Gulliver's Travels

Written by A. Lewis Soens

Narrated by Nick Podehl

The CliffsNotes study guide on Swift's Gulliver's Travels supplements the original literary work, giving you background information about the author, an introduction to the work, critical commentaries, expanded glossaries, and a comprehensive index, all for you to use as an educational tool that will allow you to better understand the work. This study guide was written with the assumption that you have read Gulliver's Travels. Reading a literary work doesn’t mean that you immediately grasp the major themes and devices used by the author; this study guide will help supplement your reading to be sure you get all you can from Swift's Gulliver's Travels. CliffsNotes Review tests your comprehension of the original text and reinforces learning with questions and answers, practice projects, and more. For further information on Swift's Gulliver's Travels, check out the CliffsNotes Resource Center at www.cliffsnotes.com.

IN THIS AUDIOBOOK

• Learn about the Life and Background of the author
• Hear an Introduction to Gulliver's Travels
• Explore themes, character development, and recurring images in the Critical Commentaries
• Learn new words from the Glossary at the end of each Chapter
• Examine in-depth Character Analyses
• Acquire an understanding of Gulliver's Travels with Critical Essays
• Reinforce what you learn to further your study online at www.cliffsnotes.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Apr 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781455888627

Reviews for Gulliver's Travels

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This nearly 300 year old classic deserves its reputation, but it is a novel of two halves. The first two books of the four, in which Gulliver visits respectively Lilliput (very small people) and Brobdingnag (giants) are very good, funny, adventurous, imaginative and bawdy and would be worth 5/5 by themselves. However, I found the latter two books when he visits the flying island of Laputa and other lands; then in the final book, the land of the Houyhnhnms (intelligent horses subjugating primates who resemble degraded humans) duller and a lot harder to get through. They contain a lot of quite clever satire on the human condition and on civic life in Europe, but are rather overegged and over long, with little plot so rather a slog. 2/5 for the latter half, so overall 3.5/5.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Most people have seen a cinematic version of this book, right? Most already know the story without actually bothering with reading the book? The book was written nearly 300 years old so some of the little of the language will be a little archaic but it's only a kids book so will be an easy read. Given the age of the story it will have very little relevance with events of today.Well at least that is what I thought beforehand. How very wrong I was!For those of you who do not know the story Gulliver basically visits four islands, one populated by a lot of little people, the next by some giants, then moving on to a flying island before finally landing on one ruled by horses where humens are the savages, something akin to the films Planet of the Apes but with horses rather than chimpanzees. Firstly the title is something of a misnomer. Rather than describing happenings in far off fanciful lands Swift is really only interested in taking a satirical swipe at events and in particular the politics an awful lot closer to home,namely London. Swift's family was originally from England but had backed the losing side in the English Civil War whereupon having lost their lands there were forced to take up residence Ireland. Swift was born and educated in Dublin but moved from his birthplace to London as a young man and there he became very active in the politics of the day,firstly as a Whig sympathiser then as a Tory. However, when the hoped for preferments failed to materialize Swift was virtually exiled back to Ireland making him rather bitter towards the political elite back in London.Some of the satire is fairly obvious, liking peeing on the palace in Lilliput to extinguish a fire there (in fact bodily functions seem to play a large part of the first two sections) but some other referances were I admit quite lost on me. Rather than travel broadening the mind it seemed to make Gulliver's more inward looking, so much so in the end he cannot bear the sight or touch of fellow humans, and this is probably where the book lost me as a fan. Personally I found the part on Laputa rather dull and very long-winded which was followed by the stay with the Houyhnhms which felt merely like the ramblings of a very bitter and disappointed in life man.On the whole I found the book interesting but ultimately a little disappointing and I certainy enjoyed Lilliput the most.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Even on (fifth? sixth?) read, and even with a stronger acquaintance with the sources (hello, Gargantua! sup Lycurgus), the inventiveness never flags. And the satire certainly has its flat-in-2010 moments (mockin' on Walpole and Bolingbroke, like that immortal Simpsons moment when Barney and Wade Boggs get in a fistfight about whether the greatest British prime minister was Pitt the Elder or Lord Palmerston), but overall it surprises you with its Juvenalian saturninity, its baleful eye. These are stories you'll never forget, as useful for an impromptu fairytale as for thinking about the good society in a new way at 17, realizing "hey, the Houyhnhnms aren't the good guys at all . . . ."

