Gulliver’s Travels (Annotated)
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I had a scholarly copy and a Kindle copy of Gulliver's Travels, but nothing comes close to the enjoyment of Isaac Asimov's skill. The Annotated Gulliver's Travels is the best of all editions. Excellent book, and the notes are just what I need to help understand the satire. Issac Asimov, the science fiction writer? Yes, that Isaac Asimov.
I like Asimov's so much that I thought it worth the money to have it for my own library. As a bonus, it's printed in a relatively large format, and it's cloth bound two features that are often missing these days. Gulliver's Travels was written long enough ago that the particular politicians and monarchs mocked by Jonathan Swift are probably not going to be immediately obvious to a typical reader. Asimov points these out, and also translates obscure terms and checks Swift's geography and math.
The latter points get to be tedious; how many times does one need to be reminded that Gulliver had times the average mass of a Lilliputian? Reading the book for the first time since childhood, I was struck by how rudimentary some of the satire was. For example, Swift apparently felt animosity towards Sir Isaac Newton and his friend Edmund Halley, and he mocks science generally using techniques that would seem right at home in the dumbest circle of climate-change deniers "but it's cold out today". He specifically mocks the prediction of comets and the theory of gravity in passages that seem terribly foolish today.
Gulliver's Travels
Azamov can be very annoying. As writer, scientist, and Sci-fi buff, Asimov is the perfect annotator for Swift's masterpiece. A word of caution though: I say this because, although the annotations are highly informative, they do distract from the flow of the wonderful narrative. What "value added" does Asimov contribute? Well, for starters, there is the eclectic collection of illustrations, culled from several centuries.
Second, there is Asimov's scholarly love of Swift's old-fashioned language readily understandable for the most part, but sometimes with an exotic ring. Asimov has a knack for finding those words that are likely to confuse the modern reader, and he explains these clearly. Third and most important, as a masterful sci-fi writer, Asimov is able to analyze the contributions of Gulliver's Travels to that genre.
Gulliver's travels an annotated text with critical essays.
Well, at least he tries to the extent possible. This is a hallmark of science fiction, as opposed to fantasy. Another example of sci-fi in Gulliver is the "discovery" of the two moons of Mars. Asimov provides a particularly good discussion on how Swift might have come up with such a prescient "discovery".
Asimov speculates on the made-up languages in Gulliver.
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At one point he states they are non-sense, but then turns around and speculates that Lilliput is a corruption of "little bit". Good guess - but maybe it is "little part" or "little pint"? Also, Swift's made-up languages often have an Italian ring - Swift himself says so regarding the language of Laputa. Did Swift study Italian, or did he have a great admiration for it?
Asimov is not without minor lapses. He describes a "slow match" as a chord impregnated with sulfur -- I think he means saltpeter potassium nitrate. At another point Asimov estimates the weight of a Lilliputian. So far, so good. He then takes the average weight of a human to be lbs.
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A comment on Gulliver's Travels itself: It is often claimed that the fourth book is the best, and the third book the weakest. The Houyhnhnms represent purely rational beings. They don't lie, and virtually have no crime. They have no dreams and no imagination.
They seem to spend their time in busy-work so as to stay out of trouble. Maybe the real trouble is that humans have a limited capacity to imagine perfect goodness. Pauline McGonagle Try and locate Swift's lesser known 'Citzen of the World' a story of a Chinese traveller exploring England and the satirical take on life there.
A …more Try and locate Swift's lesser known 'Citzen of the World' a story of a Chinese traveller exploring England and the satirical take on life there. A true reversal of the 'orientalism' genre with great contemporary references told in a series of letters from the traveller to his son.
The Annotated® ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
A very unlikely other story runs through it but otherwise it is really very amusing! This question contains spoilers… view spoiler [How to read this book? Do I need to turn the back notes of the book every time to read? The Usual Many native English speakers regard Gulliver's travels as a children's book, so no, you don't need to refer to the footnotes if you don't want to. Having said that, it is a piece of extended satire so if you want to read it in a more grown-up fashion and your knowledge of that period in British history isn't particularly strong, you may want to do so.
Gulliver's Travels opens with the Publisher to the Reader and my questions is what are both Richard Sympson and Captain Gulliver saying? Especially the letter from Gulliver to Sympson? Sara i havent read this book yet. Eli This answer contains spoilers… view spoiler [Yes totally did hide spoiler ]. How were children educated at lilliput???