Third travel for Gulliver.
Enjoy the experience!
Gulliver in Balnibarbi on PhotoPeach
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What a weird voyage! I think the author became completely crazy when he wrote this part of the story because, honestly, I don't think that a man in his right mind could imagine such extravagant things like the Struldbrugs, or how the Laputians serve their food, or the grand Academy of Lagado and its proyects. And also the name of "Laputa" which is said to be related to the attitude of the women from the island.
ResponderEliminarFrankly, I didn't like this part of the book, I found it too puzzling and difficult to read and understand.
Thank you very much, Marina.
ResponderEliminarI know the book is not easy to read, so your attitude towards it is very applausible.
Regarding the name of "Laputa", the fact that it sounds a little bit nasty because of the connections to Spanish, in fact it has nothing to do with the women on the island.
On chapter 2, we can find the following explanation to the meaning of the island's name:
"The word which,I interpret the "Flying or Floating Island" is in the original "Laputa", whereof I could never learn the true etymology. Lap in the old absolete language signifieth "high", and "untuth" a "governor", from which they say by corruption was derived "Laputa" from "Lapuntuh".But I do not approve of this derivation, which seems to be a little strained. I ventured to offer to the learned among them a conjecture of my own, that "Laputa" was "quasi Lap outed";"Lap" signifying properly the dancing of the sunbeams in the sea, and "outed" a wing, which however I shall not obtrude, but submit to the judicious reader."
I’ve enjoyed reading the third part of the book, in wich Gulliver travels to several places and meets strange people. I have been surprised by Swift’s imagination and the way he critizes some things he didn’t like about English society and its colonialism:
ResponderEliminar- Laputians are tyrants, as England oppressed Ireland. Laputians wasted time thinking about mathematics or music, but didn’t do anything usefull.
- Munodi is another man who is strange in that world (as Gulliver is), because he didn’t waste time speculating: he maintained the old ways of cultivating his fields.
- The Academy of Lagado shows us the incredibly imagination of Swift, who describes impossible inventions and people that wasted their lives making useless projects because of the ideas brought from Laputa.
- Gulliver meet Strudlburgs, persons who were inmortals, but they were ill and old, not young forever.
Although I’ve found some difficulties with the vocabulary, especially when Gulliver is describing how Laputa can fly. I think Gulliver’s Travels is a good story, because it is an imititation of travel books, but you can enjoy reading Gulliver’s adventures or you can investigate what the author really wanted to tell us.
Rocío Fernández
Intermediate Level
Thanks a lot, Rocío,that's a good review. You've made the most of it, even though the book is not easy for you to read; I'm glad you've enjoyed it despite all those difficulties
EliminarThis voyage is totally surrealistic, above all the chapter about the Academy.
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion there are some contradictions, probably because I have another point of view. Laputians are bad reasoners but I think that a person who is good at Mathematics must be a good reasoner too. I guess both things are related.
Moreover, Swift says that imagination, fancy and invention are strangers to them. Can you imagine a musician without imagination? I can't.
I found entertaining when the Governor of Glubbdubdrib let him call up dead people and Swift criticized some distorsions of the History. I suppose there are a lot of examples of distorsions in our History.
In general, I didn't like this voyage. It's very odd for me!
Estefanía Díaz
Thanks again, Estefanía;you've worked hard on this and your reviews are good.
ResponderEliminarDuring the travel to Laputa and Balnibarbi, we can see some interesting aspects. First of all, Gulliver gets to know a society whose people work in the wrong way. Rich people are always in their own thinkings, and don´t pay attention to any other things. Meanwhile, the servants have nothing to do or say, because they don´t have the chance to do it. Can we be reflected in this situation nowadays? The problem is that those thinkings could be interesting, but no practice at all, so the society can´t progress and go on. Only Lord Munodi, an intelligent man, has an organised and productive farm because he doesn´t waste his time on unuseful ideas, but he is ordered to work in the same wrong way as the rest do. This circumstance doesn´t happen in a concrete moment and place in our world, it´s a very common one. Everyday we can see how money and resources are wasted on things that are not really important or, at least, not the most important. And if you try to get on your own way, you will find all kind of problems and difficulties, even if it´s a good idea or project.
ResponderEliminarThis story shows us how the world, and the society in general, could be better if we used our powerful abilities and resources in the right way. Human beings are great, but most of the times we don´t seem so.
