Gulliver's Travels
Author: Jonathan Swift
Year of publication: 1726
Plot summary: Gulliver, a ship surgeon living in the early 18th century, recollects his many experiences from his visits to the lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and the land of the Houyhnhnms.
Swift's style of writing is typical of his time; he describes only the necessary, and these descriptions are technical in their nature. Actions are told; but beyond that, Swift is brief and to the point, and Gulliver is a man of reason rather than emotion, as was the ideal at the time. My understanding of Swift's satiric metaphors is very uneven throughout the story. When travelling to Lilliput, he is mostly concerned with the politics of the royal court of his time, a subject of which my knowledge is very limited. In later chapters, however, he discourses the behaviour of ma kind in general, of lawyers, and of all our "vices". These passages could just as well describe circumstances in our society today, and I find myself smiling cynically in recognition of the many hilarious, stupid and sometimes dangerous things we do, while calling ourselves rational creatures. When choosing certain parts, this is as topical today as it was the day it was published.
Year of publication: 1726
Plot summary: Gulliver, a ship surgeon living in the early 18th century, recollects his many experiences from his visits to the lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and the land of the Houyhnhnms.
Swift's style of writing is typical of his time; he describes only the necessary, and these descriptions are technical in their nature. Actions are told; but beyond that, Swift is brief and to the point, and Gulliver is a man of reason rather than emotion, as was the ideal at the time. My understanding of Swift's satiric metaphors is very uneven throughout the story. When travelling to Lilliput, he is mostly concerned with the politics of the royal court of his time, a subject of which my knowledge is very limited. In later chapters, however, he discourses the behaviour of ma kind in general, of lawyers, and of all our "vices". These passages could just as well describe circumstances in our society today, and I find myself smiling cynically in recognition of the many hilarious, stupid and sometimes dangerous things we do, while calling ourselves rational creatures. When choosing certain parts, this is as topical today as it was the day it was published.
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