No, the reason this loses a half star as I return to it in fullblown manhood is that I'm a lot less susceptible to the Augustan smoothness with which Swift invites us to agree with him, a lot less willing to accept the "dark failure" view of mankind as seductive now that I know I won't just forget it as soon as I go outside in the teenage sunshine. I won't condemn Swift's misanthropy on general principle. But I think we have to condemn him on the specifics too. So often he's condemning lawyers and whoremasters and degenerate nobles and all the usual targets, and then he gets around to women, and you'd expect the usual stuff about how they're silly and grasping or whatever, but Swift condemns them for "lewdness", and given the state of patriarchal relations at that time, that is fucking appalling. Or another example: footnote tells me that when he makes fun of "fiddlers" in Book IV, it's far from idle talk--this man, this deacon and thunderbolt moralist refused to come to a man's defense on a rape charge because he was a fiddler. It's "hang 'im! If he's not guilty of this it'll just be something else. Fiddlers."

And it comes across in the satire. How can it not? And it makes me sour. So don't love Jon Swift, but read Gulliver's Travels, the vividest English novel of the 18th c.

[briannad84 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A local librarian told me this wasn't like reading a modern fictional novel. I know older books can be difficult, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be and was quite funny in parts!

[drt_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Swift's Gulliver's Travels was next. This book was a self narrated account of various travels by a man named Gulliver. Whether it be his first voyage and being ship wrecked to wake up in the world of tiny people (Lilliput) where the people had to give up a LOT of food to feed him, or how some of them wanted to kill him but didn't know what to do with his body if they did, to the world of GIANTS in the land of Brobdingnag where he was carried about in a box, how eagles fought to take him for food, how his owner, the farmer initially used him to make money by showing him off then he was owned by the queen, or when he was attacked by pirates and ending up in Laputa and Balnibarbi, or when he talked to all the historical figures in Glubbdubdrib just to find out they had lied to build themselves up, or when he went to Luggnaggians and Struldbrugs or Japan it was interesting how he used social commentary in this book. I guess that was the best part and the faciful ideas of other cultures, languages, and magnifying various aspects and governmental and occupational characteristics of people and character flaws that he saw in life. It was also interesting how he was driven to continue to travel and not stay with his family/wife so he continued to travel. He often worked as a doc aboard ship since his business failed. Overall, I would not rate this book very highly. I'd like to hear your ideas about it though and find out the things you found interesting in it. I’m sorry for being unclear in my last reply. I reread it and am embarrassed at the laziness in my writing. Basically what I was referring to was Swift’s juxtaposition of the two people groups, the Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms. The Houyhnhnms were obviously Gulliver preferred people. He seemed, at least to me, to be content with their way of life, the stability and way of going about things. He put them on a pedestal for their intelligence, ability to reason, “ethics,” etc in spite of their problems. It was clear that Gulliver did not like the Yahoo’s way of life even though he resembled them most. He was repulsed by their characteristics and behaviors even though he was criticizing humanity. I did like the concept of “Not being a people that tell things that are not” and being truthful. I really took that whole section as Swift’s own self-deception of finding a group of people being above reproach. I too think that we are smart enough to not do horrible things yet we still do. I rated it lower because it was not the childhood book I thought it was but it was fun nontheless (as an adult).

[melydia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For something written in 1735, the humor is surprisingly applicable to today's audience. It is the tale of Lemuel Gulliver's journeys to several distant lands and is rife with hilarious satire and biting wit. I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of English government. I was also amazed at how much influence on modern language it's had, from lilliputian to big-endian. There are so-called classics of which I don't understand the attribution, but this is one comedy that is sure to be timeless as long as there are human societies.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Swift is always great to pull out for prime examples of satire, and Gulliver's Travels is one of the best. It helps I read it and enjoyed it before we picked it apart it college. As with most, the Lilliputians were my favorite episode. A must read!

