A Modest Proposal and Other Satires by Jonathan Swift, 4/5

Swift combines wit, humour and venom in this collection of satires that attack everything from organized religion to politicians and fellow writers.  The 18th-century language and references to now-obscure people and issues do not hinder this book’s continued relevance and, in my opinion, even enhance the timelessness of Swift’s observations–one of my favourite parts of reading very old literature is realizing how little people’s basic natures change with the passage of time.

Why I read it: One of Dad’s coworkers cited “A Modest Proposal” as his all-time favourite piece of literature, which made me curious to read it.  Also, I’ve been meaning to read Gulliver’s Travels for quite a while and I thought it was in this collection (which it wasn’t).

I made a couple picture quotes for this book: