royal Society.
L'ultimo viaggio 猫 veramente spettacolare, un mondo utopico governato dai cavalli e in cui l'uomo (anche se io ritengo essere una scimmia antropomorfa in quanto ha diverse fattezze dall'uomo moderno) 猫 solo una bestia selvaggia che obbedisce solo ai vizi di Natura.
Swift mette in atto con questo romanzo una satira senza precedenti nei confronti di ogni cosa, comincia con la religione parlando dello scisma della Chiesa Anglicana messo in atto da Enrico VIII e continua nei confronti della politica, della societ脿, della scienza e nei confronti dell'umanit脿 in s茅 arrivando a disprezzare tutti gli Yahoo (o almeno questo 猫 ci貌 che l'autore fa provare a Gulliver).
Altro fatto interessante di questo romanzo 猫 presentato dal fatto che esso 猫 scritto in chiave parodica per prendersi gioco dei romanzi marinareschi di cui Defoe 猫 "fondatore".
Non voglio aggiungere altro perch茅 nonostante alcune parti non siano state di mio gusto bisogna ammettere che questo libro 猫 veramente geniale sotto molti aspetti.
January 18, 2008
Glad to get the references now: although I could have just read Wikipedia: the Lilliputians are small, the Brobdignagians big, the flying city is whatever, the Houhynhyns are really great (although he's pretty unpersuasive on this -- why are they so great? because they don't have a word for lying? Gulliver grows to love horses so much that he can't speak to his own family when he gets home -- I didn't buy it; I just think he's a misanthrope), and I suppose the most significant use of reading the book is to understand the etymology of the word "Yahoo." I will now call people "Yahoos" with much more relish than I did before.
But the book: not much there. It's a methodical, list-like satire on travel books which are themselves dull. No plot, and no character development to speak of except the persuasion of Gulliver that horses are better than people because people are so awful. He dwells at length on how awful people are, but in the end this just made me think Gulliver was a nasty sort of person who relishes big PJ-O'Rourke-ish generalizations. If I want to hate people, I'll get on a subway. I want books to help me do more than that.
But the book: not much there. It's a methodical, list-like satire on travel books which are themselves dull. No plot, and no character development to speak of except the persuasion of Gulliver that horses are better than people because people are so awful. He dwells at length on how awful people are, but in the end this just made me think Gulliver was a nasty sort of person who relishes big PJ-O'Rourke-ish generalizations. If I want to hate people, I'll get on a subway. I want books to help me do more than that.
February 7, 2017
This was a re-read of an old favourite. I fell in love with this book in my teens and have returned to it a few times since (my teens were a long time ago).
Jonathan Swift was a satirist of the first order. While you can read this as a silly fantasy story (it works on two levels and the first time I read it as a pre-teen I enjoyed it purely as a silly fantasy tale) virtually everything in this book has a double-meaning. As with most, if not all, of the best satirists, Swift's commentaries are both hilarious and boiling-water-to-the-face scathing.
The book is intelligent, hilarious and (barely) conceals a seething rage in the author's heart that is aimed like a burning arrow at the society that surrounded him.
Jonathan Swift was a satirist of the first order. While you can read this as a silly fantasy story (it works on two levels and the first time I read it as a pre-teen I enjoyed it purely as a silly fantasy tale) virtually everything in this book has a double-meaning. As with most, if not all, of the best satirists, Swift's commentaries are both hilarious and boiling-water-to-the-face scathing.
The book is intelligent, hilarious and (barely) conceals a seething rage in the author's heart that is aimed like a burning arrow at the society that surrounded him.
January 29, 2016
It鈥檚 one of the stranger occurrences that Gulliver鈥檚 Travels is recognized more often than not as a fantastical adventure for the delight of children, when in actuality it is one of the bleakest condemnations of human beings to ever corrode a page. The Reverend Swift is a master of misanthropic satire, and even with the arsenal of footnotes (as this wonderful edition from Oxford Classics exhaustively supplies) essential for a well-rounded reading of GT, the Gentle Reader is still left staggering to keep up with the immense range of the Author鈥檚 targets. Nothing is sacred in Swift鈥檚 world, besides that dim flicker of reason that most people dedicate their entire lives to trying to snuff out. Up against a foe like that, Swift teases with barely veiled blasphemy and sedation, all in the hopes of making the reader uncomfortable enough to possibly fart out an actual thought of their own.
