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Gulliver in the Country of the Houyhnhnms

Last travel for Gulliver. From then on his life would not be the same. Gulliver in the Country of the Houyhnhnms on PhotoPeach

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  1. In general, I've liked this voyage. The Houyhnhnm language paid my attention. For example, they didn't have a word in their language to express lying or falsehood. I can't imagine!
    It's very curious that he felt a rejection for yahoos when he is one of them.
    Swift criticized the cause of wars again. In my opinion this has not changed and nowadays wars are totally ridiculous.
    I liked when he described the lawyer's job. Even thouhg it's a bit exaggerated it's entertaining.
    This travel is thought-provoking and sometimes depressing because you are aware of many things that we haven't been able to improve in two centuries, such as wars or corruption.
    In general, Gulliver's Travels is a heavy-going book. I think it's a well-written story but very complicated for my English level.

    Estefanía Díaz

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    1. Thanks a lot, Estefanía. Good review and good use of adjectives to describe books.

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  2. Fortunately, this voyage is more enjoyable than the previous one but as surrealistic as the rest of the book.
    The country of the Houyhnhnms is an idyllic place, where there are not illnesses, wars, angers… They even don’t have a word for “lie”. The only thing that seems to disturb all this peace and happiness is the existence of the Yahoos, a terrible wild animal physically similar to humans.
    I think this voyage is a continuous criticism to some human actions. The author compares us with the yahoos constantly: they are greedy, they want more things than their neighbours, they fight over little things, they hurt each other… They are evil, treacherous and vengeful animals.
    I think I like this last voyage. It’s very peculiar but it also has some fun. I find very funny the description of the English lawyers or when Gulliver, when he was in England again, was proud of trotting and talking like a horse.
    And finally, a personal comment: at the end of the story Gulliver becomes a little crazy; I think the same happened to Jonathan Swift when he wrote this novel. It’s a pity because I really enjoyed the first and the second voyage, they are clever and entertaining, but the last two parts, especially the third voyage, are so dense and heavy-going… If I hadn't had to read this book for homework I wouldn’t have finished it.

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  3. The story of Gulliver in the country of the Houyhnhnms shows us a place where its dwellers live really simple lives, but full of peace and happiness. They believe that can solve all their problems using their intelligence, and think that values like friendship or truth are really important. They can´t understand that other species (human beings in this case) have a great intelligence, but they use it in the wrong way, instead of use it to make good things, to progress and to live in peace. They have all the possibilities and conditions, but are always fighting and competing between them and no helping each others at all. I agree with it. We are the most intelligent species in the world, but most of the times we don´t look like. Moreover, essential things like sincerity, friendship, respect, commitment or solidarity are being lost in our modern and individualistic society. As somebody said, “God gives bread to people with no teeth”.

    Alberto Suárez García

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  4. I have found these two last parts of the book more interesting than the first ones. Despite of the fact that sometimes the book can result heavy-going, and in general terms I don’t consider it as entertaining, I have to admit that I liked some aspects that make this novel very thought-provoking. For example, it seems that the author wants to criticize the nobility when he describes the city of Laputa, where the people are engrossed in his own world without worry about the problems that the people are having under the city. But I also found criticism about the royal absolutism, the stupid reasons for doing a war, or even to the lawyers.
    On the other hand, I think that Jonathan Swift has idealized a lot the main character, Gulliver. He has been presented as a perfect gentleman, very smart, intrepid, and polite, but the true is he was travelling around the world for years while his family stayed at home worried about him, so in my opinion Gulliver is a bit selfish.


    Isaac Cernuda

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  5. In the last voyage to the country of the Houyhnhums is a relativism view of a special world,so,in our world the horses are stupids and they only are used to pull carriages or for racing in competitions or for doing hard tasks in the field....However,here is the world upside down,the horses are intelligent and the humans (here called yahoos) are stupids and wicked.
    SWIFT wants probably transmitted us an antibellicose world,where people dont fight with each other and where they never argue,may be a utopia but that which is true is that our real world is a cruel and belicist place with continuous civil wars or wars between different countries sometimes for the most ridiculous arguments.
    DAVID FM.

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