[stephenbarkley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the second half of the 17th century, Robert Hooke and Antony von Leeuwenhoek refined and used the microscope to view, for the first time, the microbiotic world around them. In a generation, people's conception of large and small shifted. "It is no exaggeration," says Henri Hitchins, "to say that without the development of microscopy Swift's book would not have been written" (376).Most of us know that Swift wrote a tale about a seafarer named Gulliver who washed up on a beach in Lilliput only to be pinned to the ground by little people. Some know that Gulliver's next voyage was to Brobdingnag where he encountered people as large from his perspective as he was to the Lilliputans. This is only half the book.In the second half he traveled to the floating island of Laputa where he met people who are so enraptured by philosophy and abstractions that they hire a "flappers" to attend to them on walks. The sole purpose of the flapper is to "gently to strike with his bladder the mouth of him who is to speak, and the right ear of him or them to whom the speaker addresses himself" (192). You could say the Laputans are so heavenly minded they're no earthly good.The final journey puts Gulliver in the land of the Houyhnhnms, a place where proto-humans have degenerated into disgusting "Yahoos" who are disdained by utterly rational (and virtually passionless) horses.If the microscope inspired the shift in optical perspective in Gulliver's first two journeys, it is a metaphor used to peer into the core of human nature during the second two trips. On the last journey, Gulliver's conversation with the Houyhnhnms reveal the depth of humanity's depravity—bordering on horror. He describes the reality of life in England in a richly ironic way that exposes dark truths about his society. Take his description of lawyers, for example:"I said there was a society of men among us bred up from their youth in the art of proving by words multiplied for the purpose that white is black and black is white, according as they are paid. To this society all the rest of the people are slaves" (304).While it's easy to spot the sarcasm in Swift's voice, I can't help but think that a better understanding of the history of 18th century England would help me to catch more of the specific references. Still, Gulliver's Travels, despite having been written three centuries ago, was quite a page-turner. This is no mere children's book!

[erica524 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gulliver’s Travels written by Jonathan Swift is definitely one of the most interesting yet adventurous books I have ever read. The main character, Gulliver, voyages to different places such as Lilliput, Brobdingnag, etc. Gulliver is just a normal character who enjoys and experiences many different adventures. Gulliver gets to be an enormous creature, a minuscule person, a genius among primitive beasts, and on a floating island. Here is just a brief description of the different parts of this book. In the first part of his journey, Gulliver is taken captive by Lilliputians on the land of Lilliput; he is considered a giant to the Lilliputians. This part is personally my favorite part because it is a very well-known tale to me and probably the most humorous, entertaining part of the whole book. In the second part of his journey, Gulliver lands on the land of Brobdinghag where the people are roughly twelve times bigger than Gulliver (everything in Brobdingnag is twelve times larger). The third part of the journey introduces the reader to the flying island of Laputa. In the last part of the book, Gulliver travels to the country of the Houyhnhnms (Houyhnhnms are horses who rule the country). Though this is a great book I suggest having a dictionary by your side when reading this book because the text can be very challenging and sometimes confusing. Swift’s creativity and imagination is quite remarkable in this novel and a one of a kind novel filled with a variety adventures. I recommended this book to readers who enjoy adventures, classic novels and literatures.