The plot of the book is familiar enough to most: a seemingly innocuous account of the travels and travails of a polite and resourceful British naval surgeon as he visits exotic locales not to be found on any early 18th century map. But what most people miss (including all the little tykes who have watched shitty movie adaptations, such as the one featuring the talents of Jack Black) is that as Gulliver makes his way through adventures with tiny people, giants and cities in the sky, he finds himself losing heart in his sincere attempts to explain and defend his country鈥檚 societal and moral mores, and by novel鈥檚 end is crushed with bitterness and disgust for the human race. The fatal thrust of Swift鈥檚 argument鈥攚hich, as he declares in a letter to his pen pal, Alexander Pope, is to show that there is nothing rational about humans as rational animals鈥攊s delivered in Gulliver鈥檚 final travel to an utopia where talking horses encapsulate all the ideals we supposedly champion, while humans are nothing but a bunch of savage Yahoos. What follows is one of the most disparaging denouements on the human condition that this particular reader has ever encountered.
A hilarious but sobering remedy for any wayward soul who still has faith in humanity.
The plot of the book is familiar enough to most: a seemingly innocuous account of the travels and travails of a polite and resourceful British naval surgeon as he visits exotic locales not to be found on any early 18th century map. But what most people miss (including all the little tykes who have watched shitty movie adaptations, such as the one featuring the talents of Jack Black) is that as Gulliver makes his way through adventures with tiny people, giants and cities in the sky, he finds himself losing heart in his sincere attempts to explain and defend his country鈥檚 societal and moral mores, and by novel鈥檚 end is crushed with bitterness and disgust for the human race. The fatal thrust of Swift鈥檚 argument鈥攚hich, as he declares in a letter to his pen pal, Alexander Pope, is to show that there is nothing rational about humans as rational animals鈥攊s delivered in Gulliver鈥檚 final travel to an utopia where talking horses encapsulate all the ideals we supposedly champion, while humans are nothing but a bunch of savage Yahoos. What follows is one of the most disparaging denouements on the human condition that this particular reader has ever encountered.
A hilarious but sobering remedy for any wayward soul who still has faith in humanity.
February 2, 2020
There is more to Gulliver's Travels than you might expect based on the numerous adaptations we have all seen in popular culture. Throughout the book there is a progression from the familiar, jaunty adventure to more serious satire and criticism.
The first two parts of the book (Lilliput and Brobdingnag) are most recognisable, most straightforward in their premises, and are perhaps the most entertaining of the four parts in terms of their storytelling. By the third part, something has developed akin to modern science-fiction. The premises become more detailed and complex, allowing Swift to isolate, highlight and contrast various aspects of culture, politics, science and technology, history and anthropology. The relevance of many of these analyses is diminished by the passage of time, but they are nonetheless thoughtful and trenchant. The fourth section is most surprising in its tone and in the degree of its pessimism. It presents a bleak portrayal of humanity as irredeemable by its very nature, and therefore purposeless in its striving.
All of this makes Gulliver's Travels quite a strange yet compelling mix of styles and themes. It is perhaps itself like an adventure into unknown territory: it begins in search of one thing and ends up discovering something else entirely.
The first two parts of the book (Lilliput and Brobdingnag) are most recognisable, most straightforward in their premises, and are perhaps the most entertaining of the four parts in terms of their storytelling. By the third part, something has developed akin to modern science-fiction. The premises become more detailed and complex, allowing Swift to isolate, highlight and contrast various aspects of culture, politics, science and technology, history and anthropology. The relevance of many of these analyses is diminished by the passage of time, but they are nonetheless thoughtful and trenchant. The fourth section is most surprising in its tone and in the degree of its pessimism. It presents a bleak portrayal of humanity as irredeemable by its very nature, and therefore purposeless in its striving.
All of this makes Gulliver's Travels quite a strange yet compelling mix of styles and themes. It is perhaps itself like an adventure into unknown territory: it begins in search of one thing and ends up discovering something else entirely.
December 5, 2020
"This is a giant rip off of Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Honey I Blew up the Kid." This is a line from Paul Bryant's review,which made me smile.
Gulliver's Travels works equally well as a biting satire on the human condition,as a children's story,a morality play,and for that matter as the source for some fun movie adaptations.
First read in my childhood as an Urdu translation,later as a textbook and finally went through the whole thing by choice.
The first two voyages to Liliput and Brobdingnag are a lot of fun. After that,the two remaining voyages to Laputa and the land of the yahoos,though laced with deep meaning are not as memorable.
An interesting series of adventures,or rather misadventures.It entertains as well as vexes the reader.
Gulliver's Travels works equally well as a biting satire on the human condition,as a children's story,a morality play,and for that matter as the source for some fun movie adaptations.
First read in my childhood as an Urdu translation,later as a textbook and finally went through the whole thing by choice.
The first two voyages to Liliput and Brobdingnag are a lot of fun. After that,the two remaining voyages to Laputa and the land of the yahoos,though laced with deep meaning are not as memorable.
An interesting series of adventures,or rather misadventures.It entertains as well as vexes the reader.
May 5, 2017
丕爻賮丕乇 丕乇亘毓賴
爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 賶 诏丕賱賷賵乇 丕夭 趩賴丕乇 爻賮乇 鬲卮賰賷賱 卮丿賴貨 賴乇 亘丕乇 诏丕賱賷賵乇貙 賲孬賱 爻賳丿亘丕丿 亘丨乇賶貙 亘賴 爻賮乇賶 丿乇賷丕賷賶 賲賷乇賴貙 賵賱賶 胤賵賮丕賳 賷丕 賵賯丕賷毓 丿賷诏賴 亘丕毓孬 賲賷卮賴 爻乇 丕夭 噩夭賷乇賴 丕賶 賳丕卮賳丕禺鬲賴 丿乇亘賷丕乇賴.
爻賮乇 丕賵賱: 賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲
诏丕賱賷賵乇賶 賰賴 丿乇 爻丕丨賱 禺賵丕亘賷丿賴貙 賵 賵賯鬲賶 亘賷丿丕乇 賲賷卮賴 賲賶 亘賷賳賴 丿爻鬲 賵 倬丕卮 乇賵 亘丕 乇賷爻賲丕賳 亘賴 夭賲賷賳 亘爻鬲賳 賵 賴夭丕乇丕賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賰賵趩賵賱賵 丿賵乇卮 噩賲毓 卮丿賳. 賲毓乇賵賮 鬲乇賷賳 氐丨賳賴 賶 賰鬲丕亘.
賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲賶 賴丕貙 賳賲丕賷賳丿賴 賶 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 賰賲 禺乇丿 賵 丨賯賷乇 賴爻鬲賳貙 噩賳诏 賴丕卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 丕賮賰丕乇卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 夭賳丿诏賶 卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 賵 鬲賯丕亘賱 丕賷賳 卮乇丕賷胤 亘丕 毓馗賲鬲 诏丕賱賷賵乇貙 卮乇丕賷胤 賰賲賷賰賶 丕賷噩丕丿 賲賶 賰賳賴.
爻賮乇 丿賵賲: 亘乇丕亘丿賷賳诏 賳诏
诏丕賱賷賵乇賶 賰賴 丿乇 禺丕賳賴 賶 毓乇賵爻賰 賷賰 丿禺鬲乇亘趩賴 賶 睾賵賱 倬賷賰乇 夭賳丿诏賶 賲賶 賰賳賴貙 賵 丿禺鬲乇亘趩賴 賲孬賱 毓乇賵爻賰 鬲乇 賵 禺卮賰卮 賲賶 賰賳賴. 丕賷賳 賴賲 氐丨賳賴 賶 丌卮賳丕賶 丿賷诏賴 賶 賰鬲丕亘.
睾賵賱 賴丕賶 亘乇丕亘丿賷賳诏 賳诏貙 亘乇 毓賰爻 賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲賶 賴丕貙 賳賲丕賷賳丿賴 賶 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 亘夭乇诏 賴爻鬲賳. 倬丕丿卮丕賴卮賵賳 爻丕毓鬲 賴丕 亘丕 诏丕賱賷賵乇 亘丨孬 賲賶 賰賳賴 賵 丕夭 乇爻賵賲 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕 賲賶 倬乇爻賴 賵 丕夭 丨賲丕賯鬲 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕 鬲毓噩亘 賲賶 賰賳賴.
