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?
Yogi – I read this book in college and don’t remember this story at all. Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating?
I have always understood Gulliver’s Travels to be political satire but I have never read it. And I didn’t realize that the Lilliputians were only 1 of 4 sections. I resolve to read it.
If you have never read Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur’s Court” you might give it a try.
I hadn’t a clue Gulliver’s Travels was so saucy – perhaps I should give it a try.
I’ve recently read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen but that’s probably too girly for you.
@Leeslass – I’ve read Jane Austen and will read some more of her. I don’t think she is girly at all.
I had that book as a kid and used to stare and stare at that picture of Gulliver tied down by all of the Lilliputians. For some reason, that picture fascinated me. Only read the story once. It wasn’t one I wanted to read over and over again like most of the others I read.
I think I might read this book again, I did the same with Alice in Wonderland, has a totally different message as an adult….
Try Little Fuzzy and The Other Human Race by H. Beam Piper. All his books are now free on e-book at Amazon. Try some Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs if you’re wanting to do late 19th and early 20th century work.