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)

Excellent narrator! Okay story.

For the era this book was written, it must have been groundbreaking. Swift’s plan to compare his own society with that of the societies he encounters, was an ingenious idea. By showing how things could be in a fantastical new world, he was able to point out the flaws in his own world. However, there are a lot of superfluous descriptions and some misogyny present, which shows the author’s own biases and flaws. David Hyde Pierce’s narration was the main reason for finishing this book. Fantastic narrator!

Great Performance, Clever Work

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

David Hyde Pierce is hilarious. I feel like his rendition of the written work adds so much that a reader may not pick up on their own initially. Also, it's easy to picture him in the role so if you're driving when you listen to this (like I was) it doesn't take a whole lot of focus to visualize the character since he is already so recognizable. Witty, honest, and hilarious.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I'll be honest, I'm only about halfway through but so far his "little nurse" is my favorite; the little girl who takes care of him in the land of the giants. I could so easily picture a sweet little girl taking such loving, but absented-minded care of a little wanderer.

Which scene was your favorite?

This book was clearly written in a time before television or other such easy entertainment modes. Such books seem so much more ornate in description and detail. So some parts went a bit slow at times. The specific dimensions given for different structures in town could become tedious. Even with that disclaimer, my favorite parts were in his description of cultures. For example, in Lilliput, he goes in detail about how children are raised, gender roles in society, and other cultural specifics. I find this fascinating to think he is comparing it to England at the time. The history nerd in me takes parts like this and builds an entire world around, the one he is describing and the one he is comparing it to.

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

I still have a few hours left to listen to! I'm just over halfway so I feel like I can't speak to this question just yet.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book while driving by myself on an extended road trip. I am a frequent audio book listener and have come to be much better at absorbing details by listening alone, rather than needing to read it before it truly sinks in. I found this book to be so detailed at times that I missed parts because I zoned out. I replayed parts and had to back up occasionally. I feel like this book would be hard to listen to with a group of travelers because each would miss different parts that enhance the overall story due to the nature of the writing. Share it with friends, but after you've listened to it at your own pace!

Satire? Farce? Vitriol?

I'd always heard that Gulliver's Travels was one of the great satiric works of English literature, but if that's the case, I don't really understand the word. I had always thought satire was a gentle, humourous, and sometimes even affectionate skewering of the status quo, but this book is actually often rather angry and ham-fisted. Then again, sometimes it is humourous to the point of almost being farcical. Either way, it's not the children's book that some might be expecting.

Regardless of whether I'd call it satire, I did enjoy it - and I'm glad I listened to it rather than read it, as I think some of the language would have made it a very difficult read. It's a classic for many reasons, and it is referenced time and time again in popular culture, in whole or in part. Many know the basics of the 4 travel stories that make up this book - one to a land of miniature people, one to a land of gigantic people, one to a land led by a floating city with emphasis on math and music, and one to a land of rationality and reason presided over by equines, not humans. Mostly, I believed they allowed Swift an opportunity to lampoon all the parts of his society that he wished to insult, but in a more acceptable manner than shouting it out on street corners.

David Hyde Pierce did a wonderful job, not only in making some of the imaginary language understandable rather than distracting, but also in making the events seem more plausible than they otherwise might be in print and in making the sometimes long and drawn-out descriptions more palatable. Sadly, it took a while before I stopped thinking of Niles Crane narrating a story with his brother as the protagonist, but that fault is solely my own and not a problem with his narration.

Absolutely delightful!

One could not imagine a better narrator for this great classic. David Hyde Pierce can even hee-haw and talk like a horse convincingly. I hesitated reading this novel for decades, because I don't usually appreciate fantasy, but now it is one of my favorites.

Not what I had hoped...

I personally like David Hyde Pierce as an actor immensely and that was one of the selling points of this book... But his narration is flat and I find myself drifting away - nothing is holding me to the story. I'm sad I chose this as one of my first books but I don't think there were any reviews yet when I purchased it.

outstanding!

a classic story, I can't imagine a better reading of anything! enjoy enjoy enjoy enjoy!

From Imperialism to Humanity

I have vague memories of watching an animated version of this book when I was still a little girl. And honestly, all I remember was the Lilliputian people and Gulliver being tied up! I definitely don’t remember his bowel movements, which is a strange subject to include.

But what impressed me was the Imperialistic mindset that Gulliver starts off with. He definitely had all the pomp and blindness of the true British Imperialist - That only Britain’s way was the best and perfect way. He was highly offended when other peoples poked holes in his National pride.
But as he met more and more people groups, you start seeing how he realises how arrogant his nation was. And I love how he transitions to a person who wants to become a better person.
I did not like how he gets his wife pregnant and skidadles off on adventure, leaving her home alone. And even as he sees all the flaws of humanity and it repulses him, he gain that arrogant pride on the opposite side of Imperialism. And that is just as toxic. He doesn’t ever seem to find a balance.

The narrator was very good, and I enjoyed listening to him.

Fabulous from start to finish.

Absolutely terrific with phenomenal narration and a gripping tale that invites one to consider humanity from enlightening viewpoints.

Strange, but kind of interesting

I loved the first two journeys,but then the author gets lost in strange social commentary. This book was wr in 1726. The narration was very good.

Good story, great storyteller

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

The narrator. David Hyde Pierce tells a crazy story in a most believable fashion.

What did you like best about this story?

It's a funny outsiders view of the foibles of our own societies. Few books can pull this off in fiction.

Have you listened to any of David Hyde Pierce’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Sorry, this is the first I've listened to.

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

The conclusion when the narrator gets home to England and reflects on all his journeys and how he sees his journeys differently than his countrymen would.

Any additional comments?

It's a classic story and David Hyde Pierce tells it masterfully.