乇賵賶 賴賲 乇賮鬲賴 丕賷賳 丿賵 爻賮乇 倬乇 賲丕噩乇丕鬲乇 賵 禺賳丿賴 丌賵乇鬲乇 賴爻鬲賳. 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲賷乇爻賴 丨賵氐賱賴 賶 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 亘毓丿 丕夭 丕賷賳 丿賵 亘禺卮貙 賰賲 賰賲 鬲賴 賲賶 賰卮賷丿賴.
爻賮乇 爻賵賲: 賱丕倬賵鬲丕
丕诏賴 丕賳賷賲賴 賶 夭賷亘丕賶 跇丕倬賳賶 "賱丕倬賵鬲丕: 賯賱毓賴 丕賶 丿乇 丌爻賲丕賳" 丕夭 賴丕賷丕卅賵 賲賷丕夭丕賰賶 乇賵 丿賷丿賴 亘丕卮賷丿貙 丕賵賳 丕賳賷賲賴 丕夭 丕賷賳 亘禺卮 爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 丕賱賴丕賲 诏乇賮鬲賴貙 賴乇 趩賳丿 丕夭 賱丨丕馗 賲囟賲賵賳 亘賴 賴賲 丕乇鬲亘丕胤賶 賳丿丕乇賳.
爻乇夭賲賷賳賶 賵賷乇丕賳 賵 賮賯賷乇貙 賵賱賶 倬乇 丕夭 丿丕賳卮賲賳丿丕賳賶 賰賴 亘賴 噩丕賶 丨賱 賲卮賰賱丕鬲 賲乇丿賲貙 亘賴 賲爻丕卅賱 丕賳鬲夭丕毓賶 賵 亘賶 賮丕賷丿賴 賲賶 倬乇丿丕夭賳. 丿乇 丨丕賱賶 賰賴 賯賱毓賴 賶 倬乇賳丿賴 賶 倬丕丿卮丕賴貙 亘丕 爻丕賰賳丕賳 賮賷賱爻賵賮卮貙 丿乇 亘丕賱丕賶 丕亘乇賴丕 爻賷乇 賲賶 賰賳賴 賵 丕夭 夭賳丿诏賶 賵丕賯毓賶 賲乇丿賲 爻乇夭賲賷賳卮 亘賶 禺亘乇賴.
爻賮乇 趩賴丕乇賲: 爻乇夭賲賷賳 賴賵賷賳賴賲 賴丕
丕爻亘 賴丕賶 毓丕賯賱 賵 爻禺賳诏賵賷賶 賰賴 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 賵丨卮賶 賵 賳賮賴賲 (賰賴 "賷丕賴賵" 賳丕賲賷丿賴 賲賷卮賳) 乇賵 亘賴 丕乇丕亘賴 賵 诏丕賵丌賴賳 賲賶 亘賳丿賳. 丕賷賳 賮氐賱 鬲賲丕賲丕賸 賱丨賳賶 鬲毓賱賷賲賶 丿丕乇賴貙 賵 亘賴 丿賵乇 丕夭 賲丕噩乇丕噩賵賷賶 賴丕賶 胤賳夭丌賲賷夭 丿賵 賮氐賱 丕賵賱貙 賮賯胤 亘賴 丕賳鬲賯丕丿 丕夭 乇匕丕卅賱 丕賳爻丕賳賶 賲賶 倬乇丿丕夭賴.
趩乇丕 賰鬲丕亘 乇賵 禺賵賳丿賲責
賷賰 丕禺鬲乇賮賷夭賷賰 丿丕賳貙 賴卮鬲 賰鬲丕亘 乇賵 倬賷卮賳賴丕丿 賰乇丿賴 亘賵丿 賰賴 賴乇 賮乇丿 鬲丨氐賷賱 賰乇丿賴 賵 乇賵卮賳 丕賳丿賷卮賶 亘丕賷丿 賲胤丕賱毓賴 賰賳賴. 亘毓囟賶 丕夭 賰鬲丕亘 賴丕賶 丕賷賳 賱賷爻鬲 乇賵 禺賵賳丿賴 亘賵丿賲 (毓賴丿賷賳貙 卮賴乇賷丕乇 賲丕賰賷丕賵賱賶 賵 賴賳乇 乇夭賲 爻賵賳 鬲夭賵) 賵賱賶 亘毓囟賶 丿賷诏賴 乇賵 賳賴 (賲賳卮兀 丕賳賵丕毓 丿丕乇賵賷賳貙 孬乇賵鬲 賲賱賱 丌丿丕賲 丕爻賲賷鬲 賵...).
