Gargantua and Pantagruel

Gargantua and Pantagruel is a set of five novels written in French by François Rabelais in the 16th century.

The book tells the story of the two giants Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. They are the complete opposite of cruel and evil ogres and the story narrates their funny adventures in a satirical way.

In the work there is quite a lot of crudeness and a lot of scatological humor. For example, the gluttony of the giants opens the door to numerous comic episodes. It also has part of violence and includes a good collection of vulgar insults in several chapters.

It is thought that Rabelais wrote this work to entertain and amuse the sick in their recovery period, using humor as something healing. For this reason, Gargantua and Pantagruel is today a classic in humor literature.

• Pantagruel: The Horrible and Terrifying Deeds and Words of the Very Renowned Pantagruel King of the Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gargantua (c. 1532).
• Gargantua: The Very Horrific Life of Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel (1534).
• The Third Book of Pantagruel: The Third Book of the Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Good Pantagruel (1546).
• The Fourth Book of Pantagruel: The Fourth Book of the Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Good Pantagruel (1552)
• The Fifth Book of Pantagruel: The Fifth and Last Book of the Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Good Pantagruel (c. 1564)

For this digital edition of the book Gargantua and Pantagruel we have used the translation by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Antony Motteux.