Gullivers Travels to Lilliput and Brobdingnag by Jonathan Swift

Gullivers Travels to Lilliput and Brobdingnag Reviews

• 
  Cassandra Glissadevil

  4.5 stars
  Published 50 years before America became the United States. Divided into four sections. The familiar first section finds Gulliver held captive by six inch tall Lilliputians.
  “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.”
  
  As he walks the said roads, he shall take the utmost care not to trample upon the bodies of any of our loving subjects, their horses, or carriages, nor take any of our said subjects into his hands, without their own consent.
  ― Jonathan Swift
  
  Swift ground his political ax throughout Gullivers Travels. Big reversal on Guliver's next trip, A Voyage to Brobdingnag. Grass tall as trees. Gulliver passed like a salt shaker from a farmer to the King. Satire dripping like raindrops off eaves, after a typhoon.
  
  "There was a woman with a cancer in her breast, swelled to a monstrous size, full of holes, in two or three of which I could have easily crept, and covered my whole body. There was a fellow with a wen in his neck, larger than five woolpacks, and another with a couple of wooden legs, each about twenty foot high. But, the most hateful sight of all was the lice crawling on their clothes. I could see distinctly the limbs of these vermin with my naked eyes, much better than those of an European louse through a microscope, and their snouts with which they rooted like swine."
  -Jonathan Swift
  
  The next chapter- A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan, contrasts several cultures, including an island of elites, in the air. Laputa- a floating island where Gulliver meets its inhabitants, a peculiar bunch who have very limited attention spans and are especially interested in music, astrology, and power:
  
  "That the system of living contrived by me was unreasonable and unjust, because it supposed a perpetuity of youth, health, and vigor, which no man could be so foolish to hope, however extravagant he might be in his wishes. That the question therefore was not whether a man would choose to be always in the primes of youth, attended with prosperity and health, but how he would pass a perpetual life under all the usual disadvantages which old age brings along with it. For although few men will avow their desires of being immortal upon such hard conditions, yet in the two kingdoms before-mentioned of Balnibari an Japan, he observed that every man desired to put off death for some time longer, let it approach ever so late, and he rarely heard of any man who died willingly, except he were incited by the extremity of grief or torture. And he appealed to me whether in those countries I had traveled, as well as my own, I had not observed the same general disposition."
  -Jonathan Swift
  
  The fourth and last section, A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms, introduces a race of talking horses. The noble Houyhnhnms are the rulers while the deformed, depraved creatures that resemble human beings are called Yahoos. The horsemen leaders value reason over emotion.
  
  "A First or Chief Minister of State, whom I intended to describe, was a creature wholly exempt from joy and grief, love and hatred, pity and anger; at least made use of no other passions but a violent desire of wealth, power, and titles; that he applies his words to all uses, except to the indication of his mind; that he never tells a truth, but with an intent that you should take it for a lie; nor a lie, but with a design that you should take it for a truth; that those he speaks worst of behind their backs are in the surest way to preferment; and whenever he begins to praise you to others or to yourself, you are from that day forlorn. The worst mark you can receive is a promise, especially when it is confirmed with an oath; after which every wise man retires, and gives over all hopes."
  -Jonathan Swift
  
  Swift's satire proves some things never change. 5 star polictical satire. 4 star entertainment=4.5 stars!
• 
  Beth McClean

  I liked the concept but the stories were not as captivating as I had hoped. Maybe it was just the style of writing!
• 
  melmarian

  Ketika mendengar “Gulliver’s Travels”, yang terbayang di benak orang pastilah sesosok pria yang terjebak di Negeri Lilliput. Namun sesungguhnya, buku Gulliver’s Travels sendiri terdiri dari empat kisah perjalanan, sebagai berikut:
  1. A Voyage to Lilliput
  2. A Voyage to Brobdingnag
  3. A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan
  4. A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
  
  Dua diantaranya yaitu Perjalanan ke Negeri Lilliput (negeri orang berukuran mini) dan Negeri Brobdingnag (negeri raksasa) dihimpun dalam buku yang saya baca ini. Pada awal buku, dijelaskan mengenai latar belakang Lemuel Gulliver, pekerjaan dan bidang yang ia tekuni, serta bagaimana ia memulai perjalanannya. Dikisahkan bahwa Gulliver adalah seorang pria yang gemar melakukan perjalanan. Sisanya, adalah berbagai hal yang dialami Gulliver selama berada di Negeri Lilliput dan Negeri Brobdingnag, yang mana plotnya tidak akan banyak saya bocorkan disini, lebih seru membacanya sendiri! :)
  
