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The Portable Rabelais
The story of the events which surround the lives of Gargantua and Pantagruel written by this 16th century French humorist and satirist
623 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
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About the author
François Rabelais
1,194 books456 followersFrench humanist François Rabelais wrote satirical attacks, most notably
Pantagruel
(1532) and
Gargantua
(1534), on medieval scholasticism and superstition.
People historically regarded this major Renaissance doctor of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes, and songs. Considered of the great of world literature, he created modern Europe. He also published under the names Alcofribas Nasier and Séraphin Calobarsy.
François Rabelais était un des grand écrivains de la Renaissance française, médecin et humaniste. Il a toujours été considéré comme un écrivain de fantaisie, de satire, de grotesque et à la fois de blagues et de chansons de débauche. Rabelais est considéré comme l'un des grands écrivains de la littérature mondiale et parmi les créateurs de l'écriture européenne moderne. Il a également publié sous les noms Alcofribas Nasier et Séraphin Calobarsy.
People historically regarded this major Renaissance doctor of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes, and songs. Considered of the great of world literature, he created modern Europe. He also published under the names Alcofribas Nasier and Séraphin Calobarsy.
François Rabelais était un des grand écrivains de la Renaissance française, médecin et humaniste. Il a toujours été considéré comme un écrivain de fantaisie, de satire, de grotesque et à la fois de blagues et de chansons de débauche. Rabelais est considéré comme l'un des grands écrivains de la littérature mondiale et parmi les créateurs de l'écriture européenne moderne. Il a également publié sous les noms Alcofribas Nasier et Séraphin Calobarsy.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 23, 2018
“Readers, friends, if you turn these pages
Put your prejudice aside,
For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,
Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.
Not that I sit here glowing with pride
For my book: all you'll find is laughter:
That's all the glory my heart is after,
Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.
I'd rather write about laughing than crying,
For laughter makes men human, and courageous.”
“it behoves you to develop a sagacious flair for sniffing and smelling out and appreciating such fair and fatted books, to be swiff: in pursuit and bold in the attack, and then, by careful reading and frequent meditation, to crack open the bone and seek out the substantificial marrow – that is to say, what I mean by such Pythagorean symbols – sure in the hope that you will be made witty and wise by that reading; for you will discover therein a very different savour and a more hidden instruction which will reveal to you the highest hidden truths and the most awesome mysteries”
Gargantua is the son of Grangousier. Gargantua is dominated by bodily needs and has absolutely no manners. His father assigns him to tutors who teach him an outdated medieval curriculum made up of grammar, rote learning, recitation without understanding, and consequently he becomes a passive learner who is not taught to think. All of it is disconnected from real life.
Eudemon shows Grangousier how he has failed his son and directs him to Ponocrates who instructs Gargantua in the humanist curriculum, including "The Praise of Folly" by Erasmus and "Utopia" by Thomas More. He is also tutored in science and mathematics and how to examine the Bible closely. Meanwhile, he learns to go out into nature and society.
This is based on Rabelais' own life, which he started out in a religious order, but where he began collecting classical Greek works and expand his thinking.
Rabelais uses humor, comedy, and farce to mock the Scholastics and the sophists, as well as the ridiculous King Picrochole (said to be based on the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V ) who is ready to go to war at the drop of a hat.
The story of Pantagruel is more complex and more exciting than that of Gargantua, his father. Too much happens to sum it all up. I enjoyed it more than Gargantua.
Short of prudery, the modern reader is not going to be shocked by the scatalogical and the raw in Rabelais. He shows us how humor and laughter, without constraints, can be used as a weapon against fools and the corrupt. We see the tradition carried on today in Jon Oliver, Colbert, SNL, and other smart and informed sources who mock politicians and other cretans, thus cutting them down to size and entertaining us at the same time.
.
Put your prejudice aside,
For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,
Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.
Not that I sit here glowing with pride
For my book: all you'll find is laughter:
That's all the glory my heart is after,
Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.
I'd rather write about laughing than crying,
For laughter makes men human, and courageous.”
