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

  • By: Jonathan Swift
  • Narrated by: David Hyde Pierce
  • Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (3,585 ratings)

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

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

By: Jonathan Swift
Narrated by: David Hyde Pierce
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Editorial reviews

Gulliver’s encounters with fantastic peoples and creatures - from the small-statured Lilliputians to the stargazing Liputians - reach to the far corners of the world. As narrator, David Hyde Pierce wonderfully captures the wit and irony of this much-loved classic. 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. 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.

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.

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)

What listeners say about Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce

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Movie is better

I enjoyed the rich, wordy writing, but after about 2/3 of the way through the book, the writing just becomes boring and tedious rambling.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great performance of this timeless classic

David Hyde Pierce seemed to enjoy reading this very much. A delightful performance of a wonderful book.

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A fantastic tale and work of satire.

I'm in my fifties. I knew of Gulliver's Travels, but only as a fantastic tale of unlikely journeys. It was only recently that I realized that it was written by the same author as A Modest Proposal. It's amazing how on point the satire is considering when it was written.

I'm also a fan of science fiction and fantasy. Swift put a lot of thought into these fantastic situations making the differences of each scenario very memorable.

The reading fits the content beautifully.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • SR
  • 12-11-23

I tried.

I really wanted to like this story. There were places that I really enjoyed, however, not enough to finish it. I found myself wondering in my head and not listening. It was just boring.

The performance was well done.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Pierce is perfect for this story

David Hyde Pierce matches Swift’s linguistic style perfectly. I enjoyed this so much more as an adult than reading it as a child.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Awesome performance

The performance is awesome, nice job David Hyde Pierce. The story is a satire of politics and human nature. I had to read it for school, I am glad it was free.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Lesson

Full of useful ideas about humanity. I won’t read again however I am glad I did read it once.

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  • SK
  • 10-04-23

Fantastic!

Great story written by Jonathon Swift and excellent narration by David Hyde Pierce ( especially in part 4)!

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Best read audiobook ever

Reading is terrific and story is classic. Its def a must listen for anyone seeking classics read right!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ffff

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I am I a teacher an and I am not

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