亘丕 鬲賵噩賴 亘賴 鬲氐賵賷乇賶 賰賴 丕夭 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 诏丕賱賷賵乇 丿丕卮鬲賲貙 ("賲賳 丕夭 丕賵賱卮賲 賲賶 丿賵賳爻鬲賲..." 賵 賰丕倬賷鬲丕賳 賱賷趩 亘丿噩賳爻 賵 賰賱丕睾卮 賰賴 賲賶 禺賵丕賳 賳賯卮賴 賶 诏賳噩 诏丕賱賷賵乇 乇賵 鬲氐丕丨亘 賰賳賳) 賴賷趩 賵賯鬲 賮賰乇 賳賲賶 賰乇丿賲 賰鬲丕亘 禺丕氐賶 亘丕卮賴. 賵賯鬲賶 丕爻賲卮 乇賵 鬲賵賶 丕賷賳 賱賷爻鬲 丿賷丿賲貙 鬲毓噩亘 賰乇丿賲貙 賵 趩賵賳 丿乇 丿爻鬲乇爻 亘賵丿 爻乇丕睾卮 乇賮鬲賲 賵 丿賷丿賲 賰賴 禺賷賱賶 丕夭 毓賳丕氐乇 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 丿乇 賰鬲丕亘 賵噩賵丿 賳丿丕乇賴 賵 亘賷卮鬲乇 賵賯丕賷毓 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 爻丕禺鬲賴 賵 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賴 賶 匕賴賳 丕賳賷賲丕鬲賵乇賴丕 亘賵丿賴.
丕賱亘鬲賴 賰鬲丕亘 禺賷賱賶 禺賵亘賶 亘賵丿貙 賵賱賶 丕夭 賴賲賷賳 噩丕 丕毓賱丕賲 賲賶 賰賳賲 賰賴 噩丕卮 鬲賵賶 丕賵賳 賱賷爻鬲 賳亘賵丿貙 賵 丕诏賴 賲賳 亘賵丿賲 賰鬲丕亘 賴丕賶 賲賴賲 鬲乇 丿賷诏賴 丕賶 乇賵 噩丕卮 賲賷匕丕卮鬲賲.
賱賷賳賰 賱賷爻鬲 賴卮鬲 賰鬲丕亘:
爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 賶 诏丕賱賷賵乇 丕夭 趩賴丕乇 爻賮乇 鬲卮賰賷賱 卮丿賴貨 賴乇 亘丕乇 诏丕賱賷賵乇貙 賲孬賱 爻賳丿亘丕丿 亘丨乇賶貙 亘賴 爻賮乇賶 丿乇賷丕賷賶 賲賷乇賴貙 賵賱賶 胤賵賮丕賳 賷丕 賵賯丕賷毓 丿賷诏賴 亘丕毓孬 賲賷卮賴 爻乇 丕夭 噩夭賷乇賴 丕賶 賳丕卮賳丕禺鬲賴 丿乇亘賷丕乇賴.
爻賮乇 丕賵賱: 賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲
诏丕賱賷賵乇賶 賰賴 丿乇 爻丕丨賱 禺賵丕亘賷丿賴貙 賵 賵賯鬲賶 亘賷丿丕乇 賲賷卮賴 賲賶 亘賷賳賴 丿爻鬲 賵 倬丕卮 乇賵 亘丕 乇賷爻賲丕賳 亘賴 夭賲賷賳 亘爻鬲賳 賵 賴夭丕乇丕賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賰賵趩賵賱賵 丿賵乇卮 噩賲毓 卮丿賳. 賲毓乇賵賮 鬲乇賷賳 氐丨賳賴 賶 賰鬲丕亘.
賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲賶 賴丕貙 賳賲丕賷賳丿賴 賶 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 賰賲 禺乇丿 賵 丨賯賷乇 賴爻鬲賳貙 噩賳诏 賴丕卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 丕賮賰丕乇卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 夭賳丿诏賶 卮賵賳 丨賯賷乇貙 賵 鬲賯丕亘賱 丕賷賳 卮乇丕賷胤 亘丕 毓馗賲鬲 诏丕賱賷賵乇貙 卮乇丕賷胤 賰賲賷賰賶 丕賷噩丕丿 賲賶 賰賳賴.
