Layers of Thought: Jonathan Swift

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Preview: Gulliver’s Travels ~ by Jonathan Swift (with movie tie in and a contest too!)

Gulliver’s Travels ~ Jonathan Swift

Have you heard about the new movie soon to be released - Gulliver’s Travel with Jack Black in the staring roll as Gulliver?

It is slated to be released on Christmas Day and is in 3D – according to IMDb. It’s a modern take on the classic, and Penguin has taken the opportunity to release a new paperback version.

I have not read the book yet but know a bit about this fantastical story. Written in 1726 by Irish author, Jonathan Swift, it is touted as as an adventure story for children, and for adults as a social satire. Gulliver and his four journeys make for a fascinating trip; there’s realism and symbolism, with a philosophical theme running through its pages. I am looking forward to reading about those crazy Yahoos!

(DVD cover title links to IMDb ~ for more information about the movie and its release date).

Amazon purchasing links for the Penguin book edition are US|UK|Canada.

Paperback: 304 pages Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (November 2, 2010)

More from Penguin ~ a Contest!

Want to take the cold plunge to win 24 Graphic Deluxe Classics from Penguin?

A year ago Penguin created a list of their top ten classics which they thought everyone should read. Reader response was great in that many felt that their personal favorites were left out. So Penguin decided to rework this list with reader’s opinions.

They started with this post a year ago. Now, in the attempt to rework this list Penguin Classics hosted a contest which began in September of this year. They asked US residents to decide what were their top 25 books. Since then they have narrowed it down to the 25. Now they want to know “which are your top 10 classics?" from this 25. (Live link, connects to Layers of Thought’s post, where I listed mine from the first part of the contest).

You can vote for your top 10 of the 25, since the contest is still open and ends December 17, 2010, 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time. Link here for the contest survey document, and vote for your top 10.

Now for the really great bit! They also have another contest involving a very fun prize. Whoever can best predict the top 10 list, in order, will win the whole Graphic Classics collection, which is 24 titles total. To enter Email your predictions from 1-10 to penguinclassics@us.penguingroup.com for a chance to win. Exact rules for how to enter your predictions can be found on the website.

Here are three of the the 24 that I chose to show for visual interest (covers link the the Penguin purchasing page for each book). Here is the page for the entire list of Graphics Classics. Wow, I want a copy of each!