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A review by sarahrigg
Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
4.0
I picked this up as part of my continuing mission to finish some of the "classics" I didn't get to in high school and college. I didn't finish all 1,000+ pages of this book, since it's an omnibus edition of FIVE novels plus commentary and some shorter writings. I did, however, read two novels, "Pantagruel" and "Gargantua" and all the introductory material. Considering I could have picked different editions and logged that as two books instead of one, I'm okay with that!
Rabelais is known for his "earthy" and scatological humor, his social critiques of the peccadilloes and hypocrisies of his day, and his in-depth knowledge of law, medicine, and theology, all of which he studied in his lifetime. These novels basically riff off an established fairy story or mythology around giants, but Rabelais expands the stories and gives lots of backstory to both Pantagruel and his father Gargantua.
I found this silly and fun, though it also bogs down in a few places with theology. There are also a few chapters that are basically nonsensical word salad, and those became a little tedious. But overall, a fun read. I'd recommend this translation because I like the way Screech limits footnotes, instead giving some illuminating commentary at the start of each chapter.
Rabelais is known for his "earthy" and scatological humor, his social critiques of the peccadilloes and hypocrisies of his day, and his in-depth knowledge of law, medicine, and theology, all of which he studied in his lifetime. These novels basically riff off an established fairy story or mythology around giants, but Rabelais expands the stories and gives lots of backstory to both Pantagruel and his father Gargantua.
I found this silly and fun, though it also bogs down in a few places with theology. There are also a few chapters that are basically nonsensical word salad, and those became a little tedious. But overall, a fun read. I'd recommend this translation because I like the way Screech limits footnotes, instead giving some illuminating commentary at the start of each chapter.