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Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
In this deeply researched biography, Leo Damrosch draws on discoveries made over the past 30 years to tell the story of Swift’s life anew. Probing holes in the existing evidence, he takes seriously some daring speculations about Swift’s parentage, love life, and various personal relationships and shows how Swift’s public version of his life - the one accepted until recently - was deliberately misleading. Swift concealed aspects of himself and his relationships, and other people in his life helped to keep his secrets. Assembling suggestive clues, Damrosch re-narrates the events of Swift’s life while making vivid the sights, sounds, and smells of his English and Irish surroundings.
Through his own words and those of a wide circle of friends, a complex Swift emerges: a restless, combative, empathetic figure, a man of biting wit and powerful mind, and a major figure in the history of world letters.
In this deeply researched biography, Leo Damrosch draws on discoveries made over the past 30 years to tell the story of Swift’s life anew. Probing holes in the existing evidence, he takes seriously some daring speculations about Swift’s parentage, love life, and various personal relationships and shows how Swift’s public version of his life - the one accepted until recently - was deliberately misleading. Swift concealed aspects of himself and his relationships, and other people in his life helped to keep his secrets. Assembling suggestive clues, Damrosch re-narrates the events of Swift’s life while making vivid the sights, sounds, and smells of his English and Irish surroundings.
Through his own words and those of a wide circle of friends, a complex Swift emerges: a restless, combative, empathetic figure, a man of biting wit and powerful mind, and a major figure in the history of world letters.
586 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2013
38 people are currently reading
1,056 people want to read
About the author
Leo Damrosch
20books103followersLeo Damrosch is an American author and professor. In 2001, he was named the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard University.[1] He received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. His areas of academic specialty include Romanticism, the Enlightenment, and Puritanism.[1] Damrosch's "The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus" is one of the most important recent explorations of the early history of the Society of Friends. His Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius (2005) was a National Book Award finalist for nonfiction and winner of the 2006 L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award for best work of nonfiction. Among his other books are "Symbol and Truth in Blake's Myth" (1980), "God's Plot and Man's Stories: Studies in the Fictional Imagination from Milton to Fielding" (1985), "Fictions of Reality in the Age of Hume and Johnson" (1987), and "Tocqueville's Discovery of America" (2010).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
October 8, 2019
A careful examination of a complex figure, paced and written in an exceedingly deft and entertaining fashion, replete with (but not suffocated by) a mountain of detailed research. Damrosch resists those temptations which bedevil all biographers (projection, unbridled speculation, confirmation bias...) admirably as well, asking questions where his predecessors rushed in to provide answers. I greatly look forward to his book on Rousseau.
May 30, 2016
Second Reading: Same response to this biography on second reading.
First Reading:
Even though this biography may well be the "best" that we have - whatever that may mean - I was disappointed. Damrosch devotes more pages to speculation regarding Swift's paternity, the possibility that he was Esther/Hester Johnson's (Stella's) uncle, his dining out and dining in, etc., all of which has its place in his biography, I suppose, than to the inner life of his subject. We have more information on the presence of human excrement in the streets of Dublin during the 1730s. All very frustrating - especially because he tantalizes.
Damrosch gives us hints and glimpses of the content, organization and workings of Swift's private, inviolable domain, which he explores not at all. Here's an excerpt from my list of lost opportunities:
"...Swift's anarchic hidden self, defying the proprieties he normally had to preach and observe." (p. 403)
"With his probing, corrosive intelligence, Swift surely experienced a temptation to skepticism." (p. 148)
"in another early poem the aggressiveness is even more startling: 'Each line shall stab, shall blast, like daggers and like fire.'" (p. 86)
" ... he always had an impulsive, risk-taking streak." (p. 256)
"Swift chose this moment to self-destruct ..." (p. 255)
" 'Swift seems,' Scott said admiringly, '... to have possessed the faculty of transfusing his own soul into the body of anyone he selected - of seeing with his eyes, employing every organ of his sense, and even becoming master of the powers of his judgment.'" (p. 106)
"In the years to come Swift would return often to this mode of impersonation, which evidently satisfied a psychological need. It was a way of standing outside himself, inhabiting someone else's mind and then subverting it from within." (p. 152)
"... he had a disillusioned view of human nature, and no sympathy with attempts to patch it." (p. 141)
"Irony was a way of life for Swift ..." (p. 359)
"Swift was rightly proud of his skill as an ironist, and what makes his irony distinctive is the passionate emotion that drives it. ... 'A Modest Proposal' is a cry of despair." (p. 420)
What riches!
I want to know how the mind and corrosive, subversive intelligence of that hidden, anarchic self operated. I want to know how, when, under what conditions his ironic stance and perspective morphed into despair. And on and on.
But even suggestions of answers do not appear in Damrosch's narrative. Perhaps Damrosch gives us the reason. His target is Ehrenpreis's biography of Swift in three volumes - clearly dated as a relic of "the days when psychoanalytic writers liked to deduce formative traumas without any evidence." (p. 453.) I stopped counting after noting fifty passages in which Damrosch contradicts Ehrenpreis's characterizations and interpretations of Swift's behavior. But even if one rejects Freudian psychobiography - as I do - why must one also avoid explorations of an inner life almost entirely? Surely Damrosch could delineated the workings of a "probing, subversive intelligence" in 'A Tale of a Tub' without reference to Freud or any page of the DSM - at all.
I don't understand.
First Reading:
Even though this biography may well be the "best" that we have - whatever that may mean - I was disappointed. Damrosch devotes more pages to speculation regarding Swift's paternity, the possibility that he was Esther/Hester Johnson's (Stella's) uncle, his dining out and dining in, etc., all of which has its place in his biography, I suppose, than to the inner life of his subject. We have more information on the presence of human excrement in the streets of Dublin during the 1730s. All very frustrating - especially because he tantalizes.
Damrosch gives us hints and glimpses of the content, organization and workings of Swift's private, inviolable domain, which he explores not at all. Here's an excerpt from my list of lost opportunities:
"...Swift's anarchic hidden self, defying the proprieties he normally had to preach and observe." (p. 403)
"With his probing, corrosive intelligence, Swift surely experienced a temptation to skepticism." (p. 148)
"in another early poem the aggressiveness is even more startling: 'Each line shall stab, shall blast, like daggers and like fire.'" (p. 86)
" ... he always had an impulsive, risk-taking streak." (p. 256)
"Swift chose this moment to self-destruct ..." (p. 255)
" 'Swift seems,' Scott said admiringly, '... to have possessed the faculty of transfusing his own soul into the body of anyone he selected - of seeing with his eyes, employing every organ of his sense, and even becoming master of the powers of his judgment.'" (p. 106)
"In the years to come Swift would return often to this mode of impersonation, which evidently satisfied a psychological need. It was a way of standing outside himself, inhabiting someone else's mind and then subverting it from within." (p. 152)
"... he had a disillusioned view of human nature, and no sympathy with attempts to patch it." (p. 141)
"Irony was a way of life for Swift ..." (p. 359)
"Swift was rightly proud of his skill as an ironist, and what makes his irony distinctive is the passionate emotion that drives it. ... 'A Modest Proposal' is a cry of despair." (p. 420)
What riches!
