Gargantua and Pantagruel

Biting and bawdy, smart and smutty, lofty and low, Gargantua and Pantagruel is fantasy on the grandest of scales, told with an unquenchable thirst for all of human experience. Rabelais's vigorous examination of the life of his times-from bizarre battles to great drinking bouts, from satire on religion and education to matter-of-fact descriptions of bodily functions and desires-is one of the great comic masterpieces of literature.

First published in four volumes between 1532 and 1552, Rabelais' comic masterpiece chronicles the adventures of a giant, Gargantua, and his son, Pantagruel. More than four centuries later, the terms "gargantuan" and "Rabelaisian" are synonymous with earthy humor, a surfeit of good food and drink, and pleasures of the flesh. This series of exaggerated fables was condemned upon its initial publication by the censors of the Collège de la Sorbonne. But beneath their bawdy, often scatological wit, the tales bear a deeper significance as the author's defense of daring and groundbreaking ideas. Using his ribald humor, Rabelais addresses timeless issues of education, politics, and philosophy. His parodies of classic authors as well as his own contemporaries offer a hilarious exposé of human folly and an enduring satire of history, literature, religion, and culture. This edition features the classic translation by Sir Thomas Urquhart and Pierre le Motteux.

The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father, Gargantua, and his son Pantagruel and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein.

An elaborate parody written by the French Renaissance humanist, writer, Greek scholar, and physician Francois Rabelais, "Gargantua and Pantagruel" is a comic blend of energetic realism and carnival fantasy. First published in1532, "Gargantua and Pantagruel" relates the fantastical tales of its titular characters, Gargantua, a giant who becomes a sophisticated and cultured Christian knight, and his son Pantagruel, also a giant, who grows into a learned philosopher similar to Socrates. Many different types of people are satirized during their chivalric exploits, from lawyers to theologians, generals to monarchs, with humor that is often grotesque and was considered obscene when it first appeared. Intertwined with this crude comedy, however, is the wisdom of Renaissance learning, which exposes countless examples of human foolishness. Comprised of five books, the first tells the story of Gargantua and the second through fifth relate that of his son, Pantagruel. Rabelais's knowledge of Greek inspired him to invent hundreds of new words, many of which became part of the French language in this entertaining, irreverent, clever, and timeless masterpiece.