Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais
Reviewed by Aaron DeWeese
Upon reading the first hundred pages of "Gargantua and Pantagruel", I , like George Orwell, thought Rabelais was in need of psychoanalysis. Deeper into the books, I, like C.S. Lewis, came to understand that all Rabelais' written perversities were, dare I say, legitimized by the foundations of gospel. The book, we are to understand, was meant to be humorous, in the spirit of Shrovetide, of Mardi Gras, Twelfth Night. It was meant for the people, and the people consumed it with much pleasure, and still do. His influence is broad.
Rabelais is today considered an Erasmian Christian humanist. You will also find within his writings the teachings of Erasmus' enemy, Martin Luther. I was absolutely fascinated by this. I was blown away with Rabelais' knowledge of the ancient philosophers, of medicine (he was a Doctor of Medicine), of theology (he was a Benedictine), of all things. Truly he was a Renaissance man of deep learning and also a perverse nut.
M.A. Screech's new translation is wondrously filled with fulfilling footnotes. I am usually angered by footnotes and consider the writers of them to be boorish. Not so with Screech.
It pains me to even attempt to review such a work, spanning 5 books and 1041 pages. I would like to digress on scatology, Panurge's codpiece, Pantagruel's stature, and much more, but I am overcome. I highly recommend Rabelais. I find myself quoting him on subjects throughout the day to people I come across. I feel I should perhaps one day read it again and take notes, while laughing aloud. I plan to read those Rabelais quoted so much: Plutarch, Virgil, Homer, Socrates, Plato, Pliny, Cicero, on and on. I wonder what his library looked like?
On his lists: they are excellent and cover several pages at a time. For some reason I was sent into hysterics by: "Additional item: Toasted Tidbits".
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