1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

  • Gulliver's Travels
  • Roxana
  • Moll Flanders
  • Love In Excess
  • Robinson Crusoe
  • A Tale of a Tub
  • Oroonoko
  • The Princess of Cleves

Monday, December 27, 2010

20. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

It's interesting to read again a book that I first read as a teenager.  Then I read it for the story, and completely missed the political satire.  This time I appreciate the satire much more, and regret that I don't have a better knowledge of 18th century English politics and society, because I'm sure I've missed many of Swift's allusions.  A lot of them could still be applied to today's society, I think. 

It would be fun to write a modern version of Gulliver's travels, to question our own assumptions.  Gulliver travels to Australia and is imprisoned as an 'illegal refugee'?

A new movie version of Gulliver's Travels has just been released.  The reviews I've read have not been favorable, and I won't bother going to see it.

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