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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.