Gulliver's Travels -- Preface

I am currently reading this text on Project Gutenberg because my numerous copies are locked in a storage unit 300 miles away.

Anyhow, there was a passage in the section entitled "The Publisher to the Reader" that stood out to me.

"This volume would have been at least twice as large, if I had not made bold to strike out innumerable passages relating to the winds and tides, as well as to the variations and bearings in the several voyages, together with the minute descriptions of the management of the ship in storms, in the style of sailors; likewise the account of longitudes and latitudes; wherein I have reason to apprehend, that Mr. Gulliver may be a little dissatisfied.  But I was resolved to fit the work as much as possible to the general capacity of readers."

This passage immediately called to mind Tristram Shandy, which is preoccupied with the importance of minute particulars, and also Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, which gave detailed descriptions of storms and inventories of the ships and also his dwellings on his island.

Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719, Tristram Shandy's first volumes came along in 1759, and Gulliver's Travels fell right in the middle with a publication date in 1726.

I'm sure I'll be able to speak more to the importance of this at a later date, but it's just something I've noticed right off the bat.

Also, it seems that Sterne sets himself apart from Swift in this sense. From the very beginning, Sterne makes it clear that his "life and times" will be unabridged and involve many tangents and digressions. He warns us, just like Gulliver's publisher, but he makes it clear that he has not cut anything from his narrative. Maybe I can find some criticism later on down the road comparing the two prefaces

While Swift and Sterne (I'm not quite so sure about Defoe) are making light of this new form of the "novel," it seems a little bit like the Three Bears: One is too much information presented chaotically, one is a lot of information in an organized manner, and the last is just enough information presented in a neat little package. I may be way off base because I'm still early in my studies, but we'll see I guess.  

Start Here.

I have created this blog out of a genuine love of literature from the 18th century and the surrounding history and philosophies. Although I've already read and written a bit on the subject for academic purposes, I haven't really been able to dig as deeply as I've wanted. I've decided to start this blog so that I can record all of my reading and thoughts and have everything kept in one place. I am hoping that I might also be able to record thoughts that might eventually lead to an article or other piece later on down the road. This way I will have a bit of trail to follow.

I am trying to adhere to the practice of close reading as much as I possibly can, though I feel like my contextual background is slightly lacking. With that in mind, I will make an effort to read as many histories and philosophies alongside the literature so I can get a better picture of the age.  

I will start with Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, which is a work I ought to have read long ago but haven't quite had the chance to get to. I wrote my honors thesis on Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy and Swift's text has often been compared to Sterne's, so that seems like a logical place to start. Here are some other books I have coming up on my list:

The Rise of the Novel - Ian Watt
The Rhetoric of Fiction - Wayne C. Booth
Peter Peregrine; Humphrey Clinker - Tobias Smollett
Some Terry Eagleton goodness
Other literary criticism goodness

And then a few from this comprehensive list from Rutgers. Obviously Fielding, Richardson, Walpole, and Pope need to make their way into my list. I will get there. Until then, expect periodical updates on Gulliver's Travels.