Gargantua and Pantagruel
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Narrated by:
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Bill Homewood
About this listen
"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)]
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- By: Tobias Smollett - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 36 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Don Quixote, the world's first novel and by far the best-known book in Spanish literature, was originally intended by Cervantes as a satire on traditional popular ballads, yet he also parodied the romances of chivalry. By happy coincidence he produced one of the most entertaining adventure stories of all time and, in Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, two of the greatest characters in fiction.
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A MUST READ CLASSIC
- By Randall on 04-25-09
By: Tobias Smollett - translator, and others
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Candide (AudioGO Edition)
- By: Voltaire
- Narrated by: Jack Davenport
- Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When first published in 1759, Candide became an instant best seller and is now regarded as one of the key texts of the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s preoccupations with evil and with various kinds of human folly and intolerance found a perfect vehicle in this philosophical tale. A master storyteller, he combined often wildly entertaining action with profoundly serious sense, parodying the traditional chivalric and oriental tales with which his public was more familiar.
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Guaranteed to keep you smiling if not LOL
- By Robert on 08-09-12
By: Voltaire
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Tristram Shandy
- By: Laurence Sterne
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandyis commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements.
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Like discovering Frank Zappa in 250 years
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-14
By: Laurence Sterne
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Finnegans Wake
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Barry McGovern, Marcella Riordan
- Length: 29 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Finnegans Wake is the greatest challenge in 20th-century literature. Who is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker? And what did he get up to in Phoenix Park? And what did Anna Livia Plurabelle have to say about it? In the rich nighttime and the language of dreams, here are history, anecdote, myth, folk tale and, above all, a wondrous sense of humor, colored by a clear sense of humanity. In this exceptional reading by the Irish actor Barry McGovern, with Marcella Riordan, the world of the Wake is more accessible than ever before.
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The keys to. Given!
- By hyand on 06-16-21
By: James Joyce
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The Mabinogion
- By: Charlotte Guest
- Narrated by: Richard Mitchley
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The Mabinogion, the earliest literary jewel of Wales, is a collection of ancient tales and legends compiled around the 12th and 13th century deriving from storytelling and the songs of bards handed down over the ages. It is a remarkable document in many ways. From an historical perspective, it is the earliest prose literature of Britain. But it is in its drama that many surprises await, not least the central role of King Arthur, his wife, Gwenhwyvar, and his court at Caerlleon upon Usk.
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A Wonder Whose Origin is Unknown
- By John on 07-28-17
By: Charlotte Guest
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Don Quixote
- By: Miguel de Cervantes, Gerald J. Davis - translator
- Narrated by: John Hanks
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
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Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, a hidalgo who reads so many chivalric novels that he decides to set out to revive chivalry, under the name Don Quixote. This is the story that a Nobel Prize Committee survey of one hundred of the world's best writers named "the greatest book of all time."
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A wonderful, magical listen
- By K on 12-01-13
By: Miguel de Cervantes, and others
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
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An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
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Waverley
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book depicts stunning, romantic panoramas of the Highlands.
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Loved it
- By Tad Davis on 04-12-18
By: Sir Walter Scott
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Household Tales
- By: The Brothers Grimm
- Narrated by: Kelly Lintz
- Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A collection of German fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the famous Brothers Grimm. Their most famous tales are instantly recognizeable: "Rumpelstiltskin", "Snow White", "Rapunzel", "Cinderella", "Hansel and Gretel", and "The Frog Prince." The collection is often known today as "Grimms' Fairy Tales".
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Wonderfully read, but most tales not for kids
- By 208 Garner on 08-06-12
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Too many sound effects
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Brilliant and powerful
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Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship was Goethe’s second novel, published 1795-6, almost two decades after The Sorrows of Young Werther. It again focuses on a young man but this time on his growing understanding and maturity as he makes his way in the world. As such, it is regarded as the founding work in the ‘coming of age’ genre: the ‘bildungsroman’ ( a term actually coined some 30 years later), which characterised a philosophical novel tracing the cultural, emotional and educational development of an individual from youth to adulthood.