I want to know how the mind and corrosive, subversive intelligence of that hidden, anarchic self operated. I want to know how, when, under what conditions his ironic stance and perspective morphed into despair. And on and on.
But even suggestions of answers do not appear in Damrosch's narrative. Perhaps Damrosch gives us the reason. His target is Ehrenpreis's biography of Swift in three volumes - clearly dated as a relic of "the days when psychoanalytic writers liked to deduce formative traumas without any evidence." (p. 453.) I stopped counting after noting fifty passages in which Damrosch contradicts Ehrenpreis's characterizations and interpretations of Swift's behavior. But even if one rejects Freudian psychobiography - as I do - why must one also avoid explorations of an inner life almost entirely? Surely Damrosch could delineated the workings of a "probing, subversive intelligence" in 'A Tale of a Tub' without reference to Freud or any page of the DSM - at all.
I don't understand.
March 25, 2014
A model biography: Damrosch keeps it succinct, without skimping on details; he combines information about Swift with information about his age; he doesn't take much for granted, but also isn't condescending. Also, it's perfectly readable. You could say "it reads like a novel," except that most novels don't read so well.
Swift is the perfect subject for a biography, so that helps as well. We have a bunch of letters, but not a library's worth; there's a solid biographical tradition that isn't completely overwhelming; and, most importantly, his life is fascinating no matter how you present it. His birth is shrouded in mythology, as is his early family life. He worked for one of the foremost literary stylists of the previous generation, and became the foremost prose stylist of his own time. He worked for two of the most powerful men in British politics, knew royalty, and somehow managed to keep his head about the whole thing. He may or may not have been secretly married to one woman, who may or may not have been related to him, and may or may not have cheated on her with another woman--and, in general, he seems to have been a ladies man.
More important than all of this, however, is his own writing. I think there's a real distinction between people who get Swift, and people who do not. Oddly, many of those who do not write academic articles about him.
If you can't make a biography out of all that, you shouldn't be writing biographies. On the other hand, there's a large set of verbs and adverbs that mean something completely different in biographies than they do in ordinary English, and Leo isn't immune to their lure: must have, possibly, perhaps, maybe, certainly, assuredly, definitely etc etc... Biographers of a previous generation used them to cover up the biases of their own age. Damrosch points out when previous biographers have done this for Swift, which gets a little annoying (put it in footnotes, not the main text) Then he does exactly the same thing. Swift 'must have' had doubts about his religion, because he was so smart.* Swift 'must have' been sleeping with Vanessa, because he was funny and smart and funny, smart people sleep around. Well well, what are we here for, but to provide the next generation of biographers something to complain about.
My only real complaint is that Damrosch fails to put readers of the 'Disgusting Poems' in their place. The poems are a hilarious send-up of romantic love, but literary critics being professors, they must find some kind of perversion or disturbance behind them. After all, if a man uses the word 'shit' in a poem, he must be utterly immoral/anally fixated/repressing his sexuality/subversive/a space alien. He couldn't possibly, you know, find it funny to end a poem with the word 'shit'. Most poems still end with some guff about My Mistress's Eyes are Black as Dried Figs or whatever, and Swift's coruscating poems should be celebrated far more than they are simply for being funny and acidic.
Anyway, of all the anecdotes about Swift, my favorite is the Bickerstaff case. But one snippet I learned from this book is almost as good. A 'science writer' read Gulliver's Travels in 1969. He assumed it was recently released, and tried to contact Swift at St. Patrick's. The current Dean responded, "Dr. Swift departed here on 19th October, 1745. He left no forwarding address. Since that date, as far as I know, he has not communicated with friend or foe. Where he is at present, God only knows."
* This silliness reaches Olympian heights when Damrosch suggests that Swift saying (not a direct quote, but more or less) "If heaven is the reward for virtue, then my mother will certainly be there" means *he didn't believe that the virtuous go to heaven.* At another point, he suggests that the entirely conventional use of 'Jove' to refer to God indicates doubts about Christianity.
Swift is the perfect subject for a biography, so that helps as well. We have a bunch of letters, but not a library's worth; there's a solid biographical tradition that isn't completely overwhelming; and, most importantly, his life is fascinating no matter how you present it. His birth is shrouded in mythology, as is his early family life. He worked for one of the foremost literary stylists of the previous generation, and became the foremost prose stylist of his own time. He worked for two of the most powerful men in British politics, knew royalty, and somehow managed to keep his head about the whole thing. He may or may not have been secretly married to one woman, who may or may not have been related to him, and may or may not have cheated on her with another woman--and, in general, he seems to have been a ladies man.
More important than all of this, however, is his own writing. I think there's a real distinction between people who get Swift, and people who do not. Oddly, many of those who do not write academic articles about him.
If you can't make a biography out of all that, you shouldn't be writing biographies. On the other hand, there's a large set of verbs and adverbs that mean something completely different in biographies than they do in ordinary English, and Leo isn't immune to their lure: must have, possibly, perhaps, maybe, certainly, assuredly, definitely etc etc... Biographers of a previous generation used them to cover up the biases of their own age. Damrosch points out when previous biographers have done this for Swift, which gets a little annoying (put it in footnotes, not the main text) Then he does exactly the same thing. Swift 'must have' had doubts about his religion, because he was so smart.* Swift 'must have' been sleeping with Vanessa, because he was funny and smart and funny, smart people sleep around. Well well, what are we here for, but to provide the next generation of biographers something to complain about.
My only real complaint is that Damrosch fails to put readers of the 'Disgusting Poems' in their place. The poems are a hilarious send-up of romantic love, but literary critics being professors, they must find some kind of perversion or disturbance behind them. After all, if a man uses the word 'shit' in a poem, he must be utterly immoral/anally fixated/repressing his sexuality/subversive/a space alien. He couldn't possibly, you know, find it funny to end a poem with the word 'shit'. Most poems still end with some guff about My Mistress's Eyes are Black as Dried Figs or whatever, and Swift's coruscating poems should be celebrated far more than they are simply for being funny and acidic.
Anyway, of all the anecdotes about Swift, my favorite is the Bickerstaff case. But one snippet I learned from this book is almost as good. A 'science writer' read Gulliver's Travels in 1969. He assumed it was recently released, and tried to contact Swift at St. Patrick's. The current Dean responded, "Dr. Swift departed here on 19th October, 1745. He left no forwarding address. Since that date, as far as I know, he has not communicated with friend or foe. Where he is at present, God only knows."
