| Gulliver's Travels (1726, amended 1735), is a novel by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers' tales" literary sub-genre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature.
The book became tremendously popular as soon as it was published. (John Gay said in a 1726 letter to Swift that "it is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery"); since then, it has never been out of print.
Shipwrecked on an unknown island, Lemuel Gulliver wakes to find himself surrounded by its six-inch natives, the Lilliputians. But this is only the first in a long line of wonderful lands Gulliver visits. His adventures take him to Brobdingnag, populated by a race of giants; Luggnagg, home to the eternally ageing Struldbrugs; and the country of the Houyhnhnms, inhabited by benevolent talking horses.
Parodying the immensely popular travel novels of its time, Gulliver's Travels is not only a tour de force in imaginative and comical writing, but also a masterly, merciless satire on western society and human nature.
"The highest tax was upon men who are the greatest favorites of the other sex, an the assessments according to the number and natures of the favors they have received; for which they are allowed to be their own vouchers. Wit, valor, and politeness were likewise proposed to be largely taxed, and collected in the same manner, by every person's giving his own word for the quantum of what he possessed. But as to honor, justice, wisdom and learning, they should not be taxed at all, because they are qualifications of so singular a kind, that no man will either allow them in his neighbor, or value them in himself."
~- Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, Part 3
Please be prepared to buy at least a beverage or a snack, as the restaurant will host us as long as we are paying customers.
The restaurant serves simple 'chinese & western food' with many items under $10. You are welcome to order something light or a full dinner.
The Classic Book Club:
The Classic Book Club will feature books over 50 years old, that are shorter than 500 pages, and are found on many "Top Novels of All Time" lists. They may be ones you want to re-read with adult eyes, or ones you have always been meaning to read.
Examples: Lord of the Flies (Golding, 1954), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain 1855), The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway, 1926), The Scarlett Letter (Hawthorne, 1850), and Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf, 1925). |
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