The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift

The Battle of the Books Reviews

• 
  Amy

  Swift truly is a master of satire. This was a creative and fun read...and I'm pretty sure at least half my students didn't actually read it once they realized it took some research to understand. And trust me, it does. But the hard-won chuckle is worth it.
• 
  Katrina Michelle

  Disjointed, dry, and very confusing. There was absolutely nothing about this short story that I enjoyed in the slightest. Bleh. :P
• 
  David Sarkies

  18th Century Comment Trolling
  15 February 2020 - Moonta
  
  One of the reasons that books like this are interesting is because they show us that social media isn’t actually a new thing. Okay, these days, with computerisation and the second incarnation of the internet opens it up to so many more people, and also the fact that we are literate in a way that people in the past never were, but honestly, even before the internet as we currently know it, the letters pages of newspapers and magazines formed a core part of what Facebook and other sites do today (and I remember a number of letters of mine being published in the university newspaper, and how these letters would eventually form a back and forth dialogue that would be reminiscent of a Reddit comment thread).
  
  So, what we have here is a discussion among learned intellectuals as to whether they have reached a position where they can say that the knowledge of the ancients had been superseded by their own knowledge. Of course, we have a group that would claim ‘rubbish, it is impossible to supersede the likes of Cicero, Homer, and of course Aristotle’. Others, though, point out that we certainly do know and understand a lot more, and others claim that because of the writings of the ancients we can see a lot further than otherwise.
  
  In a way, it is probably interesting that this discussion has arisen at this point in time, namely because we have passed the renaissance and the Reformation, and are now in the midst of the Scientific Revolution (though we have not quite reached the Enlightenment yet). In a way the workings of some of the ancient scientists (such as Ptolemy) has been superseded, but yet the likes of Galen wasn’t to be challenged by at least another hundred years. Further, some works, while they were challenged, others were simply expanded upon, and not actually critiqued.
  
  Swift is not so much making a mockery of the arguments, but rather how the writings of the various authors appear as a massive battle being waged across the pages of literature. As I have suggested, in part it certainly does feel like the battles that are regularly waged on the comment posts of various Facebook threads (that is if they aren’t deleted). Mind you, I suspect that the tone is a lot more civil than one finds on Facebook (though, I could certainly be wrong in that regard). In fact, if you have a look at the work you will notice that there are a number of prefaces, no doubt being added by the publisher, and the author, to respond to allegations make about this work (which, once again, certainly comes across like it would fit quite well in a modern context).
  
  Another thing that stands out is how it appears to become a beast all of its own. Simply by producing this work, Swift has suddenly found himself caught up in the battle, and the collection includes numbers letters that Swift has now been forced to write defending his position in one way or another. In a way, it really does feel like some huge argument that has either developed on Facebook, or one of the many huge back and forth email threads that we used to have back in the early days of the internet. I also remember when one trys to wade into an argument, only to discover that one is aset on all sides by people who are rather annoyed that some third party has decided to throw in their own two cents worth.
  
  The argument itself is sort of interesting, though Swift really doesn’t provide an answer, or join sides, but rather just writes a satire about how this battle comes across in his mind. Personally, looking back at this era, when we have the likes of Newton, Galileo and countless numbers of other scientists completely destroying the writings on Aristotle through observation and experimentation, would suggest that we have, in part, moved along. But only with regards to scientific exploration, and looking back over history there is still a very, very long way to go. In the realm of philosophy, I would argue that having the writings of the ancients is vitally important since it forms part of the cannon that we have to draw upon. However, I just wouldn’t recommend consulting Galen for medical advice.
• 
  Smita

  As it happens with Swift, I'm lying on the floor with tears of laughter streaming down my face. It's a very short book and ends very abruptly, though. Gah, I can't even spoil it :/
  I need to talk to someone who has read it!!!
• 
  Pierre

  Un pequeño libro que permite entender la actitud esquizofrénica del humano, siempre buscando dicotomías... Aunque quizá sea inevitable que en filosofía exista la división entre Antiguos y Modernos (acá los posmodernos no existen), no hay mejor manera de entender la postura de cada bando que con peras y manzanas, o mucho mejor dicho: con abejas y arañas. Es por esto último que el libro termina siendo una fábula filosófica (¿histórica?) en donde los humanos no son los protagonistas sino su encarnación en celulosa o papiros (dependiendo si eran modernos o antiguos), es decir, los libros que representan a cada autor.
• 
  Georgie

  shockingly first Swift I’ve ever read and smooth ride in comparison to Pope. Just far more vivid and exciting to read in context of epic
• 
  Lauren Bachman