* This silliness reaches Olympian heights when Damrosch suggests that Swift saying (not a direct quote, but more or less) "If heaven is the reward for virtue, then my mother will certainly be there" means *he didn't believe that the virtuous go to heaven.* At another point, he suggests that the entirely conventional use of 'Jove' to refer to God indicates doubts about Christianity.
July 1, 2022
Excellent audiobook
August 1, 2024
Damrosch is a master biographer, literary historian, and scholar of the late 17th and 18th centuries. His research and writing skill are everywhere evident here. I suppose the emphasis on the minutiae of Swift’s personal and professional life did get a bit tedious at times. But I suppose Swift’s internal struggles were less complex, or less well known, than some of his other subjects, including the always melodramatic Rousseau.
March 17, 2014
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, the perfect occasion to honor an esteemed son of Ireland and thank ŷ Giveaways and Yale University Press for sending me this impressive volume. It was a pure pleasure to read. Engaging. Vivid. Fascinating. Soundly researched and written with a perceptible passion for history. Supplemented with a well-chosen collection of portraits and illustrations. Unraveling the enigmatic Swift could have been no small task, as the subject had deliberately shielded aspects of his life in layers of mystery and misdirection. An understandable defense given the atmosphere of gossip and persecution at the time. Swift had a magnetic and charming personality as well as a crafty intelligence. With wit and satire his writings reveal a keen reflection on human nature and strong views on social, political and economic issues that are as relevant today as they were three centuries ago. It is a beautiful book that I will cherish and reference for years to come.
March 30, 2017
Very readable and entertaining.
November 22, 2023
Damrosch really has a way of bringing the 18th century alive. Have just ordered his other biographies!
December 27, 2013
This is the most readable of the three Biographies of Swift that I have read. It’s not a painstaking scholarly work, but it is readable and provides a sound introduction to Swift and his world. It feels light on the writing, which is why there’s only four stars.
As a subject Swift poses particular problems. He wrote one of the most famous books in the English Language, coining terms that have passed into general usage, but what kind of person he was remains a matter for conjecture: demented, obscene, bitter, misogynist? He lived in that murky period between the Restoration and the Romantics which always seems to possess an irredeemable alterity. It is a foreign country shut off from us by the 19th century. Because of this, subsequent generations of scholars, critics and readers have rewritten and reread and imposed their own fussy morality on his life, letters and reputation.
Little evidence survives for the first forty years of his life, and most of that consists of anecdotes that were handed down at third or fourth hand. It’s not even clear who his father was or where or when he was baptised.
His poetry, which I like, belongs to a dead tradition and with a few (often notorious) exceptions, remains generally unread. Many of his famous literary friends are fading out of general knowledge. To the non-specialist, the politics of the period is baffling: it is the hinge between the old politics of King and aristocracy and the birth of the two party system in Britain; a time when patronage was still the only game in town, and no matter who you were, if you offended the wrong person, as Swift found out, the sound of doors shutting could be audible to everyone. Swift knew some of the major political players but how well or in what capacity other than for a brief period as party hack is open to debate.
His most famous relationships were with two women, but exactly what those relationships were is unknowable. Did he or did he not marry “Stella�, and if he didn’t, why not? There’s lots of speculation. The letters to “Vanessa� make frequent references to coffee but whether that means coffee or sex or both or neither is unknowable. Dashes were an agreed way of writing something that Swift thought shouldn’t be written, but what that something was is irredeemably lost.
The Journal to Stella, which reads like the most private of correspondences, is anything but. It has been tidied up and edited for publication and some of the originals are lost. The private language it was written in, which proved to one editor Swift’s incipient insanity and which reminds Damrosch of Finnegans Wake in places, remains private. Knowing he had enemies, and knowing his letters were being opened, Swift knew there was a great deal he couldn’t say or admit to. But as Damrosch points out, he also avoided telling ‘Stella� about ‘Vanessa� until it was unavoidable. So we have a man who was driven to secrecy and anonymity, who may rarely have spoken openly and certainly took great care in print to find ways of saying nothing that could be used against him.
Using the writing as evidence for his beliefs is unusually dangerous. It’s obvious that the infamous suggestion that farming and eating children would solve the problem of famine should not be taken literally, but then what to do with the group of poems Damrosch calls the “Disgusting poems�.
Add to this inevitable secrecy a mess of apparent contradictions. He was a national hero to a people he may have despised; the champion of a country he didn’t want to live in: a man who seems to have delighted in the company of strong willed intelligent women but whose poems and writing have been taken as examples of an almost hysterical misogyny.
Damrosch negotiates the problems to produce a readable, enjoyable narrative. Inevitably it’s part discussion, part refutation, part guarded approval of previous attempts. But he refuses to get bogged in what is unknowable. Instead he gives what is known, says which options he prefers, and moves on. Since so much of the early life depends on anecdotes, he has made a virtue of necessity, and given the source and the anecdote, but left it to stand as anecdote.
He is good at steering the reader through the politics, making enough sense of it so the reader can follow Swift. His use of Johnson’s dictionary to define Swift’s word usage is an effective way of side stepping the problem of a diction that appears familiar and often isn’t.
Apart from the revision, and some criticism of previous readings of ‘Vanessa� and her letters, there are some new ideas or at least some new usage of material. The major suggestion is the claim that Swift did not marry ‘Stella� because they were too closely related.
If the strength of the biography is in its style, the potential flaw in the biography is also in the style. While a biographer like Hadfield, with even less to go on for his life of Spenser, tracks carefully through the contending versions, Damrosch summarises. This makes for easy reading but at times the judgement on offer has to be taken on trust. If I were trying to use this for any kind of scholarly purpose I’d have to spend a lot of time trolling the bibliography to get behind the biography.
Although Damrosch gives a whole chapter to the “Disgusting poems� and the discussion is a good overview of what’s been said, I’m not sure it gets close to an offered conclusion.
Swift remains a shadowy character, lost in a lack of evidence, adrift in his multiple masks and contradictions. But in this biography Damrosch has succeeded in showing how context helps to read the man, not just his work. And for the seemingly effortless way in which Damrosch can recreate that context, the book is worth the price of admission.
September 4, 2014
This is an almost-great biography of a great and surpassingly strange man. Well-written, alive to its subject's sheer oddness, copiously illustrated, and filled with interesting detail. "Life and World" is right: the context is often (despite the caveat below) as interesting as the subject it illuminates.
I say "almost-great" for two reasons, perhaps only one of which can fairly be laid at Damrosch's door.
