Showing results by author "Jonathan Swift" in All Categories

"The chief end I propose to myself in all my labors is to vex the world rather than divert it," wrote Jonathan Swift in a letter to his friend Alexander Pope. Vexing works collected here are "A Modest Proposal," "Directions to Servants," "The Art of Political Lying," "A Digression Concerning the Critics," and "Sweetness and Light."

This classic book of English literature is an insightful satire on human nature, probing the corruption of man. It's also a parody on traveller's tales, as Jonathan Swift chronicles the voyages to Lilliput, Brobingnag, and other fantastical destinations in this powerful 18th-century masterpiece. Simon Cadell reads with a sure touch and great understanding of his subject.

Here, in this unusual collection, are some of the greatest essays in Western literature. Witty, informative and imaginative, the topics vary from starvation in Ireland, fine China, the extension of railways in the Lake District, and the tombs in Westminster Abbey. A little like after-dinner monologues, they are passing thoughts expressed as journalism. Neville Jason reads with urbane clarity.

The streets of eighteenth-century Dublin were rife with an appalling level of poverty. Desperate mothers regularly begged for alms to feed their children, and although passersby might have occasionally contributed a few coins, no large-scale remedy had proved remotely practical or effective.

A savage and hilarious satire, Gulliver's Travels sees Lemuel Gulliver shipwrecked and adrift, subject to bizarre and unnerving encounters with - among others - quarrelling Lilliputians, philosophising horses, and the brutish Yahoo tribe that change his view of humanity - and himself - forever. Swift's classic of 1726 portrays mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified, and finally, bestial species, presenting us with a comical yet uncompromising reflection of ourselves.

The Ultimate Essays Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 30 classic essays analysing everything from war to love, journalism to race, travel to nature, and much more, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are essays by some of the greatest writers of all time, including George Orwell; Thomas Paine; Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Henry David Thoreau; Virigina Woolf; Sigmund Freud; Zorea Neale Huston; Langston Hughes; Jack London, and more.

Through the eyes of Lemuel Gulliver, Swift’s unforgettable satire takes listeners into worlds formerly unimagined. Visit four strange and remarkable lands: Lilliput, where Gulliver seems a giant among a race of tiny people; Brobdingnag, the opposite, where the natives are giants and Gulliver puny; the ruined yet magical country of Laputa; and the home of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses far superior to the ugly humanoid Yahoos who share their universe.

Jonathon Swift changed the way that prose was written forever, now for the first time ever you can listen to three of his best works collected in one bundle! Writing both fiction and satire, Jonathon Swift was noted for his poignant and often times cutting views of the society he lived in. He is still regarded as the most important prose satirist in the English language and is required reading in many schools.

Gulliver's Travels is renowned as a playful and comic children's classic. The book itself, rather than the bowdlerized versions that have been derived from it, is a savage, rude and brilliant satire, timeless in its appeal and unerringly accurate.

Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, is a novel by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travelers' tales" literary sub-genre. It is widely considered Swift's magnum opus and is his most celebrated work, as well as one of the indisputable classics of English literature.View our full collection of podcasts at our website: https://www.solgoodmedia.com or YouTube channel: https://www.solgood.org/subscribe Check out our ad free subscription: http://www.adfreesounds.com for our Premium, 10 Hour ...

Jonathan Swift's classic novel about the loveable Lemuel Gulliver is one that is taught in high schools around the country, and for good reason. Gulliver, who is a surgeon aboard a ship, thinks that he is about to embark on a run-of-the-mill voyage to different ports. Throughout his journey, however, there are a few events that take place that redirect his ship to unfamiliar islands. Not only are they unfamiliar to him, but they are inhabited by natives who are shaped and sized much differently than he is.

Los viajes de Gulliver fue publicada por primera vez en 1726, y tres siglos después mantiene toda su vigencia. Esta célebre novela satírica es a la vez un relato de aventuras y una artera reflexiónfilosófica sobre la constitución de las sociedades modernas. Los encuentros del naufragante Lemuel Gulliver con los minúsculos liliputienses, los gigantes de Brobdingnag, los filosóficos houyhnhnms y los brutos yahoos harán que el protagonista, como el lector, abra los ojos a la cruda y verdadera naturaleza humana.

Jonathan Swift almost defines satire in his biting and brutal pamphlet in which he suggests that poor (Catholic) Irish families should fatten up their children and sell them to the rich (Protestant) land owners, thus solving the twin problems of starving children and poverty in one blow. When the "Proposal" was published in 1729, Swift was quickly attacked, and even accused of barbarity - the exact state the "Proposal" was written to expose.

Lemuel Gulliver sets out on a series of travels, but each time he finds himself shipwrecked in new and unfamiliar lands. And how unfamiliar! In Lilliput, everyone is tiny, and it takes thousands of them to capture him; in Brobdingnag, they’re huge and treat him as a sort of living toy; in Laputa, they live on a floating island inventing impossibly mad projects; and the Houyhnhnms are horses! But through all his adventures, Gulliver learns to see humans in a different way, too.

In Gulliver's Travels, the narrator represents himself as a reliable reporter of the fantastic adventures he has just experienced. But how far can we rely on a narrator who has been impersonated by someone else? The work purports to be a travel book, and describes the shipwrecked Gulliver's encounters with the inhabitants of four extraordinary places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms.

Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon and sea captain, journeys to different islands, where he meets some of the strangest creatures ever to appear in literature. His most famous visits are to Lilliput, where he towers over the six-inch, warlike people, and Brobdingnag, where the natives are gigantic, yet cannot understand abstract concepts. Gulliver also travels to the flying island of Laputa, Lagadu, a land of impractical philosophers, and Glubdubdrib, where sorcerers allow him to speak to great historical figures.

This thrilling anthology contains five action-packed tales of incredible journeys, a murderous treasure hunt, invaders from outer space and international espionage - all read in full by some of the very best voice actors.

In 1729, Swift published A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick known today as A Modest Proposal. In this satire, Swift grotesquely suggests how the poor could solve the problem of their numerous families which they are struggling to feed.

Ce roman fut écrit par Swift après le krach de 1720. Il avait acheté des actions de la Compagnie des mers du Sud pour 1000 livres. La spéculation avait fait passer la valeur d'une action de 128 livres à 1050 livres, avant de s'effondrer ruinant bon nombre de commerçants britanniques. Cet accroissement puis cette miniaturisation de la richesse en un temps très court a dû donner à Swift l'idée des changements de taille relative de son personnage principal qui serait une métaphore de ce krach en donnant à Swift l'occasion de se moquer des travers de la société de son temps.

One of the most-studied pieces of satire in history, ‘A Modest Proposal’ is a darkly funny yet scathing critique of British colonialism from an Irish lens. First published in 1729 to much backlash, Swift goes to great lengths to illustrate a potential solution to poverty and overpopulation in Ireland: parents undergoing economic hardship ought to sell their children as food for the upper classes. A masterclass in irony, Swift delves into the financial benefits of his suggestion, even offering numerous ways to prepare babies for consumption.