Jonathan Swift's satirical novel was first published in 1726, yet it is still valid today. Gulliver's Travels describes the four fantastic voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a kindly ship's surgeon.Swift portrays him as an observer, a reporter, and a victim of circumstance.

His travels take him to Lilliput where he is a giant observing tiny people. In Brobdingnag, the tables are reversed and he is the tiny person in a land of giants where he is exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. The flying island of Laputa is the scene of his next voyage. The people plan and plot as their country lies in ruins. It is a world of illusion and distorted values. The fourth and final voyage takes him to the home of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses who rule the land. He also encounters Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who resemble humans.

* * * *

I'm currently reading Gulliver's Travels for my English class, and i have to say, what a very interesting book. I wasn't a huge fan of classic books, but this book so far has surprised me. I like how the author wrote the book to where you just can't put the book down.

* * * *

In each adventure I felt that Swift did a good job expressing how whether you are tall or short, ugly or good looking, you have something to offer the world wherever you are.

In the land where Gulliver "became" a giant he helped steal another island's ships and he also helped by urinating on the emperor's castle to put out the fire that was burning the castle up. Also in the land where Gulliver was tiny, he had something to offer. At first he was considered "worthless", but then most people discovered that he was a good source of entetainment ... Gulliver could ride around on a little boat to every lady's delight. He was so entertaining, Gulliver was even taken to the palace of giants.

* * * *

I haven't read this book since I read it as a child, and it was amazing how much of it had stuck with me, and how vividly. There were sections (particularly in Brobdingnag) where I could almost recite word-for-word what was going to happen next.

Happily, like Alice in Wonderland, this is a book that ages very well. There was still the element of being just a plain old good travel story with strong images (particularly in the Lilliput and Brobdingnag sections) but there was also a wicked sense of satire that continues to be relevant and funny now more than three hundred years after the book was originally written.

The latter two sections of the book-- Laputa and the land of the Houyhnhnms-- are perhaps a little less vivid for being more pointed in their satirical content (interestingly I have no memory of these sections from my childhood reading) but that in no way detracts from the value of the book.

A must-read.

* * * *

Gulliver's Travels are broken up into four parts. The first two parts are the most famous, where Gulliver visits a land in which he is a giant and another in which it is filled with giants.

The next two parts however I found to be excellent. Several authors have expounded upon these stories or have continued them in one form of another of them. It is good to finally find the source of such great insight.

The final part about humans being nothing but Yahoos, and inferior to Horses is brilliant. A reversal of roles with other animals to give us a new perspective of ourselves.