  Jonathan Swift menulis Gulliver’s Travels dengan mendetail dan terasa realistis. Dari POV Gulliver, kita seperti membaca buku harian sang tokoh, lengkap dengan tanggal-tanggal kejadian dan urutan peristiwa yang dialaminya. Swift juga menciptakan bahasa yang digunakan penduduk Lilliput maupun Brobdignag. Di negeri Lilliput, Gulliver dipanggil dengan sebutan Quinbus Flestrin yang berarti “Manusia Gunung Besar”. Walau pada awal kemunculannya Gulliver ditakuti rakyat Lilliput dan dianggap sebagai monster, lambat laun ia menjalin hubungan baik dengan Raja Lilliput dan beroleh kepercayaan dari Yang Mulia. Dengan sederetan syarat, termasuk bersedia membantu melawan musuh Lilliput yaitu Pulau Blefuscu, Gulliver dapat hidup di tengah-tengah rakyat Lilliput dan mendapatkan daging dan minuman sebanyak jatah 1.728 orang-orang Lilliput setiap harinya. Satu hal yang kocak adalah konflik berdarah selama bertahun-tahun antara Lilliput dan Blefuscu, yang ternyata didasari oleh persoalan remeh: masalah memecahkan telur! Dua kubu yang beroposisi adalah kubu yang memecahkan telur dari ujung yang lebih lebar (dikenal dengan kelompok Ujung-Lebar) dan kubu yang memecahkan telur dari ujung yang lebih lancip (dikenal dengan kelompok Ujung-Lancip). Menggelikan, bukan?
  
  Pengalaman yang jauh berbeda dialami Gulliver ketika terdampar di Negeri Brobdingnag. Kali ini, Gulliver adalah manusia yang tak lebih besar daripada serangga diantara para raksasa yang menghuni Brobdingnag. Dengan ukuran sekecil itu, nyawa Gulliver terancam. Namun di tangan seorang gadis kecil anak petani yang merawat dan menjaganya dengan penuh kasih sayang, Gulliver dapat merasa aman. Gadis kecil yang dipanggil Glumdalclitch alias “perawat kecil” itu memberi nama Grildrig (yang artinya manekin) kepada Gulliver. Gulliver merasakan hari-hari yang melelahkan saat dipamerkan di kota, sampai suatu hari utusan dari istana datang dan membawa Gulliver beserta perawat kecilnya ke istana. Karena Gulliver terlalu kecil untuk memakai barang-barang yang ada di Brobdingnag, sebuah kotak kecil diciptakan sebagai “rumah” sekaligus alat untuk membawanya kemana-mana. Selama di Brobdingnag, Gulliver mengalami banyak hal termasuk kejatuhan embun yang berukuran hampir seribu delapan ratus kali ukuran embun Eropa, yang menyebabkan tubuhnya memar dan harus tinggal di tempat tidur selama sepuluh hari. Selama di Lilliput maupun Brobdingnag, Gulliver mempelajari bahasa, kebiasaan masyarakat setempat, sejarah, seni, dan juga sistem pendidikan yang berlaku di negara mereka. Apakah Gulliver bisa pulang kepada istri dan anak-anaknya setelah mengalami petualangan-petualangan tak terbayangkan di Lilliput dan Brobdingnag? Jawabannya adalah ya! Ia kemudian bepergian ke tempat-tempat aneh lain, yang sayangnya tidak ikut diterjemahkan dalam buku ini. Di balik empat perjalanan Gulliver, tersimpan satir tajam untuk pemerintahan Inggris dan Eropa pada masa itu. Terjemahan yang digarap Zuniriang Hendrato dalam buku ini tidak buruk, namun sayangnya editing dan proofreadingnya masih “longgar” dalam banyak bagian. Karena cerita Gulliver’s Travels sangat menarik dan mudah dibaca, maka empat bintang untuk buku ini.
  
