Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book II
'Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book II' Summary
Gargantua
After the success of Pantagruel, Rabelais revisited and revised his source material, producing an improved narrative of the life and deeds of Pantagruel's father: The Very Horrific Life of Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel (in French, La vie très horrifique du grand Gargantua, père de Pantagruel), commonly known as Gargantua.
The narrative begins with Gargantua's birth and childhood. He impresses his father (Grandgousier) with his intelligence, and is entrusted to a tutor. This education renders him a great fool, and he is later sent to Paris with a new tutor.
After Gargantua's reeducation, the narrator turns to some bakers from a neighbouring land who are transporting some fouaces. Some shepherds politely ask these bakers to sell them some of the said fouaces, which request escalates into war.
Gargantua is summoned, while Grandgousier seeks peace. The enemy king (Picrochole) is not interested in peace, so Grandgousier reluctantly prepares for violence. Gargantua leads a well-orchestrated assault, and defeats the enemy.
Book Details
Author
Francois Rabelais
France
François Rabelais was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and...
More on Francois RabelaisDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Outlaw Jack by Harry Hazelton
The story follows the journey of a young boy named Jack, who becomes an outlaw after being wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit. The book is a...
The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar
In the vibrant tapestry of African American literature, Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories" stands as a testament to the...
Nice Girl With 5 Husbands by Fritz Leiber
What if a nice girl could have five husbands? In Nice Girl With 5 Husbands, Fritz Leiber tells the story of Anne Randall, a young woman who is able t...
Kept in the Dark by Anthony Trollope
Kept in the Dark is a novel by the 19th-century English novelist Anthony Trollope. One of his lesser and later works, it nonetheless has interest. It...
Dreams by Olive Schreiner
In her haunting and visionary collection of short stories, Dreams, Olive Schreiner explores the inner lives of women in Victorian-era South Africa, gr...
Is He Popenjoy ? by Anthony Trollope
Trollope returns in Is He Popenjoy to two of his favorite subjects: property and inheritance. As in "Doctor Thorne," the issues are complicated by the...
That Unfortunate Marriage by Frances Eleanor Trollope
This is a captivating novel that explores the complexities of love, marriage, and societal expectations. First published in 1888, this timeless work o...
A Guest at the Ludlow and Other Stories by Edgar Wilson Nye
Bill Nye was a respected journalist who also became known as a humorist. His short pieces range from a description of a visit to a friend residing in...
Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald
A young man (Thomas Wingfold) "enters the church" through no real faith and only for want of something to do. After an encounter with a brash young at...
Mary Marston by George MacDonald
It is a story of a woman who loves a man, and teaches him to change. Not out of his love for her, but simply because it was the right thing to do.
Reviews for Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book II
No reviews posted or approved, yet...