Gulliver's Travels

A Giant Fairy Story

by Jonathan Swift

Penguin Classics presents Jonathan Swift's inventive classic, Gulliver's Travels, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Hugh Laurie, star of the hit TV series House.

'Fifteen hundred of the Emperor's largest horses, each about four inches and an half high, were employed to draw me towards the Metropolis, which, as I said, was half a Mile distant'

A savage and hilarious satire, Gulliver's Travels sees Lemuel Gulliver shipwrecked and adrift, subject to bizarre and unnerving encounters with, among others, quarrelling Lilliputians, philosophising horses and the brutish Yahoo tribe, that change his view of humanity - and himself - for ever. Swift's classic of 1726 portrays mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified and finally bestial species, presenting us with a comical yet uncompromising reflection of ourselves.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, School, Fantasy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

Reviews

[Philip Reari]

If you thought Gulliver only ended up on an island with mini people, think again. This guy can't stop shipwrecking into strange lands. Much of the parody that might have proven entertaining in this book has been lost over time and so the conceit eventually wears thin, but it's full of fun and funny ideas.

[Hamta]

وقتی شروعش کردم مطمئن نبودم قراره تمومش کنم یا نه ولی نویسنده کارش رو درست انجام داده بود، از بیان و لحن زیرپوستی نویسنده برای انتقاد و بیان شرایط خیلی لذت بردم فصل چهار با اختلاف عمیق ترین و مورد پسندترین فصل کتاب واسم بود و واقعا درک میکردم نویسنده رو که دیگه نخواد برگرده به خونه و اهالی اون منطقه رو ترجیح بده...

[Leanne]

Got the ick when he said that 12 was a good age for girls to get married

[John R]

First read in 1975.

[Rose]

Kitap, ana karakterimiz Gulliver'in deniz yolculukları sırasında başına gelen sıra dışı olayları ve uğradığı tuhaf ülkeleri anlatıyor. İlk bölümlerdeki "Cüceler" ve "Devler" ülkelerindeki maceralar, yazarın hayal gücüyle birleşince okuması gerçekten çok keyifli bir hal alıyor. Özellikle dördüncü bölümdeki "Tekboynuzlar Ülkesine Yolculuk" kısmı, yazarın insanlığa bakış açısını iyice netleştiriyor.
Anlatım dili son derece sade ve akıcı olduğu için 344 sayfa kolayca geçti. Uzun sürede bitirmemin sebebi aynı anda başka kitaplar da okumamdı. Kitap boyunca karşılaştığımız farklı toplum yapıları insanı düşünmeye itiyor. İnsanların hırslarını ve toplumun hatalarını bu kadar basit ama etkileyici bir dille eleştirmesi çok hoşuma gitti. Çok küçükken kısa versiyonunu okuduğum bu kitabı elime aldığımda, başta basit bir macera romanı okuyacağımı düşünmüştüm ama olaylar beklediğimden çok daha derinmiş. Ya da ben şu an büyüdüğüm için bu şekilde algılıyorum. Bilmiyorum.

Hikayenin ilerleyişi insanı merak içinde tutuyor ve kolayca okunuyor. Herkese şimdiden keyifli okumalar.

[nanni]

read for gwf, enjoyed it

really liked the physical representation of him looking down on the liliputians, up at the brobdingnags, and on equal grounds with the houyhnhnms, but still being considers more like the lesser yahoo that he strives to become like the houyhnhnms.

he has no spine, no will of his own, susceptible to each place he visits, their ways and methods, molding and shaping him each way he was pulled. the age of enlightenment was well on its way, but the author had long before lost and isolated himself. his knowledge and experience was no longer able to contribute to the reason and absolute truth he so craves.

[Foysal Ferdous]

Quinbus Flestrin!

[Joey Musselman]

Fun book

[Camron]

I was honestly baffled by how much I enjoyed this especially the end. The middle gets quite repetitive but it pays off and wraps itself up nicely as an incredible satirical work.

[Naomi]

die Aussprache habe ich auch in meinem Kopf nicht hinbekommen, aber ich mochte sehr, dass die Kapitel pro Reise waren und so hatte man gute Breaks

[Isaac Parkinson]

War, huh, what is it good for ?

[Joseph Leone]

This one did not hold my interest. I could not finish it. I found it boring and drudgery to get through the part I actually did get through.

[Sean Mccafferty]

I picked up this book as a week in betwixt the finish of one and the beginning of another. I thought this would be a lighthearted, reexplore of childhood for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and intricate writing of Swift. Swift playfully engages readers with his discussion of smallness and largeness yet ventures far deeper into philosophy, politics and more. This book gave me pause many times. Each time, Swift questioned my own beliefs in humanity and my own interplay with those around me.

I highly recommend the read.

[Robert Nelson]

Johnathan Swift has a great imagination, and makes use of social satire in his conjurings of other people in other lands. With that said, I found the boom to be about 100 pages longer than needed, and seems to "jump the shark" a couple of times.

[Meliah Ross]

Meh 🫤 I prefer the movie

[Jennifer]

L & I read this book to Andrew. It was full of crazy adventures in made up places.