The next stop on our »Time travel through history« is the year 1726 in which Jonathan Swift published his famous book »Gulliver's Travels«. It tells the story of Gulliver who travels to unknown countries with fantastical creatures.
»Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.«
»Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.«
»The tiny Lilliputians surmise that Gulliver's watch may be his god,
because it is that which, he admits, he seldom does anything without
consulting.«
The story is about the
adventures of the young man Gulliver who travels to undiscovered countries. His
first trip takes him to the country Lilliput where his ship is wrecked and he
is the only survivor. He is exhausted from panic and falls asleep on the beach.
When he wakes up he is captivated and small creatures climb all over him. They
look manlike but are only less than six inches tall. Gulliver finds out that
they are called the »Lilliputians«. After giving assurance of his good behavior
Gulliver is allowed to stay in the country. The king tells his subjects to
build a house for Gulliver and to teach him their language. Gulliver becomes
friends with many if the Lilliputians and especially the king likes him and
they talk a lot about Gulliver's old life and the morals of humans. But by and
by Gulliver gets drawn into political intrigues and his enemies want to see him
executed because he wins the favor of the king. In addition, the
Lilliputians are at war against their neighbors, the Blefuscudians, and the
king decides that Gulliver has to fight for him.
Gulliver manages to return
home safely but goes on another journey by ship. While the crew stops on an
island the ship is attacked by giants and they have to escape. Unfortunately,
Gulliver doesn't manage to board and has to stay on the island. A giant finds
him and takes him to his home. His family is excited when they find out that
Gulliver is an intelligent creature and teach him their language. They decide
to make money out of him and present him as a curiosity. Only the daughter of
the giant really cares for him. One day, the queen hears of Gulliver and takes
him and the girl to court. There he lives for some time and amuses the
courtiers. But his life as a dwarf isn't easy. He has many adventures and
dangerous encounters with huge animals for example a monkey or wasps. He
desperately wants to go home again and always waits for an opportunity to
escape.
These two parts of the story are followed by two others where Gulliver travels to other fantastical countries. But they are often excluded from the books and therefore we haven't read them. They are more socially critical and cynical. The author Jonathan Swift saw himself in the character of Gulliver when he was betrayed by the Lilliputians. Swift was a failed politician and was disappointed by the Irish government and the exploitation of the poor. That is why he was an embittered man when he died in 1745. He tried to express his feelings through the story and therefore it's very satiric. The book really makes you think about politics and mistakes made by the governments on the world.
We liked reading »Gulliver's Travels« because it is an exciting and adventurous story. In some ways it reminded us of the novel »Robinson Crusoe« which was written in the same century. If you want to read our recommendation of this book, click here! »Gulliver's Travels« is less realistic. Therefore we would recommend the book to lovers of fictional stories with interesting creatures and journeys to places no one has ever seen!
I will dream of these adventures for a long time I think. ~Liv
They are really wonderful! ~Gwen
I will dream of these adventures for a long time I think. ~Liv
They are really wonderful! ~Gwen
source: Wikipedia