Gargantua and Pantagruel

by François Rabelais Narrated by Bill Homewood

Overview

`Most noble and illustrious drinkers...' Thus begins Gargantua and Panatgruel, a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that take us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son Pantagruel. Magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

``Plainly, translating Rabelais is extraordinarily difficult,'' writes Raffel in his preface. Indeed, Rabelais (1483?-1554?) is not easy to read in the original Middle French, with its long, intricate sentences and its immense vocabulary mixing erudition, obscenities, and scatology. The reader will find here the comic chronicles of two giants, Gargantua and his son, Pantagruel (and let's not forget Pantagruel's companion, Panurge) exploring and passing judgment on all aspects of the life of their times. A satire on religion, education, and law appears alongside unabashed descriptions of bodily functions and desires. Parts of the work were censured upon publication, and since that time timid modern French and English translations have freely expurgated segments of the text. Fortunately, Raffel has not and, having wrestled with this difficult text, has provided us with a classic work, restored to its original complexity, humor, and gusto.-- Danielle Mihram, Univ. of Southern California

J. P. Donleavy

"Grand to see this new rendition of a work full of what life is all about and translated with an equal authenticity."

Alain Renoir

"Raffel has done the impossible. . . . [He] has produced a text which is amazingly true to the meaning and the linguistic gusto of the original."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169199765
Publisher:	Naxos Audiobooks
Publication date:	08/19/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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