爻賮乇 丿賵賲: 亘乇丕亘丿賷賳诏 賳诏
诏丕賱賷賵乇賶 賰賴 丿乇 禺丕賳賴 賶 毓乇賵爻賰 賷賰 丿禺鬲乇亘趩賴 賶 睾賵賱 倬賷賰乇 夭賳丿诏賶 賲賶 賰賳賴貙 賵 丿禺鬲乇亘趩賴 賲孬賱 毓乇賵爻賰 鬲乇 賵 禺卮賰卮 賲賶 賰賳賴. 丕賷賳 賴賲 氐丨賳賴 賶 丌卮賳丕賶 丿賷诏賴 賶 賰鬲丕亘.
睾賵賱 賴丕賶 亘乇丕亘丿賷賳诏 賳诏貙 亘乇 毓賰爻 賱賶 賱賶 倬賵鬲賶 賴丕貙 賳賲丕賷賳丿賴 賶 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 亘夭乇诏 賴爻鬲賳. 倬丕丿卮丕賴卮賵賳 爻丕毓鬲 賴丕 亘丕 诏丕賱賷賵乇 亘丨孬 賲賶 賰賳賴 賵 丕夭 乇爻賵賲 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕 賲賶 倬乇爻賴 賵 丕夭 丨賲丕賯鬲 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕 鬲毓噩亘 賲賶 賰賳賴.
乇賵賶 賴賲 乇賮鬲賴 丕賷賳 丿賵 爻賮乇 倬乇 賲丕噩乇丕鬲乇 賵 禺賳丿賴 丌賵乇鬲乇 賴爻鬲賳. 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲賷乇爻賴 丨賵氐賱賴 賶 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 亘毓丿 丕夭 丕賷賳 丿賵 亘禺卮貙 賰賲 賰賲 鬲賴 賲賶 賰卮賷丿賴.
爻賮乇 爻賵賲: 賱丕倬賵鬲丕
丕诏賴 丕賳賷賲賴 賶 夭賷亘丕賶 跇丕倬賳賶 "賱丕倬賵鬲丕: 賯賱毓賴 丕賶 丿乇 丌爻賲丕賳" 丕夭 賴丕賷丕卅賵 賲賷丕夭丕賰賶 乇賵 丿賷丿賴 亘丕卮賷丿貙 丕賵賳 丕賳賷賲賴 丕夭 丕賷賳 亘禺卮 爻賮乇賳丕賲賴 丕賱賴丕賲 诏乇賮鬲賴貙 賴乇 趩賳丿 丕夭 賱丨丕馗 賲囟賲賵賳 亘賴 賴賲 丕乇鬲亘丕胤賶 賳丿丕乇賳.
爻乇夭賲賷賳賶 賵賷乇丕賳 賵 賮賯賷乇貙 賵賱賶 倬乇 丕夭 丿丕賳卮賲賳丿丕賳賶 賰賴 亘賴 噩丕賶 丨賱 賲卮賰賱丕鬲 賲乇丿賲貙 亘賴 賲爻丕卅賱 丕賳鬲夭丕毓賶 賵 亘賶 賮丕賷丿賴 賲賶 倬乇丿丕夭賳. 丿乇 丨丕賱賶 賰賴 賯賱毓賴 賶 倬乇賳丿賴 賶 倬丕丿卮丕賴貙 亘丕 爻丕賰賳丕賳 賮賷賱爻賵賮卮貙 丿乇 亘丕賱丕賶 丕亘乇賴丕 爻賷乇 賲賶 賰賳賴 賵 丕夭 夭賳丿诏賶 賵丕賯毓賶 賲乇丿賲 爻乇夭賲賷賳卮 亘賶 禺亘乇賴.
