Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Rabelais

Rate this book
« Vous faire connaître Rabelais, le grand Rabelais, le vrai Rabelais, sans blesser, sans choquer sans alarmer personne, sans offenser un moment les plus chastes oreilles, l’entreprise semble périlleuse. J’ai l’entière certitude de l’accomplir heureusement jusqu’au bout. Je suis sûr de ne pas prononcer un seul mot dont puisse s’alarmer la pudeur la plus délicate. Mais ce n’est pas tout. La vie de Rabelais est mêlée à ces grands mouvements de la Renaissance et de la Réforme dans lesquels se forma l’esprit moderne. Et cela encore était pour me décider dans mon choix. L’ampleur du sujet communiquera quelque force à ma parole. Je toucherai à ces questions avec une liberté digne de vous. »

285 pages

First published January 1, 1929

3 people are currently reading
41 people want to read

About the author

Anatole France

1,601 books558 followers
French critic Anatole France, pen name of Jacques Anatole François Thibault wrote sophisticated, often satirical short stories and novels, including Penguin Island (1908), and won the Nobel Prize of 1921 for literature.

Anatole France began his career as a poet and a journalist. From 1867, he as a journalist composed articles and notices.

In 1869, Le Parnasse Contemporain published La Part de Madeleine of his poems. In 1875, he sat on the committee in charge of the third such compilation. He moved Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé aside.

Skeptical old scholar Sylvester Bonnard, protagonist of famous Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), embodied own personality of the author. The academy praised its elegant prose.

Anatole France in La Rotisserie de la Reine Pedauque (1893) ridiculed belief in the occult and in Les Opinions de Jerome Coignard (1893) captured the atmosphere of the fin de siècle.

People elected him to the Académie française in 1896.
People falsely convicted Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer, of espionage. Anatole France took an important part in the affair, signed manifesto of Émile Zola to support Dreyfus, and authored Monsieur Bergeret in 1901.

After the nearsighted Abbot Mael baptized the animals in error, France in later work depicts the transformation into human nature in 1908.

People considered most profound La Revolte des Anges (1914). It tells of Arcade, the guardian angel of Maurice d'Esparvieu. Arcade falls in love, joins the revolutionary movement of angels, and towards the end recognizes the meaningless overthrow of God unless "in ourselves and in ourselves alone we attack and destroy Ialdabaoth."

People awarded him "in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament" in 1921.

In 1922, the Catholic Church put entire works of France on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books).

He died, and people buried his body in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (35%)
4 stars
5 (35%)
3 stars
1 (7%)
2 stars
3 (21%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for Walter Five.
88 reviews15 followers
February 22, 2018
Outstanding English translation of a biography and commentary on the works of Francois Rabelais by Anatole France, 1921 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Displaying 1 of 1 review

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.