Gargantua and Pantagruel

De: François Rabelais

Narrado por: Bill Homewood

"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)]

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2016 Naxos AudioBooks

Well performed, a must read

A masterpiece perfectly read. Rabelais is the 16th century Pynchon for me. I highly recommend. The narration is perfect.

Tall tales and satire from the 16th Century

Written from 1532 to 1564, Gargantua and Pantagruel consists of 5 books is commonly gathered in one very large volume--as it is here. This is one of the earliest European works. Rabelais' name became an adjective for earthy, gross, vulgar, hedonistic humor. Indeed, I heard more varying descriptions of genitals, sex, arseholes, sh!t, p!ss, & farts than any book I've read. Yet it's witty; and skewers politics, religion, & war. Gargantua & Pantagruel themselves are giant, Paul Bunyanesqe figures.
Bill Homewood brings it all vividly to life.
As I was reading Gargantua and Pantagruel, I was taking notes. The language is amazing. A million ideas for period fantasy-- I bought a physical copy of the book as well and think it belongs on a fantasy writer's shelf along with Tolkien, Howard, Dunsany, Dumas, and Leiber.

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

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all that I can say about this very very funny masterpiece. Must read.

Best narrator ever

It's the classic in all its glory. I've finished 250+ books on Audible and this is the best narration I've heard, bar none.

Incredible performance.

The reader really made the humor of the work come through. I can’t imagine this book being read in another way.

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.

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.