Alberto Suárez García
Mind blowing, the only adjective, I'm able to use to describe the third Gulliver's trip. Sincerely, I even thought if the drugs effects could be the lethal weapon which J. Swift used to write this nonsense.
EliminarIn this travel J. Swift come to blow the overkill on. In this case is the intellectual world. It rises over the poor human beings who have the goal to be like them. Advises and opinions from island people is followed devotedly by Laputa's people and the impact os their extravagances is suffered.
Tradition and common sense is marginalized although it is the tradition which feeds them. The writer make a conspiratorial wink to women when they are presented how the only people with some sense.
The brilliant gags of this travel invite us to reflex about how we should use the intelligence. Towards practical things should be focused our intellectual efforts. Wisdoms used to be with one's feet on the ground. Otherwise we would still be with the Balnibarbi's king to get some sunbeams from cucumbers.
Francisco E. Fernández
Thank you, Paco."It's never too late"
EliminarThere are some important questions raised in this third part. One of them is what you would do if you could live forever? While Gulliver fantasizes about what he would do if he were immortal, Swift gives us to understand through the example of Struldbrug people that immortality is not so good as it seems at first sight, that it is quite a depressing and stupid thing to wish. I also agree with the writer and think that there is no reason to live when you have all the time in the world, finally it will make you very unhappy, frustrated and jealous of those people who can die. So, do you really want to live forever?
ResponderEliminarMila
Good point of view.
ResponderEliminarThank you, Mila
the voyage to Laputa and Balnibarbi is whithout doubt another criticism about his own society,where the rich people ,all had servants and they are richer than others working in stupids unproductives tasks like mathematics and music.They were very good making absurds theories,but They were not practical people at all,Nowaday we could have the same problem,we may move this theory to our world,so,for example,today is well paid to be a footballer,popstart,an actor or even whatever person that going out on tv working in rose and yellow press than an architect a policeman,scientist,builders .....Its really SHAMEFUL.
ResponderEliminarIn the second part in Glubbdubrib and Luggnagg,I think that Swift wants to criticise our history,I completly agree with him,many famous people from history,many heroes of the past or famous thinkers havent been really as we know or as we have studied them in our books,the truth could be completly different in many cases.
ABOUT the Strulbruggs,I suppose that to be immortal dont mean to be happy or have a succesful life
There is a famous quote that says:there are many people anxious of immortality that they dont know what to do in a wet and rainy day.
DAVID FM.
I liked the book very much, although I found the vocabulary a bit too difficult to understand. Also, I thought it was a children’s book, but when I read it, I realised it was not.
ResponderEliminarI found the book really funny, and enjoyed it a lot probably because I am a fisherman at heart.
After reading the book, everyone could learn different things. I remembered something I knew but people forget many times: that everyone is different, and that is a good thing. I think that travelling helps us accept different people and be more open-minded.
Everyone is good in many things and bad in other, but there are much people who do not accept different people. If we had changed these things, now we would live in a better world.
I can imagine when the writer wrote the book, these things were more difficult to change than at the moment. Luckily, things are changing and I hope that in the future everything will be right.
Ricardo Fernández, 2nd Intermediate
Thank you, ricardo.
ResponderEliminarVery good review
Personally I don't like this third part of Gulliver's book. I find it too fantastic, I prefer more realistic stories.
ResponderEliminarMaybe this is the reason why it was very difficult try to understand it.
Inhabitants in Laputa are very good in sciences like maths or music, however they are not practical because they can not to solve daily life activities. In my opinion it is an absurd situation.
The society behaviour is criticized by the author. He tell how rich people spend their time in not important things don't living a real life.
The author also attacks the scientists. We must not forget that the scientist spirit in that time was very important (Newton was a hero).
To end I would like to said that this story talk about more interesting things relating with the society apart from the Gulliver adventures.
Ana R
In my opinion it's an entertaining story if you like fantasy. It's a book of travels which was a very common subject in that century because os the Colonialism and geographic travels around the world and I imagine that these books were as fantastic as this one for most people at that moment.
ResponderEliminarIn fact, the colonialist world is present a lot of times. Iwould like to stress that European mind about Colonialism also is present because the Europeans have always thought that their culture, society and behaviour are better than in other countries and it's showed through Gulliver's behaviour and mind.
In conclusion, I enjoy it
Thank you very much, Sonia
EliminarThis was the part I´d enjoyed the least. Despite of being a chapter full of fantasy, ti found it so heavy-going.In my opinion J.Swift migth simplify all the adventures he related in this part, I found it so confusing.
ResponderEliminar