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Most Helpful Favorable Review
9 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Beyond Lilliput
Forget the cartoon versions of the Lilliputians and read the original. This collection of adventures from four voyages (Lilliput is only the first voyage.) builds in satire and its cutting edge right through the fourth voyage. Although written in such a different time, ...Read More
Forget the cartoon versions of the Lilliputians and read the original. This collection of adventures from four voyages (Lilliput is only the first voyage.) builds in satire and its cutting edge right through the fourth voyage. Although written in such a different time, the book remains biting in wit and thought provoking. A most read for those interested in custom and culture, power and authority, and politics and economics in a shrinking world.Show Less
posted by AnnieBM on January 8, 2011
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36 out of 45 people found this review helpful.
Not the complete ebook
FYI, this free Google download is only Volume 2 of 2. Even though it looks like you will be getting the full book, this ebook is only the second half.
posted by eurekatpt on February 21, 2010
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eurekatpt
Posted February 21, 2010
Not the complete ebook
FYI, this free Google download is only Volume 2 of 2. Even though it looks like you will be getting the full book, this ebook is only the second half.
36 out of 45 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 25, 2010
Poor;y scanned and OCR rendition
Too many scanning and OCR errors to read -- avoid the frustration
12 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
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Beyond Lilliput
Forget the cartoon versions of the Lilliputians and read the original. This collection of adventures from four voyages (Lilliput is only the first voyage.) builds in satire and its cutting edge right through the fourth voyage. Although written in such a different time, the book remains biting in wit and thought provoking. A most read for those interested in custom and culture, power and authority, and politics and economics in a shrinking world.
9 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted July 12, 2006
Great
This is a geat classic story. Yes, some of the satire is lost to us now, but it makes wonderful statements about humanity that are still pertinent today. Truly wonderful!
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted June 1, 2004
Brilliantly bringing humanity down to size
A work of incredible genius. Every section provides new insight into human folly and idiocy- and whether one is a Houhnymn or a Yahoo, Big -Ender or Little-Ender one must delight at the human capacity to bring the human down to its proper size. The brilliance of Swift is evident everywhere most poignantly perhaps in those creatures who go on living forever while continuing to physically and mentally age- perhaps modern medicine should have read this section. A remarkable work but not especially for those who love mankind and wish to be optimistic about human life.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 25, 2011
I love it!!!!!!!!!
This book is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 25, 2011
Good movie!
This is different than the movie but it is way better! I rate it five out of five!
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Stories for Children 5 Star Review
On the eve of a new movie release based on Gulliver's Travels I was asked to review the book being re-released to coincide with the new Jack Black movie. I accepted the challenge fully expecting to receive a modernized, cannibalized carcass of the original work. When the book arrived, I was surprised and delighted to see it's the entire work in its original form. However, now I had a dilemma on my hands: What does one say about a true classic masterwork that has survived for centuries? As I began re-reading the book I hadn't read in better than thirty years, I was still in a quandary as to what this usually less than humble reviewer could say about a brilliant masterwork that hadn't been said hundreds of times before. The fact is, I can't improve on what was said before, but I could remind people of the enjoyment such a book can bring to the reader. In this soundbite world, I imagine few have read and enjoyed the original work. Avid readers know what the rest of the world seems to have forgotten, the pure joy of a brilliant masterwork. Granted, I have enjoyed the many previous movies based on Gulliver's Travels and fully expect to enjoy the new Jack Black movie, but having been on movie sets, and in the cutting room, I know that a movie can rarely do a complete novel justice, unless they want to make a movie six to eight hours long. For time reasons, it simply isn't possible to include everything in a movie that's in a book. I urge everyone that enjoys a great story to both get and enjoy the book version of Gulliver's Travels, and go see the movie, but not necessarily in that order. Enjoy the book for the literary masterwork it is, and the movie for the comedic genius that is Mr. Black.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 26, 2011
Very nice
Kids will like this book to read. It is a very funny book. I just got it and it is awsome! This is a good book for young alduts and senor citizons.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted October 23, 2003
A JOB WELL DONE
This review is not for this particular title (Gulliver's Travels), but rather Barnes and Noble's creation of this series of books (Barnes & Noble Classics). I just wanted to praise this new series because it provides authentication to the original texts, insights from new and better authors, and it is surprisingly cheaper. Whatever you do, B&N, don't stop with this series, but expand it for it is a job well done.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted September 7, 2003
An Unforgettable Journey
The first time I read this novel was in high school. he story at face value can be viewed as a children's story, yet for me Swift's story dug deep and opened my eyes to a world beyond my own, and taught me to search for a sort of utopia, only one that resides within our world. Since reading Gulliver's Travel, I have gone on to college, and is now a graduate student in English Literature.I have in that period probably recommended this novel to everyone I've ever met interested in reading. It changed my life in ways I can't understand fully, but the heart and soul of Gulliver lives in me now, taking me through journeys one can only dream of.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted March 14, 2012
Bookworm
Love this book! Own all four volumes. Read it sometime, it's really good. Oh, and don't mind if it's political. It mentions a lot of political stuff because Jonathan Swift (the author) was very political himself. He, in fact, wrote this story for political reasons. Just letting you know that. Oh! And Lilliput isn't as nice as they put it in the movies. The giants from Brobdingnag are better and also the Houyhynhyms from volume four.