[evertrap · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one book that must be read at least twice. The first time to discover the purpose, and the second time to laugh all the way through.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The introduction to my edition claims that "Gulliver's Travels has held our attention for nearly three centuries because of its uncanny ability to be whatever we have wanted it to be: a political book, a children's book, a merry book, a mad book, satiric, ironic, parodic, perhaps a novel, perhaps not." The source material sure doesn't read like children's fare. Although I suppose small boys might very well adore the bathroom humor, I can't see them getting past the antique language with unending paragraphs, random capitalizations, archaic spellings and a wealth of political allusions needing footnotes to unravel. And after the first half, with Gulliver as giant to the Lilliputans and then a doll-sized figure among the giant Brobdingnags, these tall tales become both too erudite and too bitter for children. In the third part dealing with the flying island of Laputa, the political allegory becomes a lot more pointed. Gulliver's Travels reminds me of a blend of Alice in Wonderland and science fiction--using strange unknown lands and peoples to look at ourselves in fresh ways. It's often funny and wildly imaginative in its details, although other parts make for heavy reading with lots of dense, pedantic exposition. I wouldn't call Swift congenial company among classic writers. He said in a letter to Pope his purpose is "to vex the world rather than divert it." Swift also strikes me as a very conservative mindset, and I don't mean that in a simple political capital "C" contemporary sense. In fact in some ways he can be very forward looking for his period. He believed women should be educated the same as men and had the same intellectual potential. So the introduction and notes say, and you can see hints of that view in Gulliver's Travels and more explicitly in his "Letter to a Young Lady." But Swift is also deeply suspicious of innovation or the possibility of real progress. To change is to degenerate according to Swift, not improve. The derision leveled at the Academy in Part III and its junk science and absurdest art is particularly cutting--and still feels relevant. (Although that's nothing to the utterly scathing rant against lawyers in Part IV--and yes, a lot of its points are still relevant too.) Certainly his tale in the last part of the Yahoos (humanoid beasts) and Houyhnhnms (horse-shaped but noble and rational) is deeply biting about human nature. Given this is all told through Gulliver's first person narrative and the way Gulliver degenerates after living among the Houyhnhms I'm not certain which ways it cuts. Are the Houyhnhms really noble creatures against which humans are found wanting? Or are they a commentary about the dehumanizing effects of slavery and imperialism?I suppose I might be able to tell better by reading more of Swift. And I tried. The edition I have includes other writings by Swift, the most substantial of which is The Tale of the Tub. I'm afraid I found it far less engaging than Gulliver's Travels. Perhaps if I were a student of the period or a contemporary of Swift I might have found it much more relevant or amusing. But since I really couldn't care less whether Roman Catholicism, the Church of England, or "Dissenters" such as Baptists or Quakers constitute the "true" faith I admit I was soon so very, very bored--and grateful I wasn't forced to read this for school. The one other work of Swift beside Gulliver's Travels I would very much recommend to a general reader is his lacerating satiric essay "A Modest Proposal." I don't want to give too much away, but it's one of those very few essays, such as Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own," that you remember vividly once read even decades later.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

: Disturbing and times depressing book of insights into the frailties of the human character. Especially the last voyage to the Houyhnhnms and their counterparts the Yahoos. Yahoos are human creatures without any civilized qualities and the portrait is so accurate that at times I lost my faith in all human activity. Thinking that everything that we do has as root in our natural beings. Observing life the way people talk about each other when their not in the room, the envy, the laziness, the pride and at times open malice that I see, and oftentimes in myself. I wonder why a God would condescend to send his son to save us.

[maykram · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not really a review as such. I gave up in reading this book after 80 pages as i simply couldn't get into it. Yes i can see how it was a satire on politics at that time, but quite simpy it bored me.

[imperfectcj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Thus, gentle Reader, I have given thee a faithful History of my Travels for Sixteen Years, and above Seven Months; wherein I have not been so studious of Ornament as of Truth. I could perhaps like others have astonished thee with strange improbably Tales; but I rather 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."

This book took me a long time to read. I couldn't figure out why it was taking me so long until I started quoting sections to my sister and my spouse and on my blog and realized just how much translation English from this era requires. So, I let myself off the hook a little bit and just tried to enjoy my leisurely reading pace. I'm glad to have read this book, but I'll also be glad to move onto to something written in more contemporary language.