爻賮乇 趩賴丕乇賲: 爻乇夭賲賷賳 賴賵賷賳賴賲 賴丕
丕爻亘 賴丕賶 毓丕賯賱 賵 爻禺賳诏賵賷賶 賰賴 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賶 賵丨卮賶 賵 賳賮賴賲 (賰賴 "賷丕賴賵" 賳丕賲賷丿賴 賲賷卮賳) 乇賵 亘賴 丕乇丕亘賴 賵 诏丕賵丌賴賳 賲賶 亘賳丿賳. 丕賷賳 賮氐賱 鬲賲丕賲丕賸 賱丨賳賶 鬲毓賱賷賲賶 丿丕乇賴貙 賵 亘賴 丿賵乇 丕夭 賲丕噩乇丕噩賵賷賶 賴丕賶 胤賳夭丌賲賷夭 丿賵 賮氐賱 丕賵賱貙 賮賯胤 亘賴 丕賳鬲賯丕丿 丕夭 乇匕丕卅賱 丕賳爻丕賳賶 賲賶 倬乇丿丕夭賴.
趩乇丕 賰鬲丕亘 乇賵 禺賵賳丿賲責
賷賰 丕禺鬲乇賮賷夭賷賰 丿丕賳貙 賴卮鬲 賰鬲丕亘 乇賵 倬賷卮賳賴丕丿 賰乇丿賴 亘賵丿 賰賴 賴乇 賮乇丿 鬲丨氐賷賱 賰乇丿賴 賵 乇賵卮賳 丕賳丿賷卮賶 亘丕賷丿 賲胤丕賱毓賴 賰賳賴. 亘毓囟賶 丕夭 賰鬲丕亘 賴丕賶 丕賷賳 賱賷爻鬲 乇賵 禺賵賳丿賴 亘賵丿賲 (毓賴丿賷賳貙 卮賴乇賷丕乇 賲丕賰賷丕賵賱賶 賵 賴賳乇 乇夭賲 爻賵賳 鬲夭賵) 賵賱賶 亘毓囟賶 丿賷诏賴 乇賵 賳賴 (賲賳卮兀 丕賳賵丕毓 丿丕乇賵賷賳貙 孬乇賵鬲 賲賱賱 丌丿丕賲 丕爻賲賷鬲 賵...).
亘丕 鬲賵噩賴 亘賴 鬲氐賵賷乇賶 賰賴 丕夭 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 诏丕賱賷賵乇 丿丕卮鬲賲貙 ("賲賳 丕夭 丕賵賱卮賲 賲賶 丿賵賳爻鬲賲..." 賵 賰丕倬賷鬲丕賳 賱賷趩 亘丿噩賳爻 賵 賰賱丕睾卮 賰賴 賲賶 禺賵丕賳 賳賯卮賴 賶 诏賳噩 诏丕賱賷賵乇 乇賵 鬲氐丕丨亘 賰賳賳) 賴賷趩 賵賯鬲 賮賰乇 賳賲賶 賰乇丿賲 賰鬲丕亘 禺丕氐賶 亘丕卮賴. 賵賯鬲賶 丕爻賲卮 乇賵 鬲賵賶 丕賷賳 賱賷爻鬲 丿賷丿賲貙 鬲毓噩亘 賰乇丿賲貙 賵 趩賵賳 丿乇 丿爻鬲乇爻 亘賵丿 爻乇丕睾卮 乇賮鬲賲 賵 丿賷丿賲 賰賴 禺賷賱賶 丕夭 毓賳丕氐乇 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 丿乇 賰鬲丕亘 賵噩賵丿 賳丿丕乇賴 賵 亘賷卮鬲乇 賵賯丕賷毓 丕賳賷賲賷卮賳 爻丕禺鬲賴 賵 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賴 賶 匕賴賳 丕賳賷賲丕鬲賵乇賴丕 亘賵丿賴.
丕賱亘鬲賴 賰鬲丕亘 禺賷賱賶 禺賵亘賶 亘賵丿貙 賵賱賶 丕夭 賴賲賷賳 噩丕 丕毓賱丕賲 賲賶 賰賳賲 賰賴 噩丕卮 鬲賵賶 丕賵賳 賱賷爻鬲 賳亘賵丿貙 賵 丕诏賴 賲賳 亘賵丿賲 賰鬲丕亘 賴丕賶 賲賴賲 鬲乇 丿賷诏賴 丕賶 乇賵 噩丕卮 賲賷匕丕卮鬲賲.
賱賷賳賰 賱賷爻鬲 賴卮鬲 賰鬲丕亘:
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