Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-Read.

And yet, this will forever be a fantastic 4-part novel, neeeigh, a glorious satire.

Most of us have seen or heard of parts of Gulliver's Travels, but alas it is usually only in terms of a giant beset by little-minded little-people so stuffed up with self importance that they can never see the proverbial giant in their living room, or, in the second part, a little person trapped in a horrible commerce grinding machine filled with giants.

But to me, I'm a huge fan of the 3rd part: huge minds trapped in their own vices and certainties, living in floating castles in the skies, unable to see the truth under their feet.

But honestly? It's the fourth part, the place where the smartest, most wise horses, enslave the dirty, brutish, trashy Yahoos (humans) and the place where Gulliver finally succumbs to the worldview of his new masters that shines the brightest.

There is nothing more brilliant than the pride of self-hate, of decrying everything in yourself or your people, to bemoan the very sense of our own purity or goodness, to place the biggest capstone on this great edifice of satire.

What? Isn't it OBVIOUS that we're all the greatest dumbshits, assholes, backwards-minded, filth-wallowing, UNWORTHY species on the planet? -- Ahhh, neeeiiiiighhhhhh, you've been listening too long to these damn horses.

We are everything.
But that means, we're also better than we think.

But I also admit... the first time I read this, I, too, fell into the trap of the 4th. :) Careful! Some satires are STRONG. Neeeiiiighhhhh... brilliant. :)


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