  This was the very first piece of literature that I studied in the lens of literary analysis, so it will forever hold a special place in my bookworm heart. Swift uses impeccable satire and interwoven subtleness to make a stance on an Ancients vs Moderns argument, cleverly depicted through personification. Essentially, there's a lot to unpack here. But once you do, it's quite amazing.
• 
  Mary

  Probably a 5 if I lived in the time period, still he had us, my daughter and I, chuckling. So, I won’t rate, because it is my understanding that is lacking.
• 
  Eric

  The allegory of the bee and spider to describe the moderns vs. the ancients is brilliant. The battle scenes, parodies of Homer and Virgil, in this short work were hysterical.
• 
  Olivia Allbritton

  *3.5 ⭐️
• 
  Lucrezia

  Interesting and funny...though absolutely impossible to read without footnotes!
• 
  Eswar

  Entertaining and riveting- an allegory of the old and new of everything. Also, how the modern gets canonized through martyrdom.
• 
  Shweta Kudrimoti

  I was only meant to read till the spider and the bee but i guess i went too far but thats okay.
• 
  Nemanja

  The Battle of the Books represents Swift's view on the popular debate at the time between the Ancients and Moderns, where contemporary writers in Europe discussed whether the Moderns have surpassed the Ancients in knowledge and skill or whether the Ancients will never be surpassed. In this allegory, there is a clash of books written by classical and modern writers, in which Swift compares their achievements and legacy, all the while creating a mythical atmosphere. Swift leaves the matter of the winner open, alluding to the futility of debating which period has the supremacy. It also includes a clash between a bee, that represents the writers in general, and a spider, that represents critics and readers, whom he criticised, as well as their interpretations of works.
• 
  Antonio Gallo

  Siamo nell'anno del Signore 1697. Di fronte abbiamo un campo di battaglia che è una biblioteca di grande prestigio nel Palazzo di St James, a Londra. I contendenti sono gli Autori Antichi e gli Autori Moderni. Si contendono la vetta del Parnaso che, per chi non lo sapesse, era il monte sede delle Muse ispiratrici di ogni opera. Abbiamo un reporter di eccezione: Jonathan Swift, il mio scrittore preferito. Il libro ha chiaramente un intento satirico. La guerra scoppiò. Omero contro Perrault, Aristotele fa fuori Cartesio, ma aveva mancato Bacone, Tasso e Milton si contendono il comando della cavalleria. Esopo cerca la morale della favola. Io la trovai una cinquantina di anni fa quando dovetti studiare alcuni brani per il primo esame di inglese all'università. Una morale che continuo a rincorrere oggi quando scopro che i moderni non potrebbero esistere se non ci fossero stati gli antichi. Mi pare una cosa ovvia. Eppure ci sono tanti che si mettono a scrivere, si credono scrittori soltanto per questo e non si rendono conto che ripetono cose che sono state già pensate, dette e scritte secoli e millenni fa. Battaglia continua quindi. Senza vincitori. Siamo tutti sconfitti. Dopo tutto, facciamo tutti la stessa fine. Da antichi diventiamo moderni, per poi ritornare antichi. Cinque stelle. E' Jonathan Swift, il geniale decano irlandese.
• 
  David

  A marvelous satire by Swift of the Ancients against the Moderns. The copy I have is among a collection of 15, and I was taken by the next to last "Hints towards an Essay on Conversation" taking jut 23 pages. I enjoyed his CONVERSATION essay as much as I did the more famous lead article in my book.
  THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS is the lead article of 35 pages in my copy from Cassell about 1910. The famous Swift story first published in 1697 as the prefatory tale to Swift's THE TALE OF A TUB.
  Here is the Wikipedia background to the Swift two-part book. "This literary contest was re-enacted in miniature in England when Sir William Temple published an answer to Fontenelle entitled Of Ancient and Modern Learning in 1690. His essay introduced two metaphors to the debate that would be reused by later authors. First, he proposed that modern man was just a dwarf standing upon the "shoulders of giants" (that modern man saw farther because he begins with the observations and learning of the ancients). They possessed a clear view of nature, and modern man only reflected/refined their vision. These metaphors, of the dwarf/giant and the reflecting/emanative light, would show up in Swift's satire and others." STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS -- This quote SURE DOES LIVE ON!
• 
  Alessandra

