Gulliver's Travels (Dover Thrift Editions) Unabridged Edition

by Jonathan Swift (Author)

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Fiction
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Jonathan Swift

20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873

An Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and 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).

Check out these titles by Jonathan Swift and more at www.doverpublications.com


Gulliver's Travels From the preeminent prose satirist in the English language, a great classic recounting the 4 remarkable journeys of ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver. For children it remains an enchanting fantasy; for adults, a witty parody of political life in Swift's time and a scathing send-up of manners and morals in 18th-century England. (Cat #:0486292738)	A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Non-fiction) Treasury of five shorter works by the author of Gulliver's Travels offers ample evidence of the great satirist's inspired lampoonery. In addition to the title pieces the following are also included The Battle of the Books, A Meditation Upon a Broom-Stick, A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit and The Abolishing of Christianity in England. (Cat #: 0486287599)	A Tale of a Tub Published in 1704, this prose satire by the author of Gulliver's Travels consists of a story of three brothers, each representing a Christian sect, and a series of digressions. The "tale" portion ridicules the conflicts between religious factions, and the digressions parody contemporary trends in literature, politics, and theology. Acerbic in style and exuberantly witty, A Tale of a Tub ranks among Swift's best allegories. (Cat #: 0486817520)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Regarded as the preeminent prose satirist in the English language, Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) intended this masterpiece, as he once wrote Alexander Pope, to "vex the world rather than divert it." Savagely ironic, it portrays man as foolish at best, and at worst, not much more than an ape.
The direct and unadorned narrative describes four remarkable journies of ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, among them, one to the land of Lilliput, where six-inch-high inhabitants bicker over trivialities; and another to Brobdingnag, a land where giants reduce man to insignificance.
Written with disarming simplicity and careful attention to detail, this classic is diverse in its appeal: for children, it remains an enchanting fantasy. For adults, it is a witty parody of political life in Swift's time and a scathing send-up of manners and morals in 18th-century England.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (September 18, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486292738
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486292731
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1150L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.21 x 5.16 x 0.59 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #30,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #98 in Literature
- #1,367 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #3,287 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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Kenya Starflight

Worth a look for the curious, but still a tedious read

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2019

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Reader be warned -- despite being adapted into various kids' books and movies over time, "Gulliver's Travels" is NOT a children's book. The concept may sound like a children's fairy tale, but Jonathan Swift intended this book to be a parody of the travel books of his time, as well as a scathing satire of British culture and government of the day. And to be honest... despite the imaginative concepts behind it, it's a very tedious book to plow through. It's worth a read at least once, to get the gist of the story and appreciate what Swift was trying to do, but overall it was a chore to read.

"Gulliver's Travels" follows Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon who has a passion for traveling the world. Through shipwrecks, pirate attacks, and other various misadventures, he finds himself in various strange locations all over the world -- an island populated by tiny people who see him as a giant, a land of giants who see him as a tiny person himself, a floating island of self-professed geniuses whose philosophies and inventions are nothing short of insane, a race of immortals who prove that immortality isn't all its cracked up to be, and a race of intelligent horses who view humans as abominable beasts. And along the way Gulliver has a chance to proclaim the might and supposed superiority of the British Empire... only for his claims to be laughed at and proven wrong along the way.

For those only familiar with "Gulliver's Travels" via children's adaptations or *sigh* the Jack Black film, this book will probably be something of a surprise. Most adaptations only show Gulliver's adventures in Lilliputa (though some will also depict his journey to the land of giants as well), and skip the last half of the book entirely. Your mileage may vary on whether this is a bad thing or not -- it does cut out some of Gulliver's more fantastic journeys, but also trims out some of the political satire and more outlandish misadventures. Still, the land of intelligent horses was interesting, and it's a shame it doesn't get more attention in adaptations.

The writing itself comes across as stilted and stuffy compared to modern-day writing, with a lot of archaic and now-obscure words and terms scattered throughout, so unless you read a lot of classics you'll probably have a hard time getting through the writing style. Beyond the writing style, the book can get boring and tedious to read, especially as Swift has no problems screeching the plot to a halt in order to have Gulliver monologue about his precious British Empire and his homeland's way of life and politics, so that other characters might point out the flaws for themselves or otherwise skewer his pride in his homeland. In its day it was probably a cutting-edge satire, meant to be a punch in the gut to its readers, but nowadays it can be frustrating to read.