Well, enjoy this book!1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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12Miler
Posted January 28, 2012
Classic Satire on Human Folly and Intrigue
Thought-provoking and still relevant to the political follies of modern times, if you look past the veneer of the entertaining story. It has probably been 40 years since I read this in high school, and wanted to re-read it following a visit to Ireland. The story is based on 4 fantasy voyages to different isolated areas of the globe, outside the known geography of the time it was written, 1726 - it would be set in modern times as different planets, like Star Trek episodes. The allegories and satire appear to elude many of those who are writing 2 line reviews of this story, like -- boring, too many pages, archaic. Those reviewers must be products of the dumbed-down education rubric of today, looking at the story at face value simply for entertainment without trying to understand the author's intent or interest in the story behind the story. Most people are acquainted with the Lilliputians, the tiny people, but are unfamiliar with the rest of the book. Having recently read a novel based on the writings of Roger Williams in the 1600's, this book was highly influenced by the political events of the English Civil War and that of the Protestant/Anglican in-fighting represented by the Big-Endians and Little-Endians, fighting battles over which end to crack open an egg . Some things seem astonishingly prescient that conditions have changed very little in nearly 400 years, such as the Royal Academy scientists of Laputa spending years of research to extract sunshine from cucumbers, or mixing paint by smell, compared to the grant-writing researchers of today, like shrimp on a treadmill. The fourth voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms described a utopian society, where the dignity and intelligence of the horse-like creatures ruled, without lying or guile, and the inferior human-like Yahoos describes the unfortunate lot of those living in modern society, infested with imperfections, disease, crime, greed, and envy. Remarkable insights can be taken, particularly in this edition, with linked footnotes, an interactive glossary for the archaic terms (there were a few that got missed), and the extras about the various films that have been made over the years. An excellent commentary to be shared and discussed.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted January 27, 2012
Terrific movie
Awesome movie
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 30, 2011
Cool
The book is amazing and the original movie is tied well not like that jack black BS
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 28, 2011
I loved both movie and book
I am 11 and i liked it recomend this book for all great readers
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted November 24, 2011
Great
One of the besr books i have read
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted November 21, 2011
Idk
I personally havent read all of this book but ive gotten into it and am glad its free considering i spent my money on the nook. But the reviews with real words helped.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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DollyMN
Posted October 6, 2011
Must Read
I read this book 40 years ago and pick it up to read on my Nook because it was free, I am glad I did. Loved it better this time now that I am older and know about great writting.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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mr_mountain_lion
Posted March 3, 2011
MUST READ!
Gulliver's Travels is a satirical novel written by Jonathan Swift that was first published in 1726. Gulliver's Travels is divided into four parts: A Voyage to Lilliput and Blefuscu, A Voyage to Laputa, A Voyage to Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan, and finally A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms.
Before reading Gulliver's Travels I knew of the Voyage to Lilliput and the Voyage to Brobdingnag; Lilliput is the home of the tiny people and Brobdingnag the home of the giant people. However I was not aware of the last two voyages; the Voyage to Laputa and the Voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms. Laputa is a land ruled by philosophers, musicians, artists, mathematicians, and scientists who are so lost in thought they can't see how to apply their knowledge to a practical use. In the Country of the Houyhnhnms, the land is ruled by wise and gentle horses and inhabited by wild, beastly human-like creatures called Yahoos.
Jonathan Swift satirizes social issues that were important in his time, and still remain important social issues currently such as: politics, religion, gender, science, progress, government, family and our basic ideas of humanity.
Gulliver's Travels is full of humor and Swift's exploration of imaginary societies and countries is satire at its best.
Overall, I give Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels a well deserved five stars.1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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