A Modest Proposal and Other Essays

By: Jonathan Swift

Narrated by: Norman Dietz

In "A Modest Proposal," first published in 1729, Jonathan Swift heaps scorn on then-current political theory and reveals the appalling suffering taking place in Ireland - not through direct reporting, but through mock suggestions on what to do with the poor; they should sell their children for food. "The chief end I propose to myself in all my labors is to vex the world rather than divert it," wrote Jonathan Swift in a letter to his friend Alexander Pope. Other vexing works collected here are "Directions to Servants," "The Art of Political Lying," "A Digression Concerning the Critics," and "Sweetness and Light."Public Domain (P)1989 Recorded Books

A shockingly witty modest proposal

I’m not sure what the audio problem was in one review, but it sounded normal to me. Who knew that Swift was such an hysterically witty satirist? I mean, obviously many people know this...and now so do I!

Satirycal and out of the box

The title essay is interesting but with millions of unborn babies being killed every year has now taken a dark reality which sounds almost dystopian. The other essays are little gems of diverse value.

Loved it

A range of quality, but overall a nice sampling of Swift’s marvelous and, at times, scandalous satire.

Soooo Excellent! Highest Recommendation!

First of all the narration was fantastic. Norman, hats off to you sir. Jonathan swift, I must find more.

Very good reading; subpar audio quality

Obviously this is a great story, a masterpiece of satirical humor. I am not reviewing the story. I just wanted to note that I thought the reading performance was very good. The audio quality is not so great, but I found it totally listenable and enjoyed it.

Hilarious writing, good reading, fine audio

Excellent, hilarious writing. Quite a bit of it is surprisingly applicable to modern life too! Other parts offer a good glimpse into Swift's times.

The reading is done well, with a very wry voice, which is appropriate. Very good. It was a bit hard to hear, due to audio quality, in the shower – but fine in other settings, even with moderately loud fans blowing.

I wish that Audible would divide the file up into the chapters appropriately. There are five essays here. There is an introduction to the essay for the modern reader, and then the essay text itself. But the file is divided into only two chapters, unlabelled, with the division occurring in the middle of an essay. That is my biggest complaint. If each intro. and essay were given its own chapter (preferably with a descriptive label), then the file would be easier to navigate. The good news is that it is only two hours in (approximate) length, so finding one's place is not too hard.

waste of money

As been said, this is very difficult to hear; it's the worst audio quality of anything I've ever got from audible.

On top of that, the reader (firmly American) reads without any of the drama and irony that might help to communicate the point of Swift's satire.

Doing these kinds of texts badly is a sadly wasted opportunity.

Very difficult to hear

The content of this is probably better read and studied next to other Jonathan Swift works. The quality of the recording is very poor. I suggest you read it.

Crap

Worse sound quality I've ever gotten from Audible.