Discussion - Week Four - Gargantua, chap. 25 - 56

[Jim]

This discussion covers Gargantua – Chapter 25 – 56, pp. 292 – 379, Almanac for 1536 – pp. 381 – 387, and our conclusions about the book as a whole.

[Ryan]

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. I approach books like this tentatively- a humor/satire/farce book that is older than 100 years and originally written in another language. I haven't been too impressed with my previous encounters like Aristophanes. Plus humor is difficult to pull off in this age much less in any other. Plus I'm not interested in potty humor and fart jokes.

But this is a great book.

It takes the potty humor and fart jokes and elevates them to a high art. Rabelais is a pleasure to read.

I enjoyed my Penguin ed. because I was able to get some of the references in the jokes from the excellent intros at the beginning of the chapters.

I also much preferred the Gargantua book compared to Pantagruel. It seemed that Gargantua was more focused on a philosophical goal while making jest. When Rabelais takes himself and his writing seriously, it becomes just the right mix of humor and wisdom.

In terms of the magic element in this book as a whole, it is easy to forget as times that the main characters are giants. Like I said in another post, it is just an aside and an exaggeration. Whereas in a book like Gulliver's Travels the reader is confronted with the "magic" of the story throughout.

[Zadignose]

I was going to comment on an entertaining passage from Gulliver's Travels, but then remembered that it was from Gargangua and Pantagruel... I think!?

Remind me, it was in this book that two characters had an "argument/debate" in which they communicated only by displaying objects, right? I remember it as a great reduction to absurdity of the problem of linguistics, but then both Swift and Rabelais had their fun in parodying the excesses of intellectuals.

[Nathan "N.R."]

Zadignose wrote: " "argument/debate" in which they communicated only by displaying objects, right?"

The argument/debate in Rabelais is one of gestures rather than objects (if memory serves). Not sure about the Swift.

[Jim]

Zadignose wrote: "I was going to comment on an entertaining passage from Gulliver's Travels, but then remembered that it was from Gargangua and Pantagruel... I think!?

Remind me, it was in this book that two charac..."

The scene you're thinking of comes From Swift, Part III A Voyage to Laputa. In Chapter V, Gulliver visits the Academy of Lagado. One of their projects involves, "a Scheme for abolishing all Words whatsoever".

[Zadignose]

aha, thanks... no wonder I was confused... now I have to reread both passages.