I admit, I think a fair amount of this book was lost on me. Throughout it I was unsure about whether the opinions Gulliver expressed were meant to be his alone or if they reflected Swift's opinions as well. For example, there's the very funny section in which Gulliver goes off about lawyers and judges. I found it absolutely hilarious and read it aloud to my sister (the attorney) over the phone one night. In retrospect, it may have been a little rude to read it to her. As an attorney, she's well aware of the variety of lawyer jokes out there; it was probably unnecessary to bring to her attention eighteenth-century lawyer jokes.

In addition, since I'm not intimately acquainted with the history of England during this (or, really, any) period, I couldn't really tell when he was making fun of the culture or political structure of the time and when he was just telling the story. I mean, in the first section, he goes into great detail about where and how he excretes among the diminutive Lilliputians and how astonished they are at his prodigious passage of urine. Are these scatological asides meant to tell the reader about Gulliver's character (like when he notes that his personal habits of cleanliness have often come into question and he's interested in setting the record straight), or are these descriptions themselves part of the satire? Are they spoofs of travel writing of the time? Being unfamiliar with either the culture or the travel-writing genre of eighteenth-century England, I couldn't say. Same thing with the rather sexual nature of some of his experiences among the giants of Brobdingnag.

However, even amid my confusion several bits struck me as quite funny. As a homeschooler I quite appreciated Gulliver's observation that, in Lilliput, "Parents are the last of all others to be trusted with the Education of their own Children." Even more amusing was the Lilliputians' reasoning for why parents are unqualified to educate their children: that a child's parents likely were fairly unintentional about bringing that child into being as their "Thoughts in the their Love-encounters were otherwise employed."

There are several sections that seem like a criticism of contemporary Western culture, including one of my favorite sections of Part III. Gulliver travels to the city of Lagado on the island of Balnibarbi where the people have embraced a thoroughly intellectual manner of problem-solving. New innovations will improve building, manufacture, agriculture, and every pursuit in which the city might engage. Among the benefits promised: “one Man shall do the Work of Ten; a Palace may be built in a Week…all the Fruits of the Earth shall come to Maturity at whatever Season we think fit to chuse, and increase an Hundred Fold more than they do at present.” Trouble is, these methods haven’t been perfected, and the people are suffering for it, going without adequate food and safe shelter as they wait for the innovations to catch up with their needs.

Rather than changing course, the people of Lagado persist: “Instead of being discouraged, they are Fifty Times more violently bent upon prosecuting their Schemes, driven equally on by Hope and Despair.”

I found it interesting that after both his visit to the giants in Brobdingnag and his visit to the rational Houyhnhnms, Gulliver ends up feeling an aversion to his own image in a mirror. In the first situation, the giants have developed a worldview in which a creature's worth is directly proportional to its size, so when Gulliver looks in the mirror, he's reminded of his own insignificance. In the second, he has developed such a positive opinion of the moral and honest Houyhnhnms (rational Horses) and so internalized their revulsion towards the Yahoos (the feral humans on that island) that he cannot stand to see the reminder that he is, in fact, a Yahoo and not a Houyhnhm. It's like Gulliver experiences a kind of Stockholm syndrome in every place he visits. I wonder if this is a comment on how people who are exposed to pretentious views can adopt them as their own and then do all they can to class themselves with their "betters" and distance themselves from their true nature.

Oh, and if you read Gulliver's Travels, I highly recommend going back after you're done and re-reading, "A Letter From Capt. Gulliver to His Cousin Simpson" that's at the beginning of the book. His comments about Yahoos and Houyhnhnms make a lot more sense---and are a lot more amusing---now that I've read the whole book.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this to be a difficult read. It is a satire of travel literature (the preeminent form of literature in the early 18th century, like the novel is today) which recounts impossibly fantastic stories in a matter-of-fact manner that are uncomfortably obviously untrue (like many of the travel stories it is satirizing). It takes a dark and negative view of human nature that is disturbing, and is a fundamentally pessimistic book told in a witty and humorous way. Probably among the sickest of children-literature if it is read as such, but it has created a mythology that is a part of western culture. As protest literature it is way ahead of its time about colonialism and the idea of European might makes right. As satire it is one of the best. Some of the concepts can be found in later literature: the Yahoo's are like the wild-humans on "Planet of the Apes". Many of the fantasy ideas are very rich indeed. Overall - glad to be done with it! But if your going to read/write satire, it should be as biting and uncomfortable as this.

