Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce

By: Jonathan Swift

Narrated by: David Hyde Pierce

Four-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce is famous for playing the lovably self-important Dr. Niles Crane in the hit TV series Frasier. Now, he brings the same wit and charming arrogance to his Signature Classics performance of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

More than just a mock travel book and fabulous adventure, Gulliver’s Travels is a character study and social satire that skewers politics, science, religion, philosophy, and pretentiousness with a bite and resonance that remains as fresh today as the day it was published. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been out of print in nearly 300 years.

Set sail with David Hyde Pierce for a smart, fun, new Gulliver’s Travels experience that’s unlike any other. And stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors Leelee Sobiesky, Casey Affleck, Tim Curry, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.

Listen to more Audible Signature Classics.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Despite Gulliver’s detailed, and sometimes cumbersome, descriptions of strange lands and their inhabitants, Pierce doesn’t miss a beat. His melodic voice wraps perfectly around Swift’s eighteenth-century language. His pronunciations of the imaginative languages are delightful, especially the neighing expressions of the Houyhnhnms, a utopian society of horses. In a book in which the author’s voice comes through on every page, Pierce’s consistently matter-of-fact tone fits Swift’s own. His reading highlights the author’s humor and sarcasm, pulling the listener into this fantastic journey." ( AudioFile)

I hated this story!

Would you consider the audio edition of Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce to be better than the print version?

Yes, I would not have finished the book if I had to read it. David Hyde Pierce was fantastic!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I actually ended up hating this book. As a kid you only hear of part of the story. This was not kids book and I thought the ending was disturbing, although it may have been valid.

What does David Hyde Pierce bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

When Davis Hyde Pierce is reading you get the full experience of the emotions involved from Gulliver"s prospective. I do wonder how he figured out how to say some of the words.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was moved at Gulliver's mistreatment all through the book. I guess so was Gulliver based on the ending of the book.

Any additional comments?

I am not sorry that I got this book, but I really disliked the story. I was hoping for a nice fairy tale. Wow! So much craziness going on in this book.

Second A-list book and loved it!

Any additional comments?

I mistakenly thought this book was for a younger audience....i.e. if I am fifty-something I should have gotten to it earlier. Not so. Each "world" he travels to is an ironic joke directed at segments of regular society. Should we divide along party lines over the method by which you crack your eggs (big-end crackers or small-end crackers)? David Hyde Pierce did an outstanding job. I have not seen the printed version of the book and thus can only imagine how he sounded out some of the languages. He did a particularly good job with the horses. A great book and a great performance.

David Hyde Pierce puts the fun back into this book

I have tried to read this book, but found it difficult. I decided to give it a go when I saw this edition narrated by David Hyde Pierce. Previously I hadn't gotten past the Brobdingnag chapter. I knew it was a satire, but didn't realize it was also science fiction (3rd chapter with a "floating island") and is very earthy.

Gulliver has four travels and he progressively realizes how corrupt his race/nation is. I read one description of the stories that is great for summarizing - little (Lilliput) to big (Brobdingnag), and math/music (Laputa mainly) to natural (Houyhnhnm - which is horse language). Along the way Gulliver compares the government of each country to his own and finds they are worse or better.

The audio book was superb - especially David Hyde Pierce's perfection of the Houyhnhnm pronunciation.

WTF Audible?

I've wondered whether or not the Daily Deals here on Audible were picked by random, and now I know a computer is definitely involved.

Todays wonderful deal at $3.95 is actually free if you buy the $.99 book on Kindle first.

FREE.

Audible -- I can't respect your "big bonanza" Daily Deal if you're not paying attention to what's going on. Buyers beware!!!

Wonderful

This is an excellent book and the NARA raider was phenomenal love him
I will look for other books that she never writes

Loved it!

David Hyde Pierce makes this classic 100 times better! Was so good I was sad to finish it.

Classic political and humanist satire

Swift not only skewers the politics of his times, principally the Whig Parties, but through his travels offers many pointed observations on human behavior that still applies today. I don't think he's necessarily a misanthrope but offers hope in the end to see the good in humanity as well. That's a lesson for us even today where fear and hope are contenders in our political elections and each of us must decide whether to see the best or worst in our natures.

David Hyde Pierce is perfect. Just perfect.

Whoever decided to ask David Hyde Pierce to read this book for Audible, thank you! And thank you to the masterful reader himself for this spectacular performance. The story has always been a classic, but now I finally understand why.

I didn’t like it, depressing, but interesting view

I didn’t like it, depressing, but interesting view of society of the time. I'm glad that I read it, but I don't think I will listen to it again.

Satire at it's finest.

A satirical farce aimed at the government and culture of England during the rein of Queen Anne. Everywhere Gulliver goes, he can't help but compare his hosts to his countrymen. It can be wordy at times, but David Hyde Pierce moves the story along nicely.