Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce

By: Jonathan Swift

Narrated by: David Hyde Pierce

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Four-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce is famous for playing the lovably self-important Dr. Niles Crane in the hit TV series Frasier. Now, he brings the same wit and charming arrogance to his Signature Classics performance of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

More than just a mock travel book and fabulous adventure, Gulliver’s Travels is a character study and social satire that skewers politics, science, religion, philosophy, and pretentiousness with a bite and resonance that remains as fresh today as the day it was published. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been out of print in nearly 300 years.

Set sail with David Hyde Pierce for a smart, fun, new Gulliver’s Travels experience that’s unlike any other. And stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors Leelee Sobiesky, Casey Affleck, Tim Curry, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.

Listen to more Audible Signature Classics.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Despite Gulliver’s detailed, and sometimes cumbersome, descriptions of strange lands and their inhabitants, Pierce doesn’t miss a beat. His melodic voice wraps perfectly around Swift’s eighteenth-century language. His pronunciations of the imaginative languages are delightful, especially the neighing expressions of the Houyhnhnms, a utopian society of horses. In a book in which the author’s voice comes through on every page, Pierce’s consistently matter-of-fact tone fits Swift’s own. His reading highlights the author’s humor and sarcasm, pulling the listener into this fantastic journey." ( AudioFile)

I loved, loved, loved this book!

I have always enjoyed the parts of Gulliver's travels that I have heard, but I had never heard it in its entirety. When I saw it available in Audible and narrated by David Hyde Pierce I realized that I had to hear it. It was incredible! I found myself hating to have to pause the reading so I could go out and do errands or get work done around the house. I was wanting to get back to it whenever I had a few minutes to listen. David Hyde Pierce adds so much to the emotions of the story too! And the other parts that I had never heard before? They were enlightening and entertaining. It's easy to see why Swift had been so upsetting to the rulers of the day.

touch and go

there are some genuine laughs throughout this book, Gulliver's travels wasn't ever boring but by the end of the book I felt its welcome sufficiently ended. I did not want more but was satisfied with the conclusion.

Fast reading sometimes monotone

this audiobook took me a couple of years to finish because I would often get very sleepy listening to it

It Appears that I'm a Yahoo, too.

This book did very little for me in high school, so when it was offered as a Daily Deal in July of last year I leapt at the chance to see if several decades of experience in the world would change my tepid adolescent reaction. It is, after all, one of our Classics, a work that needs to be in everyone’s mental arsenal. The adolescent me was vapid and shallow. Surely, I’d get more out of the experience now.

Nope. I’m still as vapid and shallow as ever.

Yes, I “get” the book. That’s the whole problem. Gulliver’s Travels is one of those books whose point is so obvious that the reader (or listener) realizes very early on that that copy of Cliff’s Notes won’t be necessary. Yes, we humans are horrible, contradictory creatures worthy of ridicule. Our manners and mores can be held up for constant criticism. Our wars are nothing more than wastes of resources. Our pride is pointless. The grandest among us is nothing more than a Lilliputian or Yahoo in disguise. And to make the thing even more hopelessly horrible Gulliver, in his final contempt for his own species, becomes even more contemptible than you or me.

Gullible Gulliver is Everyman, taking in all he sees and hears uncritically, much as I did in my first Political Science class in high school. I was by turns a dedicated Hobbesian, a committed Marxist, a zealous Jeffersonian, depending on what we happened to be reading that week. In Gulliver’s case, “we” (you and me, the reader or listener) get the ironies, but the pleasure derived from the exercise soon palls.

There is also some annoying Enlightenment oversimplification at work here, especially in matters of religion. The essential dispute between Protestants and Catholics—the different understandings of Jesus’ words, “This is my body”—is lampooned as a disagreement about the best way to attack a soft-boiled egg. As silly and pointless as many human activities can admittedly be, this isn’t one of them. Yes, I enjoyed the picture of Balnibarbi’s blind pursuit of “science” as possibly Swift’s most “relevant” commentary for our Modern Times (a passage that probably provokes the scientifically-minded as much as the Big-and-Little-Endians chafed me). Swift seems to be criticizing everything and defending nothing—except possibly human reason. But by the end we humans are revealed as nothing but Yahoos in fancy dress.

