Reviews

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

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savaging's review against another edition

2.0

Maybe this book wound up on my reading list because I feel kinship with anyone who is going to suggest that horses are more interesting than humans.

And so I was so sad to see the Houyhnhnms have been 'purified' of all animal qualities. These horses are the worst. They find no pleasure in anything but the use of pure reason. Come on Houyhnhnms! Roll in the grass, whinny over some oats, gallop in the sunshine (and not just to win an organized race).

But they're in line with Swift's worldview, which is mostly filled with disgust. He hates bodies, especially women's bodies. He hates their smells, their sensations, their desires. So even though there is so much in this book that's wild and whimsical, even though he's pretty funny sometimes -- all-in-all Swift's a major killjoy.

gizadaemon's review against another edition

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3.0

I'd give this 3.5/5 because it was solidly entertaining, especially considering how old it is (by far the oldest book I've ever read), but there was a lot of time spent on things that just didn't interest me that much, and of course certain things really didn't age well with the author's perspective of non-Europeans which made me cringe a bit.

Got really sick of Gulliver at the end of the story though.

Spoiler

Apparently moral enlightenment and being instilled with virtue means becoming a massive dick to everyone that ever dared love you. I feel so bad for his wife and kids. I figure that was probably part of the joke, as a lot of the story is clearly ironic, but it still made the character hard to like.

cait_readsxox's review against another edition

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2.75

Debating between giving this a 2/3 star. The book started out interesting and the adventure aspect was fun but then it began to drag and was just boring… also very weird. My eyes started to glaze over at certain points because it was boring me. I will keep on my shelves cause it’s a classic but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it.

indy_q's review against another edition

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3.0

Unfortunately I do not have the historical knowledge to understand the satire and comedy of this novel. Despite this, I appreciate the narrative, social critiques and some of the irony and satire. Still can’t believe that people only focus on the first part (ie all the movies)

dariatomescu29's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5
good book honestly

half the time i was thinking :“what was this man smoking when he wrote this”
and the other half i was like: “damn….this is interesting”

were some parts slow? yes
was this book extremely dense? yes

but i enjoyed all the little islands in the end