Old Books, New Readers discussion

Hi All,

The winner of the November 2022 BOTM is Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.


Here is the reading schedule for the book; the four parts are about 60-70- pages each, so one a week seems to work. I have the Penguin Clothbound Version, so the page numbers are from that one; I put them in for a rough guideline.


Week 1 Nov 1-7
Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput (p19-p76)

Week 2 Nov 8-14
Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag (p77-p140)

Week 3 Nov 15-21
Part III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan. (p141-p202)

Week 4 Nov 22-30
Part IV: A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms. (p203-p271)


Cheers,
Ian

I have just downloaded the book, looking forward to reading this one. I feel like a lot of people may have read this in school but I didn't.

Me too. Downloaded it last night. I had an abridged version when I was a kid, don't think I ever finished it. Looking forward to finally reading this!

I have not read this before either; i think when i was really small, a teacher might have read a kids version of some of it.

I loved this book. It is so much more than what people think of as the story of the Liliput. Swift was a satirist of his day so he disguised his feelings about war and poverty here as well.

I got my copy just now :) after a short ride by bus, bus driver listening to Handel’s Water Music classical music to library.

This is great, I was hoping for a satire; very much begins like a wondrously drunken masterpiece. I usually skip the intro on these classics by scholars & just read from the beginning…with Captain’s Gulliver’s Letter & then The Publisher’s Letter to the Reader :D

Jade wrote: "This is great, I was hoping for a satire; very much begins like a wondrously drunken masterpiece. I usually skip the intro on these classics by scholars & just read from the beginning…with Captain’..."

Yeah, i usually skip the introductions as well; they always seem to be like "...as we now know, Bruce Willis' character was dead the whole time and only the boy could see him..."

OMG Yes, I have had the same problem with introductions exactly (well almost) as you describe Ian! It has put me off them for life and I still don't understand why they do that.

I take it from the comments above that this one is safe to read so I shall also do so (just starting today) and hope for the best!

Glad you can relate with Intros…
Ahh I really don’t like this book! This man is too into going to the bathroom 😩 and the Capitalizations feels like narrator stressing every other word…Maybe it gets better…;(

The “March” I liked 😁, but I stopped reading the book now, put the book back away to library return…Maybe you have better enjoyment :)

Oh no! Sorry to hear that Jade, interesting to hear your thoughts nonetheless. I wonder if others feel the same way.

Ty :) Yes glad to hear others’ thoughts

How is everyone doing? I have just finished reading the first Part.

I am not loving this book, not hating it either thankfully. It is a bit hard going at times, I guess it is because it is quite old fashioned.

Part One down, I wonder what part 2 will bring.

Also you are right Jade, there is a lot of talk about going to the toilet!

I don't have loads of capitalizations as you describe either, does anyone else have this?

Ya not really getting into this either. Seems silly and not as thought provoking as I think it was intended at the time it was written. The prose is not of the quality I was hoping for. Like Sleepy Hollow it makes a better children's tale than an adult novel. Part 2 is a little better but ........we shall see.

I really admire you guys reading so far :D

Started earlier in the week! I do recall reading a summarized and illustrated version of Gulliver's Travels as a kid, and as of now (I am in p 25) I kind of like that one. The measurements gives me a bit of anxiety, just as how I feel when I study maths, and it is quite slow paced. Hopefully they will be able to describe the environment a whole lot more and the culture, although I appreciate the dialect.

Cheryl wrote: "How is everyone doing? I have just finished reading the first Part.

I am not loving this book, not hating it either thankfully. It is a bit hard going at times, I guess it is because it is quite o..."

I am halfway through part 2 and I feel the same; I don't love or hate it.

Such high praise! Haha!

I need to crack on with part two now.

So, I finished this and even though I get the overall point I feel it had many parts that were boring and unnecessary for the story. It did get better for me in the later half, and I am somewhat surprised that the most famous part was the Lilliputians. I feel the Houyhnhnms was a better story with a more to the point of the authors overall point of view on morals, humans, colonialism and the overall way we treat and interact with others unlike ourselves.

Thanks for the update Larry, I’m really struggling with this one, it’s just a bit dull. Such a shame as the story shouldn’t be, the author somehow makes it boring.

So I am very pleased to hear that it gets better! I will plough on!

I've just finished and wow that was hard work. Larry is right, it does get better, the last 2 lands were better than the first two but I can't say I enjoyed this read.

For a book that is considered humour, I am finding this a bit of a slog to get through. I started part 4, so I am hoping to finish this before my copy of Middlemarch shows up in the next few days.

It’s not exactly a light hearted humorous read is it! Well done Ian for not giving up, you’re so close now - you can do it!

Phew... I finally finished this today. I am happy to have read it, but it felt more like homework than entertainment.

I couldn't agree more with Larry, if the book is supposed to be a critique of modern (1700's) humanity, then Part 4 with the Houyhnhnms probably illustrated this the best.

I agree with the both of you. I don't think the the first part really brought much to the story in fact.

This is the first book I have read with this group where it did indeed feel like homework. It won't put me off reading more classics with you lot though!