Gulliver's Travels

Naxos follows its usual practice of punctuating the narrative with carefully chosen classical music segments appropriate to the mood of the particular part of the story. Neville Jason reads this classic satire, supposedly a travelogue to remote islands with bizarre inhabitants, with an intense British voice that is crisp and effective. This is a heavy abridgment of the original, with some choppiness in continuity. Everyone will recognize the Lilliputians and the giants of Brogdingnag; the airborne islanders and intelligent horses are less familiar. Abridger Daniel Eilon retains the story's essential core, and Jason captures the tone well. D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


In the later sections of Swift's nineteenth-century satirical travelogue, Robert Hardy's delivery is exquisite. When, for example, Gulliver visits the land of the Houyhnhnms, who are intelligent horses, Hardy whinnies their name with enthusiasm, letting his voice rise and fall. When Gulliver visits Glubbdubdrib, Hardy hammers home Swift's multiple consonants to underscore the satiric effect. However, early on, during the Gulliver adventures that will be more familiar to most listeners, his visit to Lilliput, where everything is tiny, for example, Hardy's delivery is considerably more restrained. While always clear and professional, it lacks the amused tone he so effectively employs later. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine