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If you read this in high school (as many of us did), it may have shocked you--not bad for a tract written in 1729. It wouldn't be fair to those of you who haven't come across A Modest Proposal to reveal the particulars of the piece; suffice it to say that Saturday Night Live has nothing on Jonathan Swift! Swift's discussion of what Great Britain should do for his native impoverished Ireland is a model of political satire, absolutely consistent in tone and even now still sparkling in its clarity. The balance between, on the one hand, the utter seriousness of the matter in question and, on the other, the outrageousness of the remedy suggested is exquisite. A Modest Proposal is short and comes bound in this edition with several of Swift's other writings. This volume is an excellent introduction to the author of Gulliver's Travels (itself a masterwork) and to one of the world's premier satirical minds. What are you waiting for? --Michael Gerber
Book Description
Treasury of 5 shorter works by the author of Gulliver's Travels offers ample evidence of the great satirist's inspired lampoonery. Title piece plus The Battle of the Books, A Meditation Upon a Broom-Stick, A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit and The Abolishing of Christianity in England.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pass the babies, please.,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Paperback)
Satire is sadly lacking in today's society. Satire holds human vices and folly up for ridicule. Swift is not advocating the economy of eating babies, but maybe the fact that they are currently eating the body parts of aborted fetuses in China seems to steal something from Swift's modestly porposed satire-or maybe it is too outrageous seeming to be true. Nevertheless, this is a brilliant work by a brilliant writer. It should be required reading. It is a pristine example of satire. Should we stop choking deaths by improvising starvation-- seek a new president by electing children? Satire is a genius' way of entertaining social change-literally. Although, sometimes though, even what once seemed impossibly satiric does not remain-which is proof of human folly.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite a Proposal,
This review is from: A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Paperback)
"A Modest Proposal", by Jonathan Swift, is a biting satire about life in 18th Century Ireland, in which the author seeks to find "a fair, cheap, and easy method" to transform the sick and starving children of Ireland into productive members of society. Swift's proposal, hardly modest, is to fatten up undernourished poor children and then sell them to more well-to-do families as food. By presenting this outrageous concept as an interrelated string of seemingly logical arguments, Swift leads the reader to understand that his proposal could simultaneously solve overpopulation and unemployment, save the poor from having to spend their meager resources on raising children, provide the poor with desperately needed extra income, and also give the wealthy access to a yet untapped high-protein delight. Of course, Swift is writing tongue-in-cheek, to shock the reader into rejecting his outrageous negative proposal and instead formulate a more sensible positive one. Although written in 1729, Swift's essay is still relevant in the 21st Century. For a really good and very quick read that repulses, amuses, and challenges you to think, I highly recommend this classic work.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seriousness through Sarcasm,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (Paperback)
This satire takes a sarcastic approach to reveal a serious point. This story condemns England for mistreatment of the Irish.
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