Gullivers Travels (Penguin Classics) by Jonathan Swift - WOW (sorry, but I don't know what to say)

Shipwrecked castaway Lemuel Gullivers encounters with the petty, diminutive Lilliputians, the crude giants of Brobdingnag, the abstracted scientists of Laputa, the philosophical Houyhnhnms, and the brutish Yahoos give him new, bitter insights into human behavior. Swifts fantastic and subversive book remains supremely relevant in our own age of distortion, hypocrisy, and irony.

Edited with an Introduction by Robert DeMaria, Jr.

WOW (sorry, but I don't know what to say)
Wow, the title really explains everything. My definition of a great book is one that has a thrilling storyline and still carries great symbolism. This book hits a home-run on each one of these. At the beginning of the book, Swift really lays out the story and there is little symbolism, but he picks up very quickly and just keeps on running.


In the beginning, Swift focuses on the story of Gulliver and his travels, while interjecting little tidbits of "truth" through the text. However, as the story progresses, Swift drops the storyline more and more to interject his own philosophical thoughts. By the end of the book, he has basically droped the entire plot and the last 50 pages are a full on rant against the British, civilization, and humanity in general. As I was reading my face was probably contorted into some hideous mixture that compiled hilarity and serious contemplation, but that is what Swift brings to the table.


On one side, you really want to laugh as he questions our political system and the corruption that it breeds. He says that lawyers are born into corruption and their only ability is in deceiving the public. Then he points out that our judges, (those who deal justice), are just lawyers who have lasted thirty years in their horrific system. The prose of this entire transaction is excellent, and by the end you find yourself laughing and nodding along at the same time.


On the other side, he challenges the very technological advancements that we consider to be humanities crowing achievements, and as he points out the death and catastrophe that was produced by this "progress", there is a feeling of sadness that is overwhelming. It is really indescribable, but probably one of the most truthful passages ever to be written.


If you consider yourself any type of classical literate, this should be one of the top on your list.

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