Gargantua and Pantagruel (Penguin Classics)
by Francois Rabelais
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Book Summary Information
Author: Francois RabelaisTranslator: M. A. Screech
Edition: Paperback
Audio: French (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN: 0140445501
Number of pages: 1104
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of Gargantua and Pantagruel (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: I thought I had a warped sense of humor
Summary: 5 Stars
I discovered Rabelais while reading Durant's Story of Civilization. After reading such a strong endorsement I decided to get a copy of his works to see if he was really as good as was described. I've always had a somewhat different sense of humor (I love Monty Python), and have always liked satire; so I thought I would like Rabelais. It turns out I really liked him. Sometimes he was a bit crude for my tastes, but he was hilarious.
In general I liked the first two books more than the later books. They were a little more wild and inconsistent, but a lot more fun. Panurge was probably my favorite character in the first book; in the third book he was a key character, but by the last two books he was a somewhat annoying character.
A quick summary of the books is below. Pantagruel is the story of the birth and early life of the Giant Pantagruel, which was probably the most hilarious of the books. Gargantua is the story of the birth and life of Panagruel's father Gargantua; this was also quite funny covering several topics. The 3rd book of Pantagruel contains two main themes; the first is a discussion between Pantagruel and Panurge on debtors and borrowers. Panurge gives the funniest discourse on the need for debtors I have ever seen. The rest of the book tells of Panurge consulting every imaginable method of seeing the future to see if he should marry. The 4th book is basically a travel log similar to Gulliver's travels where Pantagruel and his friends go on a long sea trip finding many interesting lands. The 5th book is a continuation of the 4th book. Note that the 5th book is of questionable authorship.
As far as the translation goes, I was impressed; but note that this is the only translation I have read. I found the prose very understandable, but appreciated the footnotes where I didn't understand it. The footnotes were also useful to me since I am a neophyte in 16th century French life and culture. Screech did a good job explaining things including the literature Rabelais was referring to.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good introduction to Rabelais. It would be good for many of our modern comedy writers to read these books to give them some better ideas for TV shows and movies. I'm convinced the Monty Python writers must have read Rabelais.
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