Gulliver's Travels (1 of 20)

Publication Date: November 3, 2011

Chapter: English Literature During The Restoration And The Eighteenth Century

I've known since the Blazing World strips that Nicholle would be returning for this. Sending her on fantastic travelogues is just too much fun. It also allows me to put a semi-original spin on a topic that - let's face it - has been covered a thousand times over by other people. Gulliver's Travels is one of the most well-known books in the English language, and most people know the gist of its story without ever having read it. The first quarter of the book, featuring the Lilliputians, is particularly famous, and has been parodied in popular culture too many times to count.

I'll admit, I'm mostly familiar with the TV mini-series from 1996 staring Ted Danson. It's a shockingly good film, and completely covers all four parts of the book, not just "the famous bits." It also manages to retain a lot of the satirical elements that are key to Swift's work, pointedly criticizing politics and modern society. Perhaps I'll watch it again later this week.

Oh, and technically, the title of this book is Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships. This actually makes it one of those books that actually exists within its own fictional reality, since it was "written" by Gulliver himself. It's not unlike the Holmes stories "written" by Dr. John Watson, or like a certain webcomic we all enjoy.

Author: Jonathan Swift • Year: 1726, Amended 1735 • Info: Wikipedia

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About The Comic

Lit Brick is a comic started by Jodie Troutman in an effort to read the entire Norton Anthology of English Literature. Having eventually succeeded in that goal, it now features comics about all manner of random literature. For more of Jodie's work, visit longtalljodie.com!