Brain Pain discussion

Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan, p. 141 – 201

Easily led astray by sea captains and the call of adventure, Gulliver signs on for travel to the East Indies. While on a side-journey Gulliver’s ship is boarded and a merciful heathen and a demented Dutchman set him adrift in a canoe. He finds a desolate island, and then he looks up…

In the biggest break from reality yet, Gulliver is confronted by an isle in the sky (not to be confused with the ‘Isle of Skye’). Swift wastes no time going after intellectuals and their big ideas. The projects of the “Projectors” are quite hilarious.

I loved the section on the Projectors. Especially the satire of Politicians by curing political debate by cutting their heads open.

As i read this, i'm thinking that some things never change.

Mekki wrote: "As i read this, i'm thinking that some things never change."

Unfortunately, that's true. Human nature doesn't change much, whether you read Homer, Apuleius, Rabelais, or Swift, the same cast of characters continue to behave true to form as scoundrels!!

I was taught LaPuta, getting all its resources sucked through a tube, was a stand- in for Ireland, and From "A Modest Proposal" it seems Swift (a Protestant Dubliner) was not too sympathetic to the British point of view on "The Irish problem", which they had caused by invading in the 1690s, and confiscating all its lands, etc.

Also I believe the gentleman trying to extract sunshine from lemons were a parody on the Royal Society, which in those days had Sir Isaac Newton as a member.

To address the magical realism element of the story, however, this section of GT always reminded me a bit of the Beatles psychedelic period, of Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, etc., what with inhabitants whose eyes spin clockwise (or is it counter-clockwise?)