Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Collective title of five comic novels by Francois Rabelais, published between 1532 and 1564. The novels present the comic and satiric story of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. The first two novels were published under the anagrammatic pseudonym Alcofribas (Alcofrybas) Nasier. The first book, commonly called Pantagruel (1532), deals with some of the fantastic incidents of the early years of Pantagruel. While at the University of Paris he receives a letter from his father that is still considered an essential exposition of French Renaissance ideals. In Paris Pantagruel also meets the cunning rogue Panurge, who becomes his companion throughout the series. In Gargantua (1534), old-fashioned scholastic pedagogy is ridiculed and contrasted with the humanist ideal of King Francis I, whose efforts to reform the French church Rabelais supported. Le Tiers Livre (1546; "The Third Book") is Rabelais's most profound and erudite work. In it Pantagruel has become a sage; Panurge is self-absorbed and bedeviled, wondering if he should marry. He consults various prognosticators, allowing Rabelais to hold forth on sex, love, and marriage, and to satirize fortune tellers, judges, and poets. Panurge persuades Pantagruel and friends to join him on a voyage to the Oracle of the Holy Bottle in Cathay for an answer. This they do in Le Quart Livre (1552; "The Fourth Book"), which reflects the era's interest in exploration; the Pantagruelians encounter a series of islands that present opportunities for the author to satirize the religious and political forces wreaking havoc on 16th-century Christendom. In a fifth book, Le Cinquieme Livre (1564; of doubtful authenticity), the band arrives at the temple of the Holy Bottle, where the oracle answers Panurge with a single word: "Drink!"

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

FROM THE CRITICS

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

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

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