“it behoves you to develop a sagacious flair for sniffing and smelling out and appreciating such fair and fatted books, to be swiff: in pursuit and bold in the attack, and then, by careful reading and frequent meditation, to crack open the bone and seek out the substantificial marrow – that is to say, what I mean by such Pythagorean symbols – sure in the hope that you will be made witty and wise by that reading; for you will discover therein a very different savour and a more hidden instruction which will reveal to you the highest hidden truths and the most awesome mysteries”
Gargantua is the son of Grangousier. Gargantua is dominated by bodily needs and has absolutely no manners. His father assigns him to tutors who teach him an outdated medieval curriculum made up of grammar, rote learning, recitation without understanding, and consequently he becomes a passive learner who is not taught to think. All of it is disconnected from real life.
Eudemon shows Grangousier how he has failed his son and directs him to Ponocrates who instructs Gargantua in the humanist curriculum, including "The Praise of Folly" by Erasmus and "Utopia" by Thomas More. He is also tutored in science and mathematics and how to examine the Bible closely. Meanwhile, he learns to go out into nature and society.
This is based on Rabelais' own life, which he started out in a religious order, but where he began collecting classical Greek works and expand his thinking.
Rabelais uses humor, comedy, and farce to mock the Scholastics and the sophists, as well as the ridiculous King Picrochole (said to be based on the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V ) who is ready to go to war at the drop of a hat.
The story of Pantagruel is more complex and more exciting than that of Gargantua, his father. Too much happens to sum it all up. I enjoyed it more than Gargantua.
Short of prudery, the modern reader is not going to be shocked by the scatalogical and the raw in Rabelais. He shows us how humor and laughter, without constraints, can be used as a weapon against fools and the corrupt. We see the tradition carried on today in Jon Oliver, Colbert, SNL, and other smart and informed sources who mock politicians and other cretans, thus cutting them down to size and entertaining us at the same time.
.
March 9, 2021
Here's a book that illustrates how my satisfaction with the GR 5-star rating system is incomplete. Yes, I "liked it" but not because I can claim that it was an enjoyable reading experience so much as I feel a little better-equipped in my striving to be a well-rounded reader for having read Rabelais.
This version was heavily-condensed by translator Samuel Putnam, who provided copious and much-needed notes and commentary throughout the book, chapter by chapter. While extremely useful for a work that contains so many now-incomprehensible allusions to contemporary people and events back in the mid-1500's, I couldn't help but find the interruptions to what passes for a storyline a distraction from really getting into it.
It was a bit of a forced march for this modern reader, as literary forms have evolved hugely over the span of time that humans have been composing written works. It was difficult for me to shelve the structural expectations developed by years of reading modern novels and I felt deprived of that easy immersion in the story that I've been trained to expect. Very like my recent experience of reading Cervantes, Rabelais' books are collections of anecdotes and (extremely snide and borderline then-heretical) observations on society, government and The Church rather than a coherent story as in most novels written today.
Still, I'm glad to have read this book. However, I should have read my next book first: C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature!
This version was heavily-condensed by translator Samuel Putnam, who provided copious and much-needed notes and commentary throughout the book, chapter by chapter. While extremely useful for a work that contains so many now-incomprehensible allusions to contemporary people and events back in the mid-1500's, I couldn't help but find the interruptions to what passes for a storyline a distraction from really getting into it.
It was a bit of a forced march for this modern reader, as literary forms have evolved hugely over the span of time that humans have been composing written works. It was difficult for me to shelve the structural expectations developed by years of reading modern novels and I felt deprived of that easy immersion in the story that I've been trained to expect. Very like my recent experience of reading Cervantes, Rabelais' books are collections of anecdotes and (extremely snide and borderline then-heretical) observations on society, government and The Church rather than a coherent story as in most novels written today.
Still, I'm glad to have read this book. However, I should have read my next book first: C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature!
September 20, 2023
This edition includes selections from the books about the fictional giants Gargantua and his son Pantagruel that Rabelais wrote between the 1530s and 1550s. Full of biting satire and dirty humor, Rabelais takes aim at the literary and clerical orthodoxy of his day. These pages tell of Gargantua and Pantagruel wreaking havoc upon the despotic and the monastic (as well as the mythological), while raising the banner of Renaissance humanism.