So, first, my all-purpose complaint about modern scholarly biographies. This one, although short relative to at least one of the monsters that preceded it, is 500 closely-printed pages - even though it tells the story of a man whose life is, in some crucial respects, a total enigma. (We are allowed to give full rein to prurient interest about Swift's involvement with Stella and Vanessa - Hester Johnson and Esther Vanhomrigh - only to be shown once again, alas, that essentially nothing can be known about his relationship to either of them.) The need for academics to write something that will be judged "definitive" seems to trump any consideration for the ordinary reader, who is unlikely even to attempt a tome on this scale and who would come away with just as much real understanding of Swift from a carefully-edited 300-page (or even 200-page) version. What does one want - status, or actual readers?
That's a question with which you can so readily imagine Swift himself having fun, perhaps in a new addendum to the Academy of Lagado section in Gulliver. The other point, which is more directly Damrosch's fault, even more so: the author cannot resist endlessly and cattily stabbing at the always-inferior scholars who preceded him. Most notably, biographer Irvin Ehrenpreis, who is damned with faint praise (or just damned ) again and again, usually over minor errors or excesses. Why can't a writer and scholar of Damrosch's stature see how petty this sounds, and how utterly uninteresting and irrelevant it is to 99.7% of his potential readers? Why can't he hear Swift's shade, chuckling darkly at his expense while sharpening a quill?
Well, enough: ignore these minor faults, be prepared to skim a bit, and it's a highly recommended insight into perhaps the greatest (if most ambivalently-Irish) writer Ireland has ever produced.
I say "almost-great" for two reasons, perhaps only one of which can fairly be laid at Damrosch's door.
So, first, my all-purpose complaint about modern scholarly biographies. This one, although short relative to at least one of the monsters that preceded it, is 500 closely-printed pages - even though it tells the story of a man whose life is, in some crucial respects, a total enigma. (We are allowed to give full rein to prurient interest about Swift's involvement with Stella and Vanessa - Hester Johnson and Esther Vanhomrigh - only to be shown once again, alas, that essentially nothing can be known about his relationship to either of them.) The need for academics to write something that will be judged "definitive" seems to trump any consideration for the ordinary reader, who is unlikely even to attempt a tome on this scale and who would come away with just as much real understanding of Swift from a carefully-edited 300-page (or even 200-page) version. What does one want - status, or actual readers?
That's a question with which you can so readily imagine Swift himself having fun, perhaps in a new addendum to the Academy of Lagado section in Gulliver. The other point, which is more directly Damrosch's fault, even more so: the author cannot resist endlessly and cattily stabbing at the always-inferior scholars who preceded him. Most notably, biographer Irvin Ehrenpreis, who is damned with faint praise (or just damned ) again and again, usually over minor errors or excesses. Why can't a writer and scholar of Damrosch's stature see how petty this sounds, and how utterly uninteresting and irrelevant it is to 99.7% of his potential readers? Why can't he hear Swift's shade, chuckling darkly at his expense while sharpening a quill?
Well, enough: ignore these minor faults, be prepared to skim a bit, and it's a highly recommended insight into perhaps the greatest (if most ambivalently-Irish) writer Ireland has ever produced.
September 25, 2018
A Hawk in His Fist
Traveling by book near Ireland, I was looking for a good classic biography to satisfy a genre challenge lacking only that and instantly thought of Swift. This is not a classic.I chose to read it anyways for absolutely no reason but that it appears to be a perfectly written bio of Swift. Since I was off my route, I read it bit by bit, in between my other books. This gave me a chance to read a few of 'Swift Johnny's' best known classic books, like Tale of a Tub.
Ironically, though there is so much we don't know about Swift's life, because much was unknown even by him, and much he chose to obscure in secrecy; we learn much about him from his writing. This is how Damrosch laid out the story. He very adeptly wove in Swift's books throughout his life story, giving some of the many arguments for the many theories about the 'secrets.' Normally, guesswork does not make good reading. But, here Damrosch reveals the large amount of previous research that has been done on Swift's life. So, it makes for an interesting life, even though we are removed from the subject by some 3 centuries. His wit and humor are almost cast in stone, through the beauty of his writing. Both Swift's birth and his last days of life were as intriguing as his writing.
I need to read The Drapier's Letters next. And, I don't think its possible to tire of Gulliver's Travels. I highly recommend that anyone interested in Swift's writing take a look at Damrosch's biography. I read it in the Audible narrated perfectly by David Stifel.
Traveling by book near Ireland, I was looking for a good classic biography to satisfy a genre challenge lacking only that and instantly thought of Swift. This is not a classic.I chose to read it anyways for absolutely no reason but that it appears to be a perfectly written bio of Swift. Since I was off my route, I read it bit by bit, in between my other books. This gave me a chance to read a few of 'Swift Johnny's' best known classic books, like Tale of a Tub.
Ironically, though there is so much we don't know about Swift's life, because much was unknown even by him, and much he chose to obscure in secrecy; we learn much about him from his writing. This is how Damrosch laid out the story. He very adeptly wove in Swift's books throughout his life story, giving some of the many arguments for the many theories about the 'secrets.' Normally, guesswork does not make good reading. But, here Damrosch reveals the large amount of previous research that has been done on Swift's life. So, it makes for an interesting life, even though we are removed from the subject by some 3 centuries. His wit and humor are almost cast in stone, through the beauty of his writing. Both Swift's birth and his last days of life were as intriguing as his writing.
I need to read The Drapier's Letters next. And, I don't think its possible to tire of Gulliver's Travels. I highly recommend that anyone interested in Swift's writing take a look at Damrosch's biography. I read it in the Audible narrated perfectly by David Stifel.
December 15, 2015
(Audible; David Stifel narrator) Suggests plausible solutions to the identification of Swift's father (John Temple?) and Hester Johnson's (Swift's Stella) father (William Temple, his son). Could this be the reason Swift and Stella were best friends (or lovers?) until her death? Much interesting information about Swift's contemporaries, e.g., Dr. Arbuthnot; Alexander Pope; Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough; the book collector Robert Harley, the Duke of Oxford. A good discussion of Swift's struggles with Meuniere's Disease, responsible for his vertigo, tinnitus, and deafness. Altogether too much time spent on Swift's scatalogical side. Re: slave trade--The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, ending the Spanish War of Succession, transferred the right to trade slaves from the French to the English, who in the next century sent 1 1/2 million slaves to the Caribbean and the New World. Robert Harley, Duke of Oxford, that collector of magnificent manuscripts, supported and benefited from the slave trade. Lord Bolinbroke appears to have tried to make a deal with James Stuart, the Pretender, to take the throne from George I. A better narrator would have been welcome. This just awful narrator does his best to make this book as boring as possible. An American, he switches to a dreadful English accent when quoting from works of Swift and his contemporaries. Still, for once, the subject matter supersedes the audio performance.
January 1, 2014
This latest biography of Jonathan Swift is both an academic study and immensely readable book. With painstaking and meticulous research, acclaimed academic and biographer Leo Damrosch has left no stone unturned in his effort to make this most intriguing of characters come alive. And in this he succeeds, so that the reader is left with a vivid portrait of a complex and fascinating man of politics, religion and literature. Best known today for his book Gulliver’s Travels, Swift was active not only in the world of letters, but also in the church and in politics. He had a vast network of friends and acquaintances, and Damrosch examines all these aspects of his life and puts them into their historical context. It’s a long book, and sometimes feels a bit overwhelming with so many facts and figures to take in, but the style remains accessible throughout, and accompanied as it is with a wealth of illustrations, this is a perceptive and enjoyable biography, and will be of interest to both scholars and the general reader.
April 19, 2014
if you are contemplating reading this book, a word of warning: don't get the audio version. The reader does voices. And does them in such a horribly annoying manner than I almost gave up on the book.
Another warning: the introduction is weirdly critical of previous work on Swift. Almost rudely so.
Now for the other things.
What I knew of Swift had already made him an interesting character. Although Damrosch appears to be strangely unsympathetic toward him, Swift does come across as indeed interesting and complex, precisely for those reasons that at times seem to make him somewhat discreditable to Damrosch: he was inconsistent in his political options; ambiguous in his romantic connections; a bit of a sycophant at times; religiously, um, interesting; lacking connections to the great minds of the age.
But if you do know that Gulliver's Travels is not a children's book and loved it nonetheless, you can't not be interested in this insight into the times and man behind it.
Another warning: the introduction is weirdly critical of previous work on Swift. Almost rudely so.
Now for the other things.
What I knew of Swift had already made him an interesting character. Although Damrosch appears to be strangely unsympathetic toward him, Swift does come across as indeed interesting and complex, precisely for those reasons that at times seem to make him somewhat discreditable to Damrosch: he was inconsistent in his political options; ambiguous in his romantic connections; a bit of a sycophant at times; religiously, um, interesting; lacking connections to the great minds of the age.
But if you do know that Gulliver's Travels is not a children's book and loved it nonetheless, you can't not be interested in this insight into the times and man behind it.
June 20, 2015
This is a very entertaining biography of Swift. The author has a gift for summarizing the political events and positions that Swift satirized; he makes convoluted and unfamiliar issues comprehensible to a modern reader. It was interesting to me how little interest Swift seemed to have in theology considering that he was a clergyman. As was typical of the time apparently, he approached his clerical work mostly as an opportunity for income and advancement. He lived in a dangerous time to be a satirist considering that he had to publish anonymously, the authorities suspected him and put out a reward for anyone able to identify him as the author of certain publications, and also opened and read his correspondence.
March 26, 2014
I finally read "Gulliver's Travels" last month, and it made this book even more enjoyable. I like reading the historical context behind works, especially for someone as political as Swift. A small thing, perhaps, but having illustrations on the pages where the place or person is being discussed is very nice.
February 8, 2019
Damrosch achieves his goal of evoking a more complex, nuanced Swift than the Swift described by some of his earlier biographers. When I read the last chapter for the first time for a class, I cried for Swift. Now, having read the whole book, it's a deeper, rounder grief for him, which is how I know I've been made to feel like I knew Swift.
April 30, 2022
I grant that Swift's life is a bit of a mystery apart from what is remaining in his written correspondence, so this book focusing on that is understandable, albeit occasionally a drag when the author takes dozens of pages to describe a single affair. But it contextualizes Swift's life well, and to see the development of the Gulliver's Travels worldview is enlightening.
September 24, 2015
The best biography of Swift I know, it eclipses (I hope) Ehrenpreis's bloated 3-volumes of guesswork and pseudo-Freudian surmise. (Geez, Irv -- couldn't Swift have felt his loins stir even once, however many father-figures he found?)
February 7, 2014
Great book. Took me back to the days of my restoration British literature course.
August 3, 2014
Very long, and comprehensive, but always quite interesting.
January 1, 2018
I absolutely loved this book and the subject. So eminently readable.
July 22, 2018
A good biography.
April 28, 2022
Excellent but a bit repetitive
February 29, 2024
Numerous elucidations of Swift's life and work have been offered. Macaulay, Jeffrey, and Thackeray produced unsympathetic studies of Swift. But much has been written in his defence since then, and he still remains somewhat of a mystery. It is not easy to reconcile his disdain for mankind with his affection for his friends and their affection for him.
Similarly it is not easy to reconcile his attacks on womankind with his love for one woman, and the love which two other women felt for him.
Again, it is difficult to explain the offensiveness of some of his writings in the light of the decorum of his own life and his real sense of religion.
Probably these contradictions were due to a slanted imagination, or the result of some physical or mental defect. At the same time, it may be pointed out that it is very occasionally that any coarseness appears in his work. There is no lewdness in his work, and no persistent strain of indecency as there is in Sterne, for instance.
The author of the present volume writes: ‘This book draws on discoveries that scores of researchers have made during the past thirty years about the details of Swift’s life. It also takes seriously some daring speculations about his family and his relationships that differ radically from the official story. Unlike a fictional mystery, Swift’s can’t have a pat ending, but some of the possible scenarios are at least as plausible as the official story—more plausible, in fact. And some very suggestive bits of evidence, recorded in out-of-the-way places and presented here, have never been fully assembled until now…�
And the author vindicates his statement to the tee in this 590 plus page, thirty chapter tome.
Some have suggested that Swift's avoidance of the common ties of human life was due to his fears of approaching madness. Others find the explanation in his physical infirmities. Others, again, have found the answer in his coldness of temperament or in his strong desire for independence.
This book will show you that Swift appears to have hungered for human sympathy, but to have wanted nothing more. From the passion of love, he seems to have turned away with revulsion. The early years of poverty and dependence left a permanent mark on him, and he became a disappointed and embittered man.
His mind, possessed by a spirit of scorn, turned in upon itself, and his egotism grew with advancing years. Cursed with excessive pride and arrogance, he became like a suppressed volcano. His keenness of vision caused him to see with painful clearness all that was contemptible and degrading in his fellow-men, but he had little appreciation for what was good and great in them.
The pains and lightheadedness to which he was subject left their impression upon his work. "At best", he said, "I have an ill-head, and an aching heart."
His cynicism was really a sickness, and his life of solitude and dissatisfaction was a tragedy calling for pity and awe, rather than for blame.
Although the facts of Swift's life are fairly clear (with the exception of his relationship with Stella), his complex temperament and personality tend to elude and sometimes repel readers. In religion and politics he was a conservative, a believer in the authority of the Church and the State.
He thought that the general and traditional wisdom embodied in these institutions corrected the inherent prejudices of the individual mind. But he realized that institutions might themselves be corrupted, and he had no illusions about the specific kings, ministers, and bishops who directed them.
He believed in common sense rather than in systems or in nonconcrete reasoning: he disliked anything theoretical in approach, including metaphysics and what we now call science, as irrelevant to man's centi I moral concerns. At the same time, common sense led him to distrust "enthusiasm", the modern term for any kind of fanatical or highly emotional attitude.
Why is this book exceptional? Read it here:
‘This book differs too from previous biographies in seeking not just to recount the events of Swift’s career, but also to bring him to life as a complex, compelling human being.
Hidden though he wanted his inner life to be, he was anything but a recluse. “He always appeared to the world in a mask,� his godson Thomas Sheridan said, “which he never took off but in the company of his most intimate friends.� But with them he did take it off, and they all testified to his magnetic personality and infectious playfulness. Listening to Swift’s own words, together with those of his wide circle of friends, we can form an intimate acquaintance with him.
In addition, rich contemporary descriptions of life in Ireland and England are available, and they bring back the sights, sounds, and smells of Swift’s world—he was acutely sensitive to them all…�
Similarly it is not easy to reconcile his attacks on womankind with his love for one woman, and the love which two other women felt for him.
Again, it is difficult to explain the offensiveness of some of his writings in the light of the decorum of his own life and his real sense of religion.
Probably these contradictions were due to a slanted imagination, or the result of some physical or mental defect. At the same time, it may be pointed out that it is very occasionally that any coarseness appears in his work. There is no lewdness in his work, and no persistent strain of indecency as there is in Sterne, for instance.
The author of the present volume writes: ‘This book draws on discoveries that scores of researchers have made during the past thirty years about the details of Swift’s life. It also takes seriously some daring speculations about his family and his relationships that differ radically from the official story. Unlike a fictional mystery, Swift’s can’t have a pat ending, but some of the possible scenarios are at least as plausible as the official story—more plausible, in fact. And some very suggestive bits of evidence, recorded in out-of-the-way places and presented here, have never been fully assembled until now…�
And the author vindicates his statement to the tee in this 590 plus page, thirty chapter tome.
Some have suggested that Swift's avoidance of the common ties of human life was due to his fears of approaching madness. Others find the explanation in his physical infirmities. Others, again, have found the answer in his coldness of temperament or in his strong desire for independence.
This book will show you that Swift appears to have hungered for human sympathy, but to have wanted nothing more. From the passion of love, he seems to have turned away with revulsion. The early years of poverty and dependence left a permanent mark on him, and he became a disappointed and embittered man.
His mind, possessed by a spirit of scorn, turned in upon itself, and his egotism grew with advancing years. Cursed with excessive pride and arrogance, he became like a suppressed volcano. His keenness of vision caused him to see with painful clearness all that was contemptible and degrading in his fellow-men, but he had little appreciation for what was good and great in them.
The pains and lightheadedness to which he was subject left their impression upon his work. "At best", he said, "I have an ill-head, and an aching heart."
His cynicism was really a sickness, and his life of solitude and dissatisfaction was a tragedy calling for pity and awe, rather than for blame.
Although the facts of Swift's life are fairly clear (with the exception of his relationship with Stella), his complex temperament and personality tend to elude and sometimes repel readers. In religion and politics he was a conservative, a believer in the authority of the Church and the State.
He thought that the general and traditional wisdom embodied in these institutions corrected the inherent prejudices of the individual mind. But he realized that institutions might themselves be corrupted, and he had no illusions about the specific kings, ministers, and bishops who directed them.
He believed in common sense rather than in systems or in nonconcrete reasoning: he disliked anything theoretical in approach, including metaphysics and what we now call science, as irrelevant to man's centi I moral concerns. At the same time, common sense led him to distrust "enthusiasm", the modern term for any kind of fanatical or highly emotional attitude.
Why is this book exceptional? Read it here:
‘This book differs too from previous biographies in seeking not just to recount the events of Swift’s career, but also to bring him to life as a complex, compelling human being.
Hidden though he wanted his inner life to be, he was anything but a recluse. “He always appeared to the world in a mask,� his godson Thomas Sheridan said, “which he never took off but in the company of his most intimate friends.� But with them he did take it off, and they all testified to his magnetic personality and infectious playfulness. Listening to Swift’s own words, together with those of his wide circle of friends, we can form an intimate acquaintance with him.
In addition, rich contemporary descriptions of life in Ireland and England are available, and they bring back the sights, sounds, and smells of Swift’s world—he was acutely sensitive to them all…�
September 16, 2024
U višesmislenoj „Priči o buretu�, vjerskoj emociji se pridaju analni i genitalni izvori; zapravo, autor je toliko „daleko� (od teksta) da se ne zna da li hvali religiju ili joj se posprdava. U „Mehaničkim operacijama duha� brojni čitaoci su se uvrijedili zbog implikacije da je vjerska emocija samo simptom potisnute ili izopačene seksualnosti...
Kad je došlo vrijeme za rukopoloženje u biskupa, koje je dr Svift mislio da zaslužuje, upravo će „Priča o buretu� pokvariti njegove nade za boljom karijerom; ubijediće kraljicu Anu da naredi da se Sviftu ne dadne ta titula. Svift je kasno rukopoložen za sveštenika, u dvadeset sedmoj godini i, po svemu sudeći, to je učinio zbog novca, a ne zbog duhovnog poziva.
„Priču o buretu�, koja kod nas na Balkanu, po svemu sudeći, nikada nije prevedena u cjelosti, napisao je deset godina kasnije, u trideset sedmoj godini života. Bilo je to prvo veće čovjekovo djelo u opusu koji broji devetnaest tomova. Ono što Sviftovim tomovima, za razliku od njegovih savremenika, sigurno nije dominiralo bio je manirizam bilo kakve vrste.
To što je obično navodilo i inspirisalo njegovo pero da na hartiji ostavlja tragove najčistijih i najednostavnijih rečenica koje je engleski jezik do tada spoznao bio je zapravo � nerazvodnjeni gnjev.
„Ugursuz nikada nije upotrijebio metaforu�, napisao je o njemu Semjuel Džonson.
Džonatan Svift (1667-1745) je bio prvi veliki irski pisac, iako je bio Irac taman koliko je Kami bio Alžirac, ali ga je nedvosmisleni osjećaj za ljudskim pravima naveo da stane na stranu izmrcvarenog irskog življa.
