04-24-2023, 10:39 AM
Jonathan Swift: The Reluctant Rebel by John Stubs
This book was a rough slog. It hasn't taken me this long to read a book in ages. Many times during the course of reading, The Queen asked why I didn't quit. I'm no Quitter.
I think it would have helped to read this book if I had a much greater familiarity with Swift's work. As it is, I only knew him as the writer of Gulliver's Travels and the fact that he was the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. This biography goes in depth on a lot of Swift's works and many times I felt lost at what the author was talking about. My biggest take away was that Swift was a government troll who would write scathing tracts about the groups out of power. The Duke of Marlborough was a frequent target for instance.
The book did broaden my understanding of the religious politics of the day but I found myself confused many times about the differences between Anglican, Presbyterian and Dissenter. It was quite the muddled mess in my brain.
Although the book is titled Reluctant Rebel, I never got a sense of what he actually did to earn that sobriquet. He wrote a lot of pamphlets. He loaned a lot of money to the poor. But he hated the thought of being an Irishman. He was an Englishman and being in Ireland was being in exile. He believed that to the end of his days. He rebelled against the Whig government because he was a staunch Tory. I think.
There was a lot of misogyny in his life. He also suffered from Menares Disease which caused dizziness and the loss of hearing all throughout his life. He also might have been on the spectrum.
One of the benefits I did take away from the book is I have a better understand of the William of Orange and King James conflict and how that came about. Swift was for William of Orange. Other than that, it was a long slog.
This book was a rough slog. It hasn't taken me this long to read a book in ages. Many times during the course of reading, The Queen asked why I didn't quit. I'm no Quitter.
I think it would have helped to read this book if I had a much greater familiarity with Swift's work. As it is, I only knew him as the writer of Gulliver's Travels and the fact that he was the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. This biography goes in depth on a lot of Swift's works and many times I felt lost at what the author was talking about. My biggest take away was that Swift was a government troll who would write scathing tracts about the groups out of power. The Duke of Marlborough was a frequent target for instance.
The book did broaden my understanding of the religious politics of the day but I found myself confused many times about the differences between Anglican, Presbyterian and Dissenter. It was quite the muddled mess in my brain.
Although the book is titled Reluctant Rebel, I never got a sense of what he actually did to earn that sobriquet. He wrote a lot of pamphlets. He loaned a lot of money to the poor. But he hated the thought of being an Irishman. He was an Englishman and being in Ireland was being in exile. He believed that to the end of his days. He rebelled against the Whig government because he was a staunch Tory. I think.
There was a lot of misogyny in his life. He also suffered from Menares Disease which caused dizziness and the loss of hearing all throughout his life. He also might have been on the spectrum.
One of the benefits I did take away from the book is I have a better understand of the William of Orange and King James conflict and how that came about. Swift was for William of Orange. Other than that, it was a long slog.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm