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Gargantua and Pantagruel
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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Summary
"Most noble and illustrious drinkers..." Thus begins Gargantua and Pantagruel, a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
Featuring the original translation by Urquhart and Motteaux - celebrated for its fluidity and playfulness.
Bill Homewood gives a virtuosic and delightfully exuberant reading of this extraordinary text - "a narrator so perfectly matched to his material that you can't help but smile." [The Times (London)]
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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What listeners say about Gargantua and Pantagruel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- amazon
- 13-02-20
The king of all the narrators
Oof. Done! Finished my Gargantua & Pantagruel novel. Definitely wouldn’t have made it as a regular book. So much detail, obscure references and endless word play. Parts could be very funny though especially Panurge’s consistent and hilarious though not unreasonable cowardliness. On the last chapter Pantagruel and his friends search and find the the temple of the bottle in which a great book is read by swallowing it’s chapters. Extremely imaginative and a source influence, no doubt, of a great many subsequent great novels. The narrator is the king of all narrators, as far as I’m concerned. Not only giving the the rich langue it’s due but also bringing to life the numberless zany characters that dwell in this remarkable book. One last note, it’s odd that it’s called G&P since Gargantua isn’t in most of the novel but rather his son Pantagruel and and his buddies. I try to imagine this a movie and I simply cannot but I suppose every road movie and novel owes a debt of gratitude.
8 people found this helpful
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- MargaRose
- 26-01-21
Panurge, too merry or to marry, that's a question.
Francois Rabelais - a sublime satirist, salacious master of innuendo & double entendre, and an astute, detailed, unabashed observer of human conduct.
Gargantua & Pantagruel - an immensely surreal, tremendously madcap, enormously outlandish upending of normative behavior by relentless, topsy-turvy, X-rated silliness, interspersed with scientific observation and biting philosophical commentary.
Urquhart and Motteaux translation - jovial, exuberant, luxurious use of English language.
Bill Homewood's reading - an exquisite, stellar, thoroughly delicious performance.
6 people found this helpful
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- D. Kirby
- 03-02-18
Relentless, but repays diligence
What made the experience of listening to Gargantua and Pantagruel the most enjoyable?
by all means, google image Gustav Dore's illustrations to go with this title
What was one of the most memorable moments of Gargantua and Pantagruel?
the ode to drinking is worth the price of the whole audiobook, assuming you are a lover of the devils brew
What about Bill Homewood’s performance did you like?
Hard to imagine another audible reader doing justice to Rabelais
6 people found this helpful