Gulliver’s Travels

Narrator Jasper Britton is spirited and enthusiastic in the latest rendition of the eighteenth-century travelogue to nonexistent lands of Lemuel Gulliver. The story is essentially plotless, but Britton keeps the satirical inventiveness rolling along. We all remember Lilliput, with the tiny people, and maybe even Brobdingnag, with the very large people; but how about the angular folks of Laputa, with their bizarre, useless experiments, or the enlightened Houyhnhnm horses that never lie and practice birth control? Gulliver shares stories of England with his various hosts, and Britton is adept at translating Gulliver’s outrage and disbelief at obstructionist lawyers, crooked politicians, needless wars, lack of education for girls, and everything else. The whinnying, horsey voice of the Houyhnhnms that Britton adopts is particularly noteworthy.

A.B., AudioFile

Sound Commentary Best of 2010 Sound Commentary Starred Review Those who had this as required reading in high school back in the day and doubted they would ever want to re-read it, and those who have never read this and never thought they would, will find Jasper Britton’s excellent narration truly brings this classic, brilliant satiric novel to life. The Lilliputians, Yahoos, Laputans and many other beings that Gulliver meets in his journeys provide an opportunity to poke at the politics and society of Swift’s day (early- to mid-18th century) and, to his enormous credit, Britton manages to pronounce the unpronounceable peoples (try Brobdingnagians and Houyhnms) and to speak their bizarre languages as well. His theatre credits include Macbeth and The Tempest at Shakespeare’s Globe. Oedipus and Fram at the National Theatre and The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Company. And clearly all these experiences enable him to narrate this story so perfectly.

Sue Rosenzweig, Sound Commentary