Sunday, October 31, 2004
OVERDUE THOUGHTS: On the topic of George Carlin's book not being offered in WalMart retail outlets, and the mini-uproar which followed: If you're the type of person who goes to a WalMart expecting to find anything by Carlin, you've probably never been to a WalMart.
On the Sox winning the series: Good on ya, Boston. You've been an inspiration to perennial underdogs everywhere. I just hope it won't take me 86 years to start raking in the winnings again.
Oh yeah, there's this bit, too...
JUST FINISHED: Gulliver's Travels, by Johnathan Swift. This one's going to be short, because it'd be presumptuous to think you need a plot summary, at least for the first two books (Lilliput and Brobdingnag). If the kid's lit versions are all you've ever read, though, the full version is worth your while, since otherwise you'd likely miss Gulliver's way of putting out a Lilliputian fire, and some of the nastier bits of the ironic and satirical arts (hint: the mercy of the King of Lilliput is a scary thing). Swift seems to be the type that wants people to redeem themselves, to aspire to their utmost and highest, and nowhere is this clearer than in Gulliver's nothing-spared, nothing-sugarcoated dialogue with his Houyhnhnm host about the state of Europe at the start of the 18th century. It's a brisk read in mostly accessible language, and since the core of human nature hasn't really changed in 300 years, still aims its daggers straight and true.
If you don't spring for a hard-copy version of Gulliver, I lean towards Lee Jaffe's web version, with copious background notes and a glossary. If you do, keep in mind that the selection from the book that Jaffe lists last (the letter from Captain Gulliver) was actually a preface added after the first edition, which definitely gives a different spin to everything that follows and made it a slightly different reading experience to subsequent generations. I know most of you have heard of "A Modest Proposal", but I'd also recommend looking up the story behind the Isaac Bickerstaff predictions, giving us yet another reason why you never want to cross swords with a satirist (I'm looking at you, Bill O'Reilly).