That's not to say there's nothing of worth in this book. It's still a curiosity to read, and it's nice to get the full story of the book instead of a bloodless and heavily-edited children's adaptation. And it's interesting to compare it to its various adaptations. (Fun fact -- the scene in the Jack Black film adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels" where Gulliver puts out a fire by urinating on it? It wasn't just added for the sake of bathroom humor -- it's an actual scene from the original book!)

Worth a look as a curiosity, especially if you're only familiar with the story from a film or children's adaptation, or if you're interested in 18th-century literature and satire. It's not a book I'm sure I'll reread, however, and I found myself bored by it and skimming chunks where the author monologues about the problems of British society of the day. And parents should probably opt for an abridged adaptation for their kids -- something I don't always recommend, but do so for this book.

41 people found this helpful

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Don Quixote

For Yahoos of All Ages

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019

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[Note: the free Kindle edition, titled _Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Regions of the World_, includes only the first two parts of the four sections that make up Swift's book. In this review, however, I consider _Gulliver's Travels_ in its entirety, hence the five-star rating.]

When I was a child, growing up in Latin America, my parents would buy me a magazine that included the classics of world literature in simplified versions. There were at least two collections, and they include such works as _The Little Prince_, _The Iliad_, _The Jungle Book_, _Romeo and Juliet_, _Don Quixote_, _Robinson Crusoe_, _Around the World in 80 Days_, and of course, _Gulliver's Travels_. Swift wrote an acid satire on politics, reason, science, and humanity in general, yet his book metamorphosed into children's literature. Even this transformation attests to the greatness of _Gulliver's Travels_. In order for a book to transform itself that way, it has to be more than a simple artifact; this book is a living organism.

While _Robinson Crusoe_ (1719) can be described as a novel (some call it the first English novel), _Gulliver's Travels_ (1726) falls into a different category. The best way to describe Swift's book would be as a fake travel narrative. Swift, in other words, was playing with genre conventions the way postmodernists would, some 200 years later. _Gulliver's Travels_ can be filed--with some alterations--under Children's Literature because it is an adventure story, and because of its unforgettable images. This is what generally comes to mind when _Gulliver's Travels_ is mentioned: a race of minute beings, a race of gigantic beings, a flying island, rational horses. Yet this book features a good deal of scatological humor. Gulliver extinguishes a fire by urinating on it. In the flying island, a group of scientists try to find a way to turn feces back into food. There are also many instances of the grotesque, especially the description of breastfeeding in the second voyage.

_Gulliver's Travels_ is divided into four parts, each of which could be read independently. The most famous, and perhaps the most "harmless" is the first, the voyage to Lilliput, during which Gulliver meets a race of tiny people. This first voyage satirizes politics in Swift's time. For example: Gulliver is criticized by the creative way in which he extinguished the fire, and even though he had good intentions, he achieved a good result through a foul method. Gulliver is, in this particular case, Swift, writing biting satires in order to inspire change in his society. The second voyage takes our "hero" to Brobdingnag, where people are huge. It is all a matter of comparison: now, Gulliver is the Lilliputian. (Voltaire would write on the exact same theme, under the direct influence of Swift, his 1750 story _Micromégas_.) The third voyage was the last to be written, and it is, in my opinion, the most imaginative. A flying island sounds like a wonderful thing. This island is called Laputa, a name you're familiar with if you're a Miyazaki fan. If you know Spanish you'll laugh, and you're meant to. (In my children's edition of the book, by the way, the island's name was changed to Lupata, for obvious reasons.) Laputa is a satire on the Royal Society, which was dedicated to knowledge through science, following the Cartesian belief that knowledge should be objective and the product of reason. Laputa rules: since it is in the sky, it can fly over any potential rebellious region below and block the sun and rain. The third voyage also includes visits to other lands, such as Luggnagg, where Gulliver meets a race of immortals, and Glubbdubdrib, where the traveler can talk with ghosts.

