Jonathan Swift Books

Swift's poetry, while lacking the control over language of Pope and Dryden, is still the work of a master. Find out how witty he can be--buy now!

I strongly applaud this wonderful book. The author is a connoisseur and scholar of this writer and truely appreciates Swift's sharp satire. I recommend this book for all lovers of Swift. LL

Una novela clásica. Para leer de grande y transportarse a mundos fantásticos. No recomendable para niños.

Ann Keay Beneduce retells Jonathan Swift's classic "Gulliver's Adventures in Lilliput" here, and her slightly softened retelling is just right for both younger and older children (my five- and eight-year olds both loved this alike). It's such a great story, and holds up so beautifully despite the passing of centuries. Every child likes to imagine being bigger, so Gulliver's amazing transformation into the gigantic human among the Lilliputians plays into their most daring fantasies.

The real stand-out here, beyond the simple lines of this wonderful tale, are Gennady Spirin's sumptuous illustrations. Spirin never hits a false note here. Gulliver's clothing is historically correct, and when note is made in the text of the different Lilliputian fashions, you realize that Spirin has given all the little men and women ever-so-slightly-different spins on typical clothing of the time--enough to make them seem a little offbeat, but not enough to make them otherwordly. Spirin is able, through this simple artistic device, to subtly emphasize what Gulliver and his tiny friends have in common, rather than the differences among them.

The colors are gorgeous, and Spirin's work with anything metallic--be it fabric, a gun, or a flagpole--is something to behold. Everything glows, and the detail is magnificent. You could sit and gaze at the illustrations for hours and never be bored--and always find something new to admire. Really a wonderful, wonderful book!

I liked Gullivers Travle's because he took a trip to the land of Talking Horses and Hunyums. The only thing I didn't like was when the Liluputiens tried to starve him.

David Case's rendering of Swift's Gulliver's Travels does the enduring classic justice. It's so funny, I found myself laughing and groaning out loud ... had to be careful to keep my eye on the road while listening to the gullible Gulliver's misadventures.
With Mr. Case's impeccable timing and acerbic edge, Gulliver's Travels easily makes the journey into the 21st Century and it's all-too-clear that we still need Dean Swift's indignation.

My daughter and I have been reading (and re-reading!) the DK Classics (of which "Gulliver's Travels" is part of) for several years, since she was 5. These books are very colorful, with lots of illustrations and photos of genuine artifacts, maps, and people from the era in which the story is set. Side panel text gives background information about the author, pictures and story. These "additions" (which do not detract from, but only enhance the story) help the young reader (and the adult too!) put the story into context. It is like getting both a classic and a pictorial history book rolled into one! The text is easy to read. My daughter is now 9, and reading the books on her own. Not only has she developed an appreciation for classic literature, but for history as well. These are great books for parents to read with their children. I highly recommend them!

I will save you the trouble by telling you to read it. It is an excellent book no matter which depth you choose to persue it. It can be read on a thorough level, bound to historical reference, or it can be understood for the analogies he makes which are universal to any period within history.

This is a good collection of Swift's works. Many of his most famous tales and pamphlets appear in this collection including a Modest Proposal and the Wretched State of Ireland. The collection also includes a Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels. This collection si a very comprehensive and adequate group of all who like Swift.

Though remembered today mainly as the author of Gulliver's Travels (Penguin Classics), Jonathan Swift was known to his contemporaries for much more than that. In this biography, David Nokes details the span of Swift's eventful life, from his childhood in Dublin to his time as a propagandist and disappointed placeseeker in England, through to his later years as an author and Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. The Swift that emerges from these pages is a frustrated man, filled with disappointment at receiving less than his perceived due. Yet such disappointment provided the acidic edge to the satirical writings that made him famous from his day to ours.

Nokes's biography is an admirable study of Swift's life and times, one that attempts to penetrate the mystery that surrounded much of his life. He does not hesitate in hypothesizing about the many decisions he made and speculating on such persistent questions as his possible marriage to Esther Johnson. Though Nokes does not address every work that Swift produced, he does analyze his subject's major writings for the insights they possess into Swift's personality and views. He supports his arguments with frequent quotes from his subject's many works, though reading the book alongside a collection such as Major Works (Oxford World's Classics) as a supplement helps to understand Swift better still, as well as providing exposure to some unjustly neglected writings from this great author. For anyone seeking a perceptive study of Swift's life that is more digestible than Irvin Ehrenpreis's monumental three-volume study, this is the book to read.