  

  “…aku dapat melihat bahwa mustahil seseorang dipertimbangkan secara serius bila ukuran tubuh mereka sangat berbeda. Aku sering memperhatikan hal ini juga terjadi di Inggris setelah kepulanganku. Bila seseorang berusaha untuk membuat dirinya sendiri penting, namun ia hanya berasal dari keluarga biasa dengan sedikit uang dan pendidikan, maka ia hanya akan dilihat sebagai orang tolol. Ia juga akan menjadi bahan tertawaan.”

  
  
  @melmarian
  
  http://surgabukuku.wordpress.com/2012...
• 
  Veronica

  When my mom saw me reading this book she asked, "Has he met the Giants yet?" I thought she was kidding. She was not.
  I can see why, in an era of travel fiction of this sort, Swift would have found it amusing to "spoof" the genre with this story about visiting giants and pygmys. The not so subtle social commentary is interesting too, from a historical perspective. But overall it's weird. Very, very weird.
• 
  Ruth Hamilton

  As gulliver goes on a voyage that is written in four parts, it starts off very exciting. From A land where he is a gaint, to a land where he is surrounded by giants. It is very interesting. However, as he carries on travelling, I found it very hard to maintain this interest and it took me a while to want to read it again.
• 
  Fitria Mayrani

  Cerita klasik yang kini menjadi favorit saya.
• 
  Andria Septy

  keren bangeeet!
• 
  Pierfrancesco Aiello

  My first book read in German! Pleasant fiction with a couple of interesting quotes that shows that people do not really change over time in their core behaviors.
• 
  Reader_for_LifeTLG

  Listened to the audiobook. Loved it.
• 
  Dustfinger

  lustige ideen
  aber alt halt, auf eine weise die mich manchmal richtig nervt
• 
  Rachel

  I was informed that my disgust with The Dice Man was unjustified because it is a satire. I've long known Swift to be the pre-eminent satirist - do correct me if I'm mistaken - and have come to the conclusion that satire is based on three main points:
  
  One: obsession with bodily emissions and functions, whether they be sexual or excretory;
  Two: implicit permission to say terrible and disgusting things and moreover present them as acceptable;
  Three: extreme boredom for the reader.
  
  
  All Gulliver's journeys of discovery happened by mistake. You think after one time he'd learn his lesson, BUT NO. It would hang so much better if he'd done all his discoveries at once, instead of being repeatedly (un?)lucky.
  
  He spends an awful amount of time describing the length and depth and breadth of things, which I just cannot get into my head or consequently picture at all. I don't really care what he ate or his Gary Stu ability to learn any language in five minutes. Finding out the origin of things like Laputa and the 'musick of the spheres' was mildly interesting, but not interesting enough to read about the travels of an idiot who met no one who was in any way worth the trouble. Except a bunch of horses. Sorry, I don't care how 'virtuous' a non-literate, non-inventing group of weirdo donkeys were, I'm never going to consider them superior to humans. I suppose THAT was the satire?
  
  but their manner of writing is very peculiar: being neither from the left to the right, like the Europeans; nor from the right to the left, like the Arabians; nor from up to down, like the Chinese; nor from down to up, like the Cascagians; but aslant from one corner of the paper to the other, like ladies in England.
  
  It would get LOL except it's more LOL YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE MISOGYNIST.
  
  For the Lilliputians think nothing can be more unjust, than that people, in subservience to their own appetites, should bring children into the world, and leave the burthen of supporting them on the publick.
  
  Nice to know that there were welfare welchers even back in the 1600s.
  
  Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long continuance, as those occasioned by difference of opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent.
  
  I rather take this quality to spring from a very common infirmity of human nature, inclining us to be more curious and conceited in matters where we have least concern, and for which we are least adapted either by study or nature.
  
  I suppose these points are quite apt? Particularly the second and Swift writing.
  
• 
  Vanessa

  Buku ini bercerita tentang perjalanan Gulliver yang tanpa sengaja terdampar di dua negeri yang sangat-sangat berbeda dengan negeri yang ia tinggal, baik secara fisik maupun kebudayaan didalamnya.
  
  Negeri Liliput yang penuh dengan manusia-manusia kecil dan Negeri Brobdingnag yang penuh dengan manusia-manusia raksasa.
  
  Saya menyukai cara Jonathan Swift menggambarkan secara detail setiap hal yang dilihat dan dialami oleh Gulliver, deskripsi itu termasuk ukuran benda-benda, orang-orang yang dilihatnya. Sehingga tidak sulit membayangkan kehidupan Gulliver ketika berada di kedua negeri tersebut.
  