The fourth and last section of the book requires a separate paragraph. This is the voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms, a word that appears impossible to pronounce until the reader is told that it is basically the neighing of a horse. Houyhnhnms are just that, horses, but these animals are pure reason. They show no emotions, and they have subjected a grotesque, nearly human race known as the Yahoos (Swift coined this term, incidentally). Gulliver loves the Houyhnhnms, and he cannot stand the fact that, to them, he is simply a more sophisticated type of Yahoo. This voyage is the one that has the deepest effect on Gulliver. His return to England, and the way it affects him after life among the Houyhnhnms, is perhaps the most pathetic episode in the book.

Swift has been labeled a misanthrope because of the view of humanity conveyed by _Gulliver's Travels_. The reader must remember, however, that the narrator of this book is not Swift, but Gulliver. In fact, Swift's works were published anonymously, as if the author wore a different mask each time he wrote one of his satires. Gulliver criticizes humanity, but he is even more worthy of criticism himself. Regarding Swift, he once wrote that he hated "that animal called man," but he loved individual human beings. This is not such an uncommon attitude. Other people feel the exact opposite. Many of us have heard the saying, "I love humanity, but people annoy the hell out of me." In any case, satire implies caring. If one didn't care about humanity and its institutions, one wouldn't bother to write about them. Behind the acerbic criticism lies a concern for what the satirist is criticizing, and a desire for improvement. Gulliver's Travels is one of the highlights in the immortal tradition that goes back to Petronius' _Satyricon_ and Apuleius' _Metamorphoses_, and which includes such varied works as Rabelais' _Gargantua and Pantagruel_ and William S. Burroughs' _Naked Lunch_.

If you are looking for a physical copy of the book, I recommend the one that belongs to the Ignatius Critical Editions series. The quality of the paper and the binding are excellent. I decided to get this edition because it includes the text of Gulliver's Travels with its original typography (Nouns are capitalized, some Words or Phrases are in Italics, though sometimes it is hard to figure out the Reason why), and footnotes. Since these editions are meant primarily for students, many of the footnotes clarify terms that I myself did not need clarified (“inimitable,” for instance), but others are helpful when it comes to background and symbolism. The book also includes six critical essays, and I liked the variety of these. I especially enjoyed the essays by Mitchell Kalpakgian ("Gulliver the Epic 'Hero' and 'Great' Travel Writer: A Modern Battles the Ancients") and Dutton Kearney ("The Man Who Is Not: Virtue, Politics, and Gulliver's Travels).

If _Robinson Crusoe_ is a realist novel, _Gulliver's Travels_ is a work of fantasy. Both are great traditions in English literature, and both of these books constitute early examples that have stood the test of time. Both works, furthermore, are highly moralizing, though the difference lies in the focus. Defoe's novel presents a positive example; Swift's book, several negative ones. In a sense, these works are two sides of the same coin. There is something for everyone in _Gulliver's Travels_. I don't hesitate to call it one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Some might say it is not a book for children, but I disagree. It is a book for children, but that is only one of the many things that it is.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!

21 people found this helpful

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Bluevoodu

Fun Read - Unabridged

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2019

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I'm glad there is a company keeping up the unabridged versions. For those looking for unabridged.. you probably know what that means. For others, it just means uncut or parts not removed. This is required in cases of book reports and projects... or those that want the full story.

The print is pretty small. This is not a complaint from me as it doesn't bother me. Just a heads up if you have trouble with smaller font / print.

Overall we are very happy with the book. It's a great price point... cover / pages are decent. I highly recommend to purchase for kids and adults to read through the classics at a great price and unabridged.

12 people found this helpful

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Bo

A true classic.

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2018

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This book might today be more remembered for the innumerable parodies of its early scene of Gulliver waking up, tied down on the beach by the tiny inhabitants of an unknown island, than it is for having actually been read. But this is a true classic, filled with witty humor and sharp satire on most aspects of then current European life, religion and politics. Which in all honesty haven’t changed much in the almost 300 years since the book was written.
The one thing that keeps it from a full five-star score is that at times, mainly in the second of the four journeys, it does feel a bit repetitive. The first and second journey having much in common with each other.