U „karakternom portretu� o Sviftu (1998) Viktorije Glendining, gdje autorka piše da je autor u svom preziru prema nacionalnoj politici, stavu prema monarhiji i mržnji prema militarizmu, brizi prema socijalnoj pomoći, društvenoj pravdi i prirodnom svijetu „[...]on izgleda da je preskočio Viktorijance i dobar dio XX vijeka, i može se reći da stoji kao istinski moralni sjever ne samo za ovaj milenijum, nego i za sva vremena.�
Sjetimo se samo nekih uvida iz petog poglavlja četvrte knjige Guliverovih putovanja, gdje Guliver objašnjava huinhmskom gospodaru kako se i zbog čega ratuje među evropskim vladarima.
„Strašnijih i krvavijih ratova nema no što su ratovi prouzrokovani razlikom u mišljenju, a posebno ako su u pitanju beznačajne stvari. Neki put se dva vladara svađaju da riješe koji će od njih ukloniti trećega s posjeda na koji ni jedan ni drugi ne polažu nikakvo pravo� Neki put naši susjedi nemaju stvari koje mi imamo ili imaju stvari koje mi nemamo, pa ratujemo jedni s drugim sve dok oni ne uzmu naše ili nam ne dadnu svoje. Vrlo opravdan razlog za rat je da se upadne u jednu zemlju kad je opustošena glađu, uništena kugom ili razrivena stranačkim razdorima� Ako jedan vladar pošalje vojsku u neku državu gdje je narod siromašan i neuk, on ima zakonito pravo da polovinu naroda pobije, a ostatak da pretvori u roblje da bi ga tako civilizovao i otrgao od varvarskog načina života…�
A onda Glendiningova dodaje: „Međutim, Sviftov privatni život je u potpunosti druga stvar.�
Izazov pisanja o Sviftu jeste što je on kontradiktorna ličnost; mizogin koji obožava žene (“Stelu� i „Venesu�); mizantrop (i ova riječ je isuviše jalova da bi opisala njegovo gnušanje ljudskom civilizacijom) koji se bori za ljudska prava; politički „vigovac� u Irskoj, a „torijevac� u Engleskoj; pjesnik koji piše skatološke poeme.... Zapravo, svi se slažu da je Svift, čak i u pismima, volio da prikriva svoju ličnost.
Za stožernu biografiju o Sviftu drži se trotomna studija Irvina Erenprisa, kom je Lio Damroš bio asistent na Harvardu. Damroš je poznat po tome što je napisao izuzetnu knjigu o Žanu-Žaku Rusou (2005) iz razloga jer mu je smetala takođe trodjelna biografija Morisa Krenstona, koji se očito u širokom luku klonio ekscentričnosti velikog filozofa.
Kod Erenprisa mu sada smeta što je brojne dokaze koje je smatrao neuvjerljivim (anegdote, glasine i sl.) uopšte odbijao i da pomene, dok se na drugoj strani često upuštao u frojdovsko psihoanaliziranje Sviftove persone. Zbog toga Damroš upošljava galantniji kriterijum obznanjivanja činjenica; jedan od primjera je i detektivski posao izvjesnog nesviftologa, Denisa Džonstona, koji iz datog materijala donosi zanimljivu teoriju da je Svift možda bio sin Vilijema Templa.
Svift je rođen u Dablinu kao protestantsko dijete bez oca u pretežno katoličkoj zemlji. To je značilo da su o njemu brinuli Englezi koji su u načelu pomagali onaj dio Iraca što je upravljao njihovom kolonijom. Istorijski gledano, radi se o najgroznijem periodu engleskog ugnjetavanja sve do opšte gladi u Irskoj početkom XIX vijeka.
„Slavna revolucija� iz 1688. ga je navela da se preseli u Englesku i postane pomoćnik Vilijema Templa, engleskog plemića, inače prijatelja novog kralja, Vilijema III. Iako nevoljno, Svift je većinom boravio u Irskoj, upravljajući nekolicinom parohija. Ozlovoljavalo ga je to što čovjek njegovog obrazovanja ne dobija bolji patronat od novog kraljevskog dvora, a zatim i od kraljice Ane (na tronu od 1701-1707). Najbitnije, do kraja života je urgirao da se pomogne Irskoj koja je trpjela tlačenje kao nijednom do sada. Nije izričito zahtijevao nezavisnost, ali jeste pravdu i ljudsko ponašanje prema njenim žiteljima, a to je Irce navelo da ga proglase herojem.
Vjerovatno najpoznatiji od ovih političkih pamfleta je „Jedan skromni predlog� iz 1729 (ili „kako spriječiti da djeca siromašnih Iraca ne budu teret svojim roditeljima i da postanu korisna za društvo�). Iz vizure jednog „racionalnog� adamsmitovskog ekonoma, Svift piše kako mnogoljudne irske porodice lako mogu preživjeti jedino ako počnu da prodaju i jedu svoj porod. Na taj način, uz državno sponzorisani kanibalizam, irski problem će ubrzo biti prevaziđen.
Guliverova putovanja su još jedna politička satira koju je stvarao punih 5 godina. To je „verovatno najateističkija knjiga koju je neki Englez ikad napisao�, kaže vječito poletni Sreten Marić u izvanrednom eseju na 60 strana u Nolitovom izdanju Priče o buretu: satire i drugi odabrani spisi (1958). Inače, g-din Marić je 1946, za Državni izdavački zavod Jugoslavije, isfabrikovao sigurno najbolji prevod ʳܳٴDZâ. Tri godine docnije, Prosvetino izdanje Gulivera, začudo, nije došlo posredstvom engleskog originala već putem ruskog prevoda, i to u verziji gdje su sve kontroverzne dionice uklonjene (skatologija, uriniranje, neumjesne deskripcije, itd.), kao što se to radilo i u Engleskoj, sto godina nakon izdavanja Sviftovog teksta.
Putovanja se sastoje od četiri knjige. Prvo putovanje je u Liliput; tamo su ljudi patuljasti i samobitni, baš kao što su bili na dvoru kraljice Ane. Druga knjiga povešće Lemjuela Gulivera u Brodbingnag, gdje su žitelji džinovi, dok je sada junak patuljak.
Brodbingnag je idilična zemlja, nastala napretkom poljoprivrede, nešto što je Svift prezirao iz dna duše. U trećoj, Guliver dospijeva u Laputu, u naučnu utopiju, još jednu stvar koju Svift prezire, i gdje najveći mislioci troše vrijeme ne bi li izvukli sunčevu svjetlost iz krastavaca.
Pomenuta četvrta knjiga je o zemlji Hjuinhmskoj, kojom vladaju konji, a gdje su Jahui humanoidni majmuni na drveću. Sve što oni rade jeste da prazne crijeva na one pod drvetom i brižljivo čuvaju bezvrijedno kamenje koje pronalaze na ispasištima.