  Saya hanya mengeluhkan kenyataan bahwa buku ini ternyata hanya memuat 2 dari 4 tempat yang pernah didatangi oleh Gulliver. Dan hal itu jelas membuat saya penasaran untuk membaca 2 tempat yang lainnya.
  
  

  Teman kecilku Grildrig, kau telah menceritakan tentang negaramu dengan sangat bangga dan jelas bahwa kau sangat mencintainya. Kau telah menghabiskan begiu banyak waktu untuk melakukan perjalanan mungkin karena kau ingin lari dari kebiasaan buruk orang-orang disekitarmu. Dari seluruh jawaban yang telah kauberikan pada pertanyaanku, aku memiliki pendapat bahwa orang-orangmu adalah serangga kecil paling mengerikan yang merangkan di atas permukaan bumi.

  
  
  
• 
  R-Qie R-Qie

  Gulliver terdampar di suatu tempat setelah kapal yang ditumpanginya mengalami kecelakaan. Ia menemukan dirinya terikat saat siuman dan dikelilingi manusia-manusia berukuran kecil. Rupanya ia berada di negara Liliput. Lain waktu Gulliver terdampar di negeri Brobdingnag, negeri yang seluruh penghuninya berukuran raksasa. Pengalaman di dua wilayah berbeda itu memberi banyak pelajaran dan pengalaman berharga bagi Gulliver.
  
  ***
  
  Kisah ringan yang terlahir dari imajinasi menakjubkan. Dengan Gulliver sebagai narator yang menceritakan kisah di dalamnya, pembaca dibawa pada makhluk-makhluk dan peradaban yang unik. Seperti bagaimana cara berbeda memecahkan telur bisa menjadi penyebab perang. Pilihan diksinya sederhana dan mudah dicerna. Beberapa hal teramat detail sehingga agak membosankan. Typo-nya lumayan menjamur. Pesan-pesan yang diselipkan di sepanjang kisah cukup mengena. Tiga bintang.
  
  ***
• 
  Tristanti Tri Wahyuni

  Apa jadinya kalau kita terdampar di negeri yang dihuni oleh manusia serta makhluk-makhluk dengan ukuran yang tidak normal? Pastinya akan banyak kejadian yang luar biasa. Itulah yang dialami Gulliver saat terdampar di negeri para liliput dan juga negeri para raksasa.
  
  Katanya sih, di versi aslinya, ada empat perjalanan Gulliver. Tapi, di buku ini cuma ada dua di antaranya. Serunya lagi, salah satu kota di Indonesia, Maluku, juga disebutkan di buku ini. Yang bikin kurang seru dan nggak asyik bacanya hanyalah typo yang bertebaran. :(
• 
  Cherelle

  I thought it was funny. Both Lilliput and Brobdingnag had their own appeals. I enjoyed so much the danger he felt in being surrounded by Giant everything and returning home to think everyone/thing proportional to him amazing, delicate and small. He came home with the same view as the people of Brobdingnag had of him. My only question is Why keep traveling? Which is the very question that was raised in the next part if you read the complete Gulliver's travels.
• 
  Georgia

  I only read Part 1. I thought it was incredibly dull and the events that might have been exciting were portrayed in a way that made not so. However, I feel like the idea of Lilliput etc. would make a really interesting book if it was written by a YA author as I think it would be very unique and thought provoking
• 
  Ophelia

  Apparently the version I was reading was only 2 parts of the whole ! I had no idea
  It's a bit slow
  I'll read the rest later .. I'm disappointed because I thought I was done with this torture ..
  Reading it as a part of and English Literature course !
  I hate the 18th Century :(
• 
  Martha

  Interesting to revisit since the last time I read it was high school or college.
• 
  Michael

  I "siege" read this (twice over in about a 5 day period) in 1967 at the age of 11. I was stuck in a foster home and this book provided me with almost a week of relative peace and amazement.
• 
  Amjaad

  A childhood memory <3
• 
  Cathrine

  I guess I'm just in a bad mood rating this with two stars. I know it's a classic and all, but I just can't seem to like this type of literature at the moment.
• 
  Nephi

  I was with him until the last island, apparently I don't handle criticism well.