I went into this knowing that there were going to be societies made up of tiny and giant people, but it was the houyhnhnms that I enjoyed reading about the most. When Gulliver attempts to describe Western civilization they are genuinely bewildered and it is adorable. But the other three sections of this book... yeesh. Two stars is unfair for this clever satirical travel guide, but it more reflects my lack of enjoyment in the actual act of reading. I'm always down for a roast of humankind, but much preferred the sentiment of the ideas rather than the execution. ( )

I'm not so sure this one has stood the test of time and translates well into our "now", but I read it. ( )

Ok, now I can mostly claim that I read it. I read the Townsend Library edition, a simplified Literacy Reader ,ISBN 1591940214. Still for adults, still rich and complex, not for children, not censored, inclusive of rich back matter... but shorter, and, I can safely assume, missing some material that other readers deem valuable.

But I got through it! I know of his three voyages! I got some interesting ideas about the satirical aspects, and was charmed by some of the adventurous details!

Below I will quote passages I liked. But remember that these are not likely to be nearly exact to what Swift wrote in the original; instead, consider them as 'translations' of a sort:

In Lilliput, Lady Justice is "better prepared than to punish." And the people there "believe that a mistake committed in ignorance by someone with good intentions never does as much damage as what a corrupt man does on purpose" and select their civil servants and political leaders accordingly.

As an aside, Gulliver declaims: "So many authors [of travelogues] do not bother with the truth. They write whatever they imagine will entertain ignorant readers. My story, I insisted, would not...."

To the Horse master he admits "'Government ministers never experience joy and grief, love and hatred, or pity and anger. The only emotion they ever feel is a violent desire for wealth, power, and titles....'"

The Horse notes: "half of England's natives are only good for bringing children into the world. Trusting the care of children to such useless animals... was a tragedy."

"Every word spoken between the Houyhnhnms was educational for me. Every conversation I overheard meant a chance to learn something that would make me a better man. ... Houyhnhnms believe that short silences improve conversation.... During these little pauses, the participants would develop new ideas."

Gulliver was hesitant to help locate the lands he visited. "The natives are driven out or destroyed. Their leaders are tortured to reveal the location of their gold. The occupiers have free license to commit acts of inhumanity and lust. The earth reeks with the blood of its inhabitants. And we claim that these butchers are involved in a holy undertaking, to convert and civilize a pagan, cruel people!"
(Note this book published 1726. Europeans had been doing this to Natives in the Americas since at least 1492. And, even more tragically, 'Americans' would continue to do it for a couple more centuries, not fully atoning or even halting even now. Certainly he who said "give me Liberty or Give Me Death" could have read this book and learned from it. And so could Laura Ingalls Wilder and her father (and herself, and her daughter Rose).

(Note too that Swift was probably familiar with [b:The Tempest|73008|The Tempest (Signet Classics)|William Shakespeare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1626133104l/73008._SY75_.jpg|1359590], written a century earlier, with its shipwreck, Ariel, Caliban, and the line "O Brave new world that has such people in it." Englishmen, and all humans, are slow learners.)
Speaking of slow learners, Gulliver compares Englishmen to the Yahoos, the almost-human brutes of the Horses' world. As the adapter of this edition, [a:David Kleiner|6150652|David Kleiner|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], points out, humans' "refusal to use their ability to reason makes them worse than the Yahoos."

Kleiner also points out that the Houyhnhnms lives are boring. And also that Swift didn't settle on any specific recommendations for a particular philosophy, how to run human societies, what kind of government to adopt (I wonder what he would have thought of the young United States' democracy). Kleiner says: "Perhaps we need, instead, to rely more on the very thing the Houyhnhnms lack: our ability to feel joy, love, and compassion for others."

I am delighted to have discovered Literacy Readers. So far I know about the lines from Gemma Open Door and from Townsend Press. I will look for more in my libraries from both, see if I can find even more, and recommend them widely.

Especially for those of us who really want to catch up some classics!

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Finally made a good faith effort, but it would have been better if I'd tried when I was younger and more clever & patient. Might work as a buddy, classroom, or group read if we were all ready to discuss everything with care, such as justice in L. being as much (or more) about rewards as about punishment.

July 2023 ( )

Book 286 - Jonathan Swift - Gulliver’s Travels

Way back to the early 1700s for my next adventure into the classics as we travel with Lemuel Gulliver to such a varied and wondrous disparate set of lands. The most surprising part of this tome was my genuine question as to what the world thought of this ‘almost’ diary of special events at the time. It reads as real but fantastical events…never a children’s novel, which also shocked me, but not as shocking as some of the soft porn scenes..especially in the giant land of Brobdingnag…but I get ahead of myself.

With both visits to Lilliput and Brobdingnag we find familiar but different tales…emphasising size and language as barriers to communication…but in both we come across such honesty…loyalty and patriotism that it is startling in such a novel from nearly 300 years ago. The relationships he builds with the little people and the the giants are truly touching and although he is always looking for a way home, I was genuinely sad at the ending of each story…the former as an escape from danger whilst the latter as an escape into it.

My only complaint about the first two is the almost scientific detail he goes in to means the stories do drag.

The third set of adventures takes our adventurer to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan. Unfortunately we begin to see why these journeys are usually left out of any retelling of Gulliver’s adventures.

Some of the descriptions of how they treat each other and how others carry out their scientific experiments are simply gross…I mean…properly gross…disgusting and tales I never wish I had read. Just…no…definitely…no

As an intellectual novelty…an historical document, it has its moments…as a series of stories to share and enjoy…never. ( )

Nearly 300 years ago this book was published - gosh! Small and Big (Parts I and II) I found pretty easy reading but some of Part III was hard-going; Part IV, about 'the Country of the Houyhnhnms' was hard-going in part but I am glad I kept reading and finished the whole book! Advice as to how to pronounce Houyhnhnms would have been helpful and I allowed myself to call it Horseland. Good to read, even in later life, a classic of English literature. ( )