Customer Reviews:
 **SPOILER ALERT** Truly the classic it is thought to be June 15, 2010
Matt Finizio (NJ, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Gulliver's Travels: my first book ever on the Kindle(tm). Well, first about the mechanics of it all. I know, based on some reviews I have read, some versions of stories are poorly formatted or the font is bad or unadjustable or what have you--thankfully none of those issues was present here. It was a joy to be able to glide through the pages, looking words up at the speed of thought, never losing my place, and not having to stare at a backlit display for a change.
None of this concerning Mr. Swift, though, who wrote this novel without even knowing of a typewriter or electricity. The book begins with Gulliver, an English gentleman of the early eighteenth century, talking of his love for travel at sea; I was beginning to feel as though I were reading Robinson Crusoe again. Things change quickly though as Gulliver lands on the land of Lilliput where the inhabitants are a mere half of a foot in height.
Here begins Swift's parody of human culture that continues throughout Mr. Gulliver's three other tours of duty in the novel. Swift takes a characteristic or two of human nature and satirizes it with each civilization Gulliver encounters. The Lilliputians allow him to poke fun at politics and underhandedness, with every cutting each other's throat to win the king's favor. The Brobdingnagians give note to mankind's frailty, with poor Gulliver fearing for his life at every turn while the giants around him tiptoe to assure his safety.
The third voyage lands Gulliver on an island in the middle of nowhere. He is rescued by the flying island of the Laputians, who are stuck with their heads in the clouds. I should say that Swift has a disdain for those who live lives in the stratosphere of philosophy and mathematics; the Laputians seem to be unable to function at all since their thoughts are always elsewhere.
The forth, final, and most important voyage made by the narrator is to the land of the Houyhnhnms. The Houyhnhnms are hyperevolved horses who live their lives and run their society by rational means only. In that land there, there is a race of humans called Yahoos who live like wild animals. Swift's uses these two species to dichotomize our conflicting natures: the Houyhnhnms are our cognitive, rational faculties--our divinity--, while the Yahoos are the basal, animal-like natural side of us. Neither of these two polar opposites can be reproved for being what it is. However, it is our rational and refined halves that we wish to see have the upper hand. Unable to reconcile these two, the narrator goes a bit mad, and when he returns to England, becomes reclusive.
I was thrilled with this book. Though I found some parts to be a bit slow-moving, the narrator dwelling in picayune details at times, the book truly is a work of art. This definitely opens the doors for Swift as an author to me.
Matt Finizio
[...]
Box off, Life on.
Nothing's Changed! June 12, 2010
Good H2O (AZ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The author's observations on human behavior and politics are as relevant today, as they were when he wrote this book. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Did the creators of "Yahoo" ever read the depiction of Yahoos in this book before they named their company? Hmmm.
Not what I remembered. February 16, 2010
Louie Louie (Saipan)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
All I remembered about Gulliver's Travels was the Golden Book or other children's versions of the story that I read when I was still a wee young thing. The real story is much more thought provoking, and the style is quite interesting. Swift writes about his travels to various countries where he encounters people and customs far different from what he is used to. Nevertheless, he writes from an objective viewpoint without discussing what is wrong or right about any of the cultures he visits.
The last place he visits is a country that is populated by extremely intelligent horses, who after hearing Gulliver's explanation of his own country and government, give their impressions of what is wrong with the English government and monarchy. Very tactful, but it makes the points he wants readers to understand. Many similar ideas to Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" come out in the horses' discussions.
A bit long. I thought it might be a bit childish at first. But it was well worth reading from cultural, political and historical points of view.
 Properly formatted, at least. May 28, 2009
T. Smith (Columbia, MO)
25 out of 38 found this review helpful
**This review pertains to this specific Kindle edition**
Well, this version is at least properly formatted, as opposed to one of the others, however it lacks a TOC and illustrations. 'Course, what do you expect for free, right?
Classic book, of course. Please see elsewhere for reviews of the writing.
|