Admittedly, it was a chore to finally finish the book. Although Rabelais was clearly well-educated and a profound thinker (despite what his bawdy humor might suggest!), the 500-year-old books tackle the zeitgeist of bygone times. I struggled to fully appreciate Rabelais' wit, and without Samuel Putnam's helpful introduction and notes, I might have not taken away much from the books. For a better read in the same style, I would recommend Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," which draws much inspiration from the Gargantua and Pantagruel books.
Admittedly, it was a chore to finally finish the book. Although Rabelais was clearly well-educated and a profound thinker (despite what his bawdy humor might suggest!), the 500-year-old books tackle the zeitgeist of bygone times. I struggled to fully appreciate Rabelais' wit, and without Samuel Putnam's helpful introduction and notes, I might have not taken away much from the books. For a better read in the same style, I would recommend Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," which draws much inspiration from the Gargantua and Pantagruel books.
August 28, 2018
I had long wanted to read this, but I was rather disappointed. I initially liked the way Samuel Putnam added commentary at the end of each sub-chapter, definitely far better than chasing down multiple footnotes or endnotes, and yet as I read I found it hard to focus on the narrative. At this point I am unsure if I could read Rabelais in the original if I would discover a unitary work or something pointing towards the novel but not there yet. Even though Putnam gives some idea of events that occur that have been left out, I have no idea about what was lost. And the fact that Gargantua and Pantagruel are giants really seems to be lost in much of the plot of the later books. The Third book that focuses on whether Pantagruel's sidekick Panurge should marry seemed the most coherent.
October 21, 2017
Difficult but rewarding and informative. Frequently quite funny.
September 26, 2019
An amazing book, raunchy and bawdy and at the same time, unbelievably knowledgeable and deeply philosophical. A remarkable satire but stylistically, probably not for everybody.
September 29, 2023
"The said baths are hot for the reason that they spring from the hot piss of our friend Pantagruel."
He wasn't called Maître François for nothing.
He wasn't called Maître François for nothing.
December 7, 2012
This is NOT for the faint hearted, i really think you have to have an appreciation or interest in either the Renaissance period or that area of literature in general as there are lot of historical and topical references. The set of stories centre around Gargantua and his son Pantagruel and their adventures. Full of surprisingly ribald humour and risque and licentious allusions. Quite funny in parts too whereas i wouldn't have thought at this time period sexual or humourous references would have been appreciated. Told in quite a simplistic way for such a heavy book, the translator explained obscure references and skimmed parts that were unnecessary and the reason why they were omitted and any abstruse passages had a special area at the end of the chapter where the translator dealt with and explained things to the casual reader to enhance reading enjoyment.
Overall a fascinating read and a valuable insight into literature from a bygone age.
Overall a fascinating read and a valuable insight into literature from a bygone age.
July 31, 2014
Hmmmm. I can see why this book made a lifetime reading list: it is very clever in many ways with fantastical stories and lots of made up words. You can tell that Rabelais was a gifted writer. The book will offend many though. Let's say scatalogical.
About the editions... I read the "Portable" Rabelais, a "lively modern version by Samuel Putnam". I didn't realize right away that he did not translate all of the five books, nor all of the chapters of the four books he did translate. What he did translate was good and his notes were useful. I wanted to read the WHOLE thing though, so I found a public domain version on Wikisource and read it. By the end of book four it seemed that Putnam grew tired of the task and had fewer notes and translated fewer of the chapters. I was able to accomplish my goal by reading the Putnam version when I could, and the wikisource version when I couldn't.
Hmmmm.
About the editions... I read the "Portable" Rabelais, a "lively modern version by Samuel Putnam". I didn't realize right away that he did not translate all of the five books, nor all of the chapters of the four books he did translate. What he did translate was good and his notes were useful. I wanted to read the WHOLE thing though, so I found a public domain version on Wikisource and read it. By the end of book four it seemed that Putnam grew tired of the task and had fewer notes and translated fewer of the chapters. I was able to accomplish my goal by reading the Putnam version when I could, and the wikisource version when I couldn't.
Hmmmm.
Read
April 18, 2012Red cover of drunk monk in black ink.
no isbn
6th printing Feb 1960
no isbn
6th printing Feb 1960
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews