Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver: Candlewick Illustrated Classic

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 8, 2016

Beatiful pictures!!!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 27, 2011

Reason for Reading: Read aloud to my son.

I've been looking for a *good* children's version of Gulliver's Travels for many years and have finally found the perfect version that I will recommend to anyone wanting to read this book for enjoyment. I love Gulliver's Travels; it is a wonderful story *but* I do not like the original version. Yes, I've read the original book, start to finish. Now I'm usually all about reading the original versions of classics but Gulliver is different. First of all Swift's Gulliver is not a children's story; it is political and social satire of the 1700s. It is full of references to personages and politics of the 1700s that have no meaning whatsoever to the 21st century reader unless of course you have studied the 1700s political scene yourself. The original is full of long, dreary passages that may have been hysterical in 1726 but are just completely long-winded and boring for the typical modern day reader and really there is no point in subjecting a child to it. This is why most children's versions only include the first two chapters: the voyages to the land of the little people and then the land of the giants. But the last two voyages are wonderful as well and I've been looking for a version of this book, that removes the outdated prattle but keeps the complete 4 chapters. This book has done so; plus adds illustrations by the comedic artist Chris Riddell and we have a winner of a book.

This version of Gulliver is not missing any details or plot lines, all voyages are covered. Now it has been some time since I read the original, but as far as I can tell the "rude" bits have been left alone as well. Social commentary is still present, only reworded to be understandable to today's ears and political satire has been kept up to a point as to where it is still relevant and no personages are mentioned at all, except on the island of ghosts where he calls upon people from the past such as Julius Caesar, Hannibal and Alexander the Great. Gulliver still tries to describe his world of Yahoos in words such as "They eat when they are not hungry and they drink when they are not thirsty." Social commentary which is still relevant today. The immortal Luggnuggians who have the gift of eternal life but not eternal youth are just as frightening a concept then as now.

Chris Riddell's illustrations are what you would expect them to be. Wild and wacky, hilarious and hauntingly eerie at times. A better artist could not have been chosen for this fantastic adaptation. In fact, it was seeing Chris Riddell as the illustrator that pushed me into deciding to give this version a go. At 164 pages, it may seem like the book does not have much meat but don't worry there is plenty of text here. The text is a little smaller than usual but in an easy to read font, the book is wider than a regular sized book and there are many pages of text without illustration and the use of an illustration on a text page has been used frequently as well. There is plenty of story here! I recommend this version of "Gulliver's Travels" to anyone young or old who wants to read a faithful rendition of the book without having to suffer through the pages of eyes-glazing-over 1700s political/social satire found in the original. Leave the original book to the scholars and read this true adaptation for the pure enjoyment and humour the book has to offer.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Anana

Adventures of a Misanthrope

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 22, 2006

Verified Purchase

Gulliver's adventures to imaginary lands are used to illustrate the foibles and pettiness of mankind. In his first adventure, he finds that the tiny Lilliputians are forever at war with their island neighbors over how to crack open an egg, and they are therefore suspicious and manipulative. By contrast, the giants of Brobdingnag live by "common sense, reason, justice and fair play," but Gulliver is often in danger by being so tiny in their country. In other lands, Gulliver meets all kinds of characters - constant worriers, crazed inventors, preposterous rulers, and some chatty ghosts who give him a history lesson. With each adventure, Gulliver becomes increasingly aware that the beliefs he holds about mankind's achievements may be the opposite of what he had thought. Finally, he meets the horse-like Houyhnhnms (sounds like a horse neighing), "noble creatures ruled entirely by reason," who have no idea of evil. Their country is also inhabited by Yahoos, wild animal-like humans without any redeeming qualities, who steal from each other and squabble endlessly. Gulliver is so taken by the civilized, virtuous Houyhnhnms that he would like to live happily ever after with them, but they can't get over the fact that he really must be a Yahoo, who will only encourage the other Yahoos to revolt against them. He is cast adrift in a small boat and eventually finds himself back in England, where he has to get used to lying, deceit, self-importance, and greed once more. Some of the story elements are a little disturbing, such as his attitudes towards the servant classes, and some of the outrageous behaviors of certain characters verge on disgusting, but this is always used to make a point. Overall, this is a beautifully-made book with much food for thought, for both young and old alike.

6 people found this helpful

Laurens Hamilton

Loved this retelling

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

Thank you to other Amazon reviewers who led me to purchase this book and see for myself. It exceeded my high expectations.

I highly recommend this abridgement of Gulliver's Travels. This book is the perfect opportunity to read aloud to children you've probably stopped reading to years ago (the 8-13 year old set). Simplifies, but does not back off the material in all its vicious, occasionally filthy glory, and believe me, preteens will delight in it more than bowdlerized versions. Everything important is preserved-- Gulliver's shocking misanthropy at the end, his comical unreliability as a narrator throughout, the graphic descriptions of the repulsive Yahoos. Dare I say, although I love the original text, I almost prefer the tightened up version of Part III, which is a bit of a kitchen sink in terms of targets of ridicule, and the section that a modern reader might find least sympathetic, given what science did end up achieving since Swift's time. This book is best read aloud because there are many points which open up discussions about human nature and the human condition. It gave my family many hours' worth of both entertainment and food for thought.
The text alone would be enough to highly recommend this book, but it also features beautiful, whimsical illustrations-- perhaps my favorites, supplanting Arthur Rackham's.

4 people found this helpful

bookworm

Really great adaptation, I'm using this with a lower KS2 ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 31, 2015

Verified Purchase

Really great adaptation, I'm using this with a lower KS2 class, as the Puffin classic version was very long-winded and the text too old-fashioned for my class. This retains the creativity of Swifts original with some wonderful descriptive language that is accessible to KS2 children, and the illustrations are just fantastic. My class pore over it and beg for more pages to be read each day.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Exellent book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

Beautifully illustrated, exellent book.

Janey

Graphic illustrations

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

I can't compare this to "Gulliver's Travels," as I don't remember the story, but the things I don't like about this particular edition are: the illustrations.

There are at least 6 pictures of buxom women, their breasts falling out of their dresses, and several pictures of weird-looking monster/people/animals that would give anyone nightmares.

There are also other scary, cartoonish pictures that make you think of devils and cackling, toothless old men.

Sorry, but these are my thoughts. I like the easy-reading part of the story, and the abundance of illustrations for the reader's sake, but...maybe another illustrator??

One person found this helpful

Tatiana Larina

Excellent book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

My 8 year old son absolutely loved this book!

d hart

Makes the whole family laugh, and think

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

Well appreciated gift to a reading family. This particular volume was recommended on a blog, and it was a hit.

Andrea

The content of the book is great but I was very annoyed at the quality of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

The content of the book is great but I was very annoyed at the quality of the product that we received. It was birthday gift for my son. I purchased what I thought was a new book but what I received was a book with one whole page ripped, there was no book jacket and sticky marks on the front cover, therefore it feels like a used book. My son was very keen to keep it rather than have to wait while I returned it to you, but disappointed that page was ripped and feels bit tatty.

5 star		64%
4 star		16%
3 star		7%
2 star		6%
1 star		7%

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Jonathan Swift's Gulliver: Candlewick Illustrated Classic

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