[mbach_20 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gulliver’s Travels is absolutely my favorite piece of literature of all time. I was required to read Gulliver’s Travels my senior year of high school and was one of the few people in my class that truly enjoyed Swift’s sense of satire and wit. The book has excellent footnotes for all of the obscure references that Swift makes and it places the content into the context for which it was written. Of the various versions I own of this classic this is my favorite.

[mikelancaster_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the most remarkable books in the English language. Swift dissects, shrinks, magnifies and distorts the world around him, and invites us along to witness the results through the eyes of Lemuel Gulliver, who -for deviation from planned routes- must rank among the world's unluckiest travellers. It is a great story, a great satire, and a book that rewards repeated readings.

[readafew · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

That was interesting. Just finished. I would say it was written for someone at with a middle school level of reading. Fun easy read. I think I was missing some important info regarding the countries being made fun of to really 'get it'. Swift enjoyed a little too much, the making up of strange names and words to emphasize the differences in the other lands and cultures the charactor 'visited'. One of the points that could be taken from it, are peoples problems and worries are all relative to their perspective.

[danajean_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was an okay book. I understand what Swift was trying to accomplish with his 4 different worlds--the lessons he was trying to teach--but I wasn't that engaged with the stories. There were some interesting bits of writing, but overall, just one of those classics I felt I needed to read to be a well-rounded person. Yes, I am much rounder now but it has nothing to do with this book.

[librarycatnip · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am doing work on masculinity with this book, but even with that interest in mind I did not particularly enjoy Gulliver.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I was on the road, observing the littleness of the houses, the trees, the cattle, and the people, I began to think myself in Lilliput. I was afraid of trampling on every traveller I met, and often called aloud to have them stand out of the way, so that I had like to have gotten one or two broken heads for my impertinence.(Gulliver on his return to England from Brobdingnag) The introduction by Gulliver's cousin is followed by a letter from Gulliver which makes him sound completely insane and obsessed by horses, and I started to doubt whether the journeys were a figment of his imagination. Gulliver becomes more and more neurotic each time he returns home, in marked contrast to how he copes with what should be far more stressful events while travelling. He takes shipwreck, mutiny and capture in his stride, and quickly becomes fluent in unknown languages, yet after his final journey he is unable to face talking to or touching his wife and children, and spends four hours a day or more in the stables talking to his horses.I don't think you have to have detailed knowledge of early 18th century history to get the satire. Religious quarrels, politicians, lawyers and egg-head scientists are good targets for satire in all ages. the stories have plenty of amusing moments, such as the Lilliputian queen's horror at Gulliver's method of extinguishing a fire in the palace, and her refusal ever to occupy that part of the building again, no matter how thoroughly they were cleaned. However, when I came across this description of Lilliputian handwriting, it made me wonder whether it was a satirical dig at something I hand;t picked up on or if the author had just put it in to tease a particular English lady who had trouble writing in a straight line: I shall say but little at present of their learning, which, for many ages, has flourished in all its branches among them: but their manner of writing is very peculiar, being neither from the left to the right, like the Europeans, nor from the right to the left, like the Arabians, nor from up to down, like the Chinese, but aslant, from one corner of the paper to the other, like ladies in England.