Guliver će uvidjeti da su konji divna bića, dok je njegova vrsta, Jahui, odvratna i beskorisna. U stvari, on će toliko prezrijeti tzv. ljude da će mu se, nakon povratka u Englesku, zgaditi sopstvena familija s kojom skoro uopšte neće željeti da provodi vrijeme. Umjesto toga, zavoljeće konje baš zato što oni nemaju ništa od onoga što imaju ljudi � institucije, tehnologiju i kulturu � i nastojaće da sa njima, u vlastitoj štali gdje će potom da se preseli, razgovara najmanje četiri sata dnevno.
„Puka djetinjarija s naše strane�, kaže D.H. Lorens na početku Studija o američkim klasicima. I njemu je takođe bilo komično da se pojedina velika prozna djela danas nazivaju dječijim romanima.
Damrošova naizgled obimna ali nimalo naporna biografija, što se našla i u finalu za Pulicerovu nagradu, krcata je ilustracijama, dok su joj glave zaokružene još svedenijim poglavljima. To će nedvosmisleno olakšati čitanje o eri jednog od najvećih pisaca u književnoj istoriji, a koji je uostalom utro put kako Orvelu tako i Džojsu.
2014
June 18, 2021
Don't let my rating deter you. This was, at times a thoroughly enjoyable excursion into Swift's life. Though I've always enjoyed 18th Century English literature, Swift was not someone I had read and I can clearly see it was my loss. It was a magnificent time for satire and Swift is the greatest of them all.
I also didn't understand how important Swift was for Ireland's identity. Of course he was riddled with contradictions; A high church Anglican who looked down on the Scots Presbyterians as much as Irish Catholics, he attempted again and again to be appointed to a cathedral in England. It was not to be. Known for his incendiary pamphlets, he was the propagandist for a Tory government for several years that was displaced by the Whigs, whom he detested and who detested him. Block from the English appointment he craved by the Whigs--who as far as I can determine were in power for the rest of his life--Swift retreated to his post as Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin and continued to write saucy, acidic pamphlets, along with great pieces, such as Tale of the Tub and Gulliver's Travels.
I enjoyed Damrosch's purient interest in Swift's love life and in this regard I'm glad he called out the great biographer of Swift, Ehrenpreis. At other times Damrosch's keel hauling of Ehrenpreis seems a parody of academic attack, something nicely done by Nabokov, John Barth and a host of other writers who worked in said environment. I'm glad Damrosch takes his subject seriously, but there was a bit too much of this "battle of the books". A little less of his sententiousness and I would have been happier.
I also didn't understand how important Swift was for Ireland's identity. Of course he was riddled with contradictions; A high church Anglican who looked down on the Scots Presbyterians as much as Irish Catholics, he attempted again and again to be appointed to a cathedral in England. It was not to be. Known for his incendiary pamphlets, he was the propagandist for a Tory government for several years that was displaced by the Whigs, whom he detested and who detested him. Block from the English appointment he craved by the Whigs--who as far as I can determine were in power for the rest of his life--Swift retreated to his post as Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin and continued to write saucy, acidic pamphlets, along with great pieces, such as Tale of the Tub and Gulliver's Travels.
I enjoyed Damrosch's purient interest in Swift's love life and in this regard I'm glad he called out the great biographer of Swift, Ehrenpreis. At other times Damrosch's keel hauling of Ehrenpreis seems a parody of academic attack, something nicely done by Nabokov, John Barth and a host of other writers who worked in said environment. I'm glad Damrosch takes his subject seriously, but there was a bit too much of this "battle of the books". A little less of his sententiousness and I would have been happier.
July 15, 2023
Jonathan Swift is a difficult man to like though Leo Damrosch does his best to help us understand what drove the great Irish satirist to such fury.There is much we do not know about Swift: Damrosch speculates on the many questions surronding Swift's lfe such as who his real father was, how did he gain entry to the great house of Sir William Temple to begin his career, was he ever married to Stella, what was his relationship to Vanessa, and why did he publish such disgusting poems about sex and excrement ? Swift had great gifts - obvious to anyone who has read Gulliver's Travels- but his life was full of bitter disappointment, especially having to stay in Ireland as Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral rather than becoming a bishop in England.He ended his life struck by dementia. His epitaph in the Cathedral is fitting"Here...the Dean where savage indignation can no longer lacerate his heart:
April 25, 2025
Listened to the audiobook from Audible.com
Not very interesting and too long. About 90 minutes discussing who his father was then you find out that they had no influence on him anyway. Swift became a dean. He took up religion as a job not because he believed in any god, he wanted money with the least possible work effort. He seemed to fancy himself a lot and never forgot a slight against him. Eventually he wrote some satire and it was deemed very good. I learned he spent a lot of time composing childish poetry and making fun of the politicians of the day. He wrote a lot in support of the poor Irish. Eventually he wrote Gullivers Travels which of course is very good. As a person though I didn't like the man, at least the man portrayed here in this book. Too much boring background about a silly man who behaved like a twat most of the time. Also too many badly spoken accents in the audiobook. Cringeworthy attempts.
Not very interesting and too long. About 90 minutes discussing who his father was then you find out that they had no influence on him anyway. Swift became a dean. He took up religion as a job not because he believed in any god, he wanted money with the least possible work effort. He seemed to fancy himself a lot and never forgot a slight against him. Eventually he wrote some satire and it was deemed very good. I learned he spent a lot of time composing childish poetry and making fun of the politicians of the day. He wrote a lot in support of the poor Irish. Eventually he wrote Gullivers Travels which of course is very good. As a person though I didn't like the man, at least the man portrayed here in this book. Too much boring background about a silly man who behaved like a twat most of the time. Also too many badly spoken accents in the audiobook. Cringeworthy attempts.
May 15, 2017
A review I read made me interested in this book, even though approximately everything I knew about Johnathan Swift before I read this book was "Gulliver's Travels", and really only two bits of that (Lilliput and Brobdingnagian).
With that said, it started promisingly enough. I was actually drawn in at first. Then there was a long slog in the middle (and this is a huge book - I took it with me on a vacation with plenty of plane time and didn't finish it).
So, pros: I learned a lot, and it mostly gave me enough background to follow (I wasn't expected to be familiar with the ins and outs of politics in the 1600s). Cons: OMG so long. I'm sure I'm a better person for reading it, but I'm not sure I would make myself read it again, given the choice.
With that said, it started promisingly enough. I was actually drawn in at first. Then there was a long slog in the middle (and this is a huge book - I took it with me on a vacation with plenty of plane time and didn't finish it).
So, pros: I learned a lot, and it mostly gave me enough background to follow (I wasn't expected to be familiar with the ins and outs of politics in the 1600s). Cons: OMG so long. I'm sure I'm a better person for reading it, but I'm not sure I would make myself read it again, given the choice.
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