6 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

This is NOT a child's book

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2019

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I have always thought this a child's book, I was wrong....Reading this book, I got the feeling the author was cynical and masagenistic. I didn't enjoy this book and was put off enough that I read about the author himself. It turns out Mr Swift was sending a political message. The book reads so angrily and from my female point of view, felt the authors contempt for the female species. I do NOT recommend this book.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

M. Dowden

Lemuel Gulliver

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2018

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Jonathan Swift is still one of our best satirists, and that is quite something, seeing as he died in 1845, and was Irish. Here then we have this book, which has always remained popular and is part of our literary history. A masterpiece, and a success from day one this satirises not only people, but also pokes fun at the travel tales of the period.

Here then we have Lemuel Gulliver’s travels passed onto us by Mr Gulliver himself, who was of course known for his veracity, so then what is written here has to have actually happened, after all surely Lemuel would not provide us with falsehoods? Taking in his remarkable travels so we read of what he experiences amongst different races.

Taking in those little people of Lilliput so we then see him amongst the giants of Brobdingnag, and then onto pastures new, eventually meeting the Houyhnhnms. Originally just going to be a satire on traveller’s tales this grew into something much more elaborate, with a sharp and witty look at things as they were and are still so today. An anti-Whig tale this tackles many issues, after all with the people of Lilliput and the trouble over which end an egg should be cut when eating we see that this stems from a religious work, and thus religion and its many factions are here poked fun at. We also see misogyny and misanthropy treated in the same manner. With different races thinking they are better than others, or that their system of government is best we see this being comically looked at, raising the question of what government system is best, as well as can anyone really claim their race is better than others. Indeed, such problems are still with us, you just need to look at the persecutions in the Islamic world to see one faction having more power than another, and with government just look what has happened with Brexit, in that no one really knows how to leave the EU. Also this takes in vast bureaucracy, something which we are all familiar with, with so much red-tape.

In this country this nowadays seems to have been relegated by many to a children’s book, and of course no doubt it does entertain all ages but perhaps more adults should read this, after all what Swift mocks here are things that still cause us problems in the real world today, and have not really been dealt with at all, or rather poorly. In all this is very funny and mentally stimulating and will carry on being a classic, and one that for the real reader will offer much to contemplate.

12 people found this helpful

WorcesterBlue

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2019

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I read this book in a conscious effort to read more of the classics. There were parts of this book that were very interesting but the enjoyment for me was spoilt by the flowery ramblings of Swift. The book became a tedious read and I was very close to giving up on several occasions. I accept that this book was written nearly 300 years ago and the style is naturally dated but generally I found the book slow and bland. Never mind there are lots more classics to read and I am sure that I will read lots of great reads and unfortunately the odd bad one.

5 people found this helpful

Country Girl

Absolute disaster. This review relates to ASIN : B093ZP1P15, picture of Gulliver on cover.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2021

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These comments relate to the Kindle version with picture of Gulliver on cover. I have not read any other Kindle versions and cannot say whether others have the same issues. Firstly, this is an abridged version and does not start with letters from Gulliver, but jumps straight into story. In the first chapter there are ridiculous errors. Immediately, it refers to Lilliput as being in the USA (that arrangement did not exist in the time of Queen Anne and certainly not in Jonathan Swift's mind!) It then refers to "forty kilos" and "thirty kilos". In Swift's book, these are mentions of £40 and £30, i.e. pounds sterling, not pounds weight. It shortly goes on to refer to a "page(boy)" as a "web page". At that point I gave up.

One person found this helpful

Connor Lynch

Charming, But Dated

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2019

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The adventures of the narrator are still pretty clever and interesting even today, and gives some refreshing perspective on human nature and society. That being said, some of his concerns and viewpoints are pretty outdated and colonial, and despite the overall brevity some sections of the book drag terribly, especially his strange fascination with complicated spatial descriptions. Overall, though, if you can't stomach the usual dullness of political critiques, this is a fun and enjoyable entry point.

4 people found this helpful

Phoebe

Such an overrated book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2018

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I have rated 5 stars as it would be unfair to do otherwise as the seller was good and the book quality great, however I will warn other keen readers like myself that this book is incredibly tedious and boring. This is one of the rare occasions that the film was actually better than the book.

3 people found this helpful