[yogiabb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been reading "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift on my Ipod Touch for the last several months during the odd moments of time like waiting in line. The book is a novel in four parts about the travels of Lemuel Gulliver to various parts of the world. The book was a real surprise for me. I had always thought of it as a children's book. The classic scene is Gulliver tied up by the Lilliputian's until they figure out that he doesn't mean to harm them.There is this vague sense that things are all great at the end. Wrong! The Lilliptutan's are a bunch of small minded people and Gulliver soon ends up in trouble. First he puts out a fire in the Queen's castle by urinating on it, drenching the Queen. That makes her mad. Second, he helps the Lilliputan's in their long standing war against the island of Blefusco but refuses to help make Blefusco totally subservient to Lilliput. He is sentenced to be blinded as punishment for this treason so he escapes.Next he winds up in the Kingdom of Brobdingnag where instead of being twelve times bigger than the inhabitants as he was in Lilliput,he is twelve times smaller. He is found by a farmer who displays him for money. Gulliver ends up in the royal court and then the story gets kind of kinky. He is used as a kind of a sexual plaything and is molested by the women of the court, including a sixteen your old girl. Gulliver writes about how disgusting the giant naked women are. This part was a hoot. I wouldn't read it as a bedtime story to your kids.Gulliver leaves Brobdingnag and has several other adventures. His final destination is the Country of the Houyhnhnm. The Houyhnhnm are a kind of a horse shaped beings. Their are human's there called Yahoo who are looked down upon by the Houyhnhnm as being base and menial and not good for much. The Houyhnhnm are very advanced and rational and listen with dismay as Gulliver tells them about Europe and how governments are run.Eventually Gulliver has to leave Houyhnhnm and return to England. At this point he has been transformed from the happy go lucky adventurer to a recluse, disgusted by all contact with humans, even with his wife, whom can hardly stand.The book is a great read. Swift is very imaginative and has a great writing style. I give it four stars out of five. It''s a classic. I'm going to miss it.Does anybody have a recommendation for another classic for me to read?

[chacochan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is about travels of Gulliver, the main character of this book. Gulliver traveled two strange place. One is the country where very small people live and the other is the country where very big people live. It is written that how Gulliver spend in each country meeting his match.This story is a rhal Gulliver's travels. The story that I have even heard was obviously nothing like this story. I think this is very interesting. The storyline is creative. When I read this book, I feel like being in this book and watch at Gulliver nearby!

[raselyem7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am doing work on masculinity with this book, but even with that interest in mind I did not particularly enjoy Gulliver.

[pratchettfan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Written about 300 years ago this story has aged very well and Gulliver's adventures are event today very entertaining. Gulliver's Travels was meant to mock the hordes of books about adventurous travels released at the time which often exaggerated the dangers faced and the belitteled the intellect of the natives encountered. And so Gulliver meets giants, tiny people, horses which rule over men and people living on a floating island. In addition to the entertainment value these episodes hold it is also very interesting to see how critical Jonathan Swift was of English society and values. This criticism is never voiced by the main character directly, but surface through the discussions Gulliver has with the people he meets.The Audiobook version published by Alcazar AudioWorks features a terrific Narrator which makes the story a joy to listen to.

[jontseng · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Brobdingnagian work of satire.

[mnicol_11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Written in 1727, a critique of our industrial policy in 2014: In these colleges the professors contrive new... tools for all trades and manufactures; whereby, as they undertake, one man shall do the work of ten; a palace may be built in a week, of materials so durable as to last for ever without repairing. .... The only inconvenience is, that none of these projects are yet brought to perfection; and in the mean time, the whole country lies miserably waste, the houses in ruins, and the people without food or clothes. By all which, instead of being discouraged, they are fifty times more violently bent upon prosecuting their schemes, driven equally on by hope and despair.

[stillatim · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writing is beautiful, the riffs on law, politics and general intellectual attitudes are hilarious, and the structure was great. The third part's a bit tough to get in to, but otherwise, first class. Easy to read, too.

[kaelirenee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sure,the story of the big man washed up on the shore surrounded by little people is a cute story we've all seen Mickey Mouse do. But reading this book as an adult was an eye-opener. Swift's tongue is firmly planted in his cheek through the whole book and this is a great one to read aloud.

[jaystew · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fictional novel about a man called Gulliver that gives up on his profession as a surgeon and travels the seas. Among his adventure Gulliver runs into some trouble as well as stumbling upon many shocking lands. Gulliver comes across tiny people, giants, naive scientists, and some talking horses. A fairly funny and entertaining read that is a good story and worth reading.