  È un libricino talmente piccolo che riassumere quello che contiene farebbe perdere tutta la bellezza che risiede nella lettura. Come anticipa il titolo viene affrontata una disputa legata ai libri, i cui principali contendenti sono autori Antichi e Moderni. Una particolare allegoria viene rappresentata da Esopo, che paragona le api ai primi e i ragni ai secondi. Il quesito è: “quale sia l’essere più nobile dei due: colui che, immerso in un pigro ozio tra quattro pollici di terra, presuntuoso e orgoglioso, mangiando e rotolandosi su se stesso, trasforma tutto in escrementi è veleno, producendo nient’altro che dell’ insetticida e una ragnatela; o colui che, percorrendo immense distanze, dopo gran ricerca e infaticabile studio, saldi giudizi, e facoltà di discernimento, porta a casa miele e cera”.
  
  Chi vincerà?
  
  Al di là della lettura impegnativa, smorzata dalla brevità del testo, mi soffermerei su quest’edizione carinissima e curata nei minimi dettagli (reca anche illustrazioni all’interno 😍).
  Tra l’altro il formato casca proprio a pennello: sembra un libro adatto agli abitanti swiftiani di Lilliput!
  Adoro!
• 
  Christina

  jonathan swift is The satire author. no one else does it like him.
  
  ”battle of the books” is satire about the ridiculousness of war, past/present and natural dichotomies, etc., in my readerly opinion. but it’s so fun because swift’s voice fits the story so so well and the mental imagery of books fighting each other,, MWAH. i actually really liked all the details before the fighting started: the librarian’s oopsies, the bee and the spider. very good build-up.
  
  i found the fight itself entertaining, although somewhat one-note. really liked the gods getting involved though! the ending was a little lackluster for me; i’m gonna overstep here & editorialize but an odyssey callback with the gods stepping in at the very end i think would’ve been chef’s kiss sold it.
  
  this is only really 4 stars because i thought about this and then i thought about “a modest proposal” and unfortunately “battle of the books” falls the teensiest bit short. but swift is a god at satire.
• 
  Scassandra

  Ora bisogna qui specificare chiaramente che l'Inchiostro è la grande arma-missile in tutte le battaglie dei dotti. Esso è impiegato attraverso una sorta di macchine chiamate penne, un numero infinito delle quali viene scagliato contro il nemico dai prodi di ambo i lati con pari destrezza e violenza. Questo liquido maligno si compone di due ingredienti, Bile e Vetriolo, onde assecondare in certa misura oltre che fomentare il genio dei combattenti con la sua asprezza e velenosità.
• 
  Ángel

  Original fábula que, mediante un enfrentamiento militar entre libros de autores clásicos y de autores modernos, representa el enfrentamiento entre la ciencia e ilustración británica, unos defensores de la modernidad y la innovación, otros defensores de la tradición clásica.
  
  Libro atemporal, con un final abierto, recomendable para el admirador de Swift.
• 
  Fariba

  I did not know much about the vast majority of the philosophers mentioned in this work.
  
  1/23/2016 What a difference a year makes! I picked up on a lot more of the philosophical references this time around because I recently learned about the Battle of the Books in France between Perrault and Boileau.
• 
  Pashew Majeed

  A fine battle of thoughts between the Ancients and the moderns, the classics and the contemporary. I recently found out about this short piece of Swift, but it is absolutely a fun and thought provoking read. Although there are many names and figures that I have never heard of, but you still get to know a very little about them int his satirical piece of Swift.
• 
  Booklevard22

  Ευφάνταστη και επίκαιρη σάτιρα, με γρήγορη εξέλιξη. Ο Swift χειρίζεται τους συμβολισμούς, τα πρόσωπα - βιβλία και, κυρίως, τον μύθο του βουνού με έξυπνο και ταιριαστό τρόπο. Παρόλα αυτά χάνει από τη στάση που υιοθετεί στη διαμάχη.
• 
  Cólera Buey

  Un breve tratado sobre la tradición y la modernidad en la literatura. Ya en el siglo XVIII existía tal dilema entre los artistas. Cómico, como todos los textos de Swift vale la pena su lectura. Una rápida conclusión, la mejor modernidad es la que se sabe autoadoctrinar en la tradición.
• 
  Swati Jk

  Even though a classic , it is probably not of my taste, the content is repeatedly among four teams ,exchanging heated argument....book ends without reconciliation and is very taxing to read...
• 
  Jorge Terrones

  Hay tanto juego en esas páginas, tanto rodeo, que uno se marea.
• 
  Ida Aasebøstøl

  Brilliant.