Maybe that’s what’s at the heart of my dislike of this book—the sense in the end that nothing really matters. Certainly that’s how Gulliver feels by the end. Cast out of Houyhnhnm society on the charge that he is nothing more than a dressed-up Yahoo, he holds no grudge but accepts their verdict with nary a shadow of resentment. In fact, he spends the last pages pining for their society and counting the ways that England falls short of that equine paradise. Maybe I do need some Cliff’s Notes after all, because I really have no idea how I am supposed to react. Is Gulliver a complete fool? Are the just criticisms of society made throughout the book to be believed? Has Gulliver just taken them too far? Unfortunately, after contemplating these questions for a few minutes I have to admit I don’t really care.

Even David Hyde Pierce’s performance is something of a disappointment. An actor who could wring the last fluid ounce of humor out of the briefest remark on “Frasier”, his effort here seems lackluster. Maybe Swift’s writing gave him nothing to hold on to (a distinct possibility). Or, maybe he was just out of sympathy with the book, too.

A Gulliver for Grown-Ups

What did you love best about Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce?

Pierce takes on the role of Gulliver with real understanding. The narrator of this work–Gulliver himself—is at times a trustworthy reporter, at times a partisan advocate, and at time an absolute fool. Of course, he does not realize when he is a bigot or an idiot, and Pierce reads him so that he comes across as utterly sincere while Swift looms behind him saying—"See how people fool themselves!" Pierce makes it easy to keep in mind the presence of both Gulliver and Swift at such moments.

What did you like best about this story?

The voice of Gulliver, who so often misses what's going on.

Which scene was your favorite?

I thought Pierce capture than deluded, arrogant, horse-worshipping Gulliver at the end of the book perfectly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I think 18th-century novels with their ironic narrators are perfect for Pierce. Could he do Fielding's Jonathan Wild the Great? Or, a Thackeray's Barry Lyndon, a Victorian version of the 18th-century? He would make those neglected novels come alive.

Interesting and thought provoking.

Would you listen to Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce again? Why?

Yes, because he read Gulliver's Travels very well considering all of the different characters he had to read for and he didn't read in silly voices. Pierce also had some incredibly weird names to pronounce and accents to keep straight.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce?

When Gulliver left his Houyhnhnm Master.

Which scene was your favorite?

1) When Gulliver left Glundalclitch.
2) When Gulliver left his Houyhnhnm Master.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me think about how Swift unfolded his idea that Humans are not suppose to know everything.

Any additional comments?

Now I know what it means when someone is called a YaHoo.

Classic

What did you love best about Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce?

This performance is done in great style, and it makes you believe, that there is actually a man telling his own story about his adventures, not an actor performing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author/narrator, his wit and genuine emotions make him truly alive.

What does David Hyde Pierce bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

David Hyde Pierce narrates the story as genuine as a real adventurer would be telling it to his friends. Not to mention he has a great voice!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last part of the book where Gulliver meets horse-like creatures and describes their most human way of living.

A wonderful American narration of this classic

Finding a narrator for Gulliver's Travels will always be a difficult choice. Think of any great actor and you'll find them reading this classic tale. David Hyde Pierce will forever be remembered as Nile Crane on Frasier, so it's an inspired choice for him to narrate this signature performance of Gulliver's Travels. He reads with drama, sense and skill, bringing life to the story with an appropriate sense of curiosity and discovery. To this story of travelling and adventure, of empires and the spreading and sharing of cultures and knowledge, his accent brings a particular emphasis which both suits the story and gives it new inflection. It's a great reading of this masterpiece which is well worth hearing and enjoying.

Excellent

I've always loved the story of Gulliver' Travels, having fallen in love with a movie version as a young child.

But I hadn't read the book in ages. The story is still great, but David Hyde Pierce's narration is nigh perfect. He has a great combination of arrogance, dry sarcasm, and moments of obsequiousness that the story calls for.

He also does an excellent job pronouncing all those made up words. I would've been reduced to giggle fits.

A verbal diary of a story. I loved it!

This was a treat to listen to. the performance made the audio version of this book come alive for me.