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An unmatched intellectual epic
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Too many sound effects
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Brilliant and powerful
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The ending
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Nam Et Doctis Hisce Erroribus Versatus Sum
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terrific story BUT
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The Essays
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To overcome a crisis of melancholy after the death of his father, Montaigne withdrew to his country estates and began to write, and in the highly original essays that resulted he discussed themes such as fathers and children, conscience and cowardice, coaches and cannibals, and, above all, himself.
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The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
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A foundling of mysterious parentage, Tom Jones is brought up by the benevolent and wealthy Squire Allworthy as his own son. Tom falls in love with the beautiful and unattainable Sophia Western, a neighbor’s daughter, whose marriage has already been arranged. When Tom’s sexual misadventures around the countryside get him banished, he sets out to make his fortune and find his true identity.
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Well read, many accents, older recording
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Selected Poems
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Though universally acclaimed for his dazzling fictions, Jorge Luis Borges always considered himself first and foremost a poet. This new bilingual selection brings together some two hundred poems, including scores of poems never previously translated. Edited by Alexander Coleman, it draws from a lifetime's work--from Borges's first published volume of verse, Fervor de Buenos Aires (1923), to his final work, Los conjurados, published just a year before his death in 1986.
By: Jorge Luis Borges, and others
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The Red and the Black
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Young Julien Sorel, the son of a country timber merchant, carries a portrait of his hero Napoleon Bonaparte and dreams of military glory. A brilliant career in the Church leads him into Parisian high society, where, 'mounted upon the finest horse in Alsace', he gains high military office and wins the heart of the aristocratic Mlle Mathilde de la Mole. Julien's cunning and ambition lead him into all sorts of scrapes.
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Slow and wordy
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By: Stendhal
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The Golden Ass
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In this ancient picaresque adventure, Lucius, an insatiably curious young man, finds himself transformed into a donkey after his fascination with black magic and witchcraft goes awry. While trapped in his new body, he becomes the property of thieves, farmers, cooks, soldiers and priests, and observes the hypocrisy and ineptitude of Imperial Roman society.
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Not Wiser…But Very Well Informed
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The Ambassadors
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American Lambert Strether is sent to Paris on behalf of Mrs. Newsome, his fiancée, to collect her son, Chad. When Strether finds Chad, he discovers an altered man and becomes introduced to a free and unconventional style of life that soon intoxicates him. His views begin to change; the morality of Woollett, his hometown, becomes foreign, and the "ambassador" loses sight of his mission....
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Interesting but unfulfilling
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By: Henry James
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Sentimental Education
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- Unabridged
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Upon arriving home in Normandy, Frederick catches his first glimpse of Marie Arnoux, a mysterious and beautiful woman who leaves a lasting impression on him. Eventually they make each other's acquaintance and Marie becomes a symbol of unattainable perfection for Frederick, whose unrequited infatuation leaves him bouncing from one passion to another, falling in and out of love, money and society.
By: Gustave Flaubert
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Perceval
- The Story of the Grail
- By: Chrétien de Troyes
- Narrated by: Mike Rogers
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval is the single most important Arthurian romance. It contains the very first mention of the mysterious grail, later to become the Holy Grail and the focal point of the spiritual quest of the knights of Arthur's court. Chrétien left the poem unfinished, but the extraordinary and intriguing theme of the Grail was too good to leave, and other poets continued and eventually completed it.
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Interesting story
- By Chris M. on 06-10-22
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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
- By: Laurence Sterne
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 21 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Laurence Sterne's beloved comic novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, is the "biography" of Tristram Shandy - a wonderfully humorous and eccentric narrator who guides the listener from his conception to his birth and on to his life as an adult. The twists and turns of Tristram's life expose him to such memorable characters as Uncle Toby, Corporal Trim, Parson Yorick, Dr. Slop, and the Widow Wadman - whose own stories enrich the central narrative of Tristram's life.
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Thick but rewarding
- By DRew on 07-06-17
By: Laurence Sterne
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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- Mathew Baldwin
- 05-28-23
Well performed, a must read
A masterpiece perfectly read. Rabelais is the 16th century Pynchon for me. I highly recommend. The narration is perfect.
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- Patrick Zircher
- 03-04-24
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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- D. Kirby
- 02-03-18
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
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6 people found this helpful
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- Andrei
- 05-20-23
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is all that I can say about this very very funny masterpiece. Must read.
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- Jonathan
- 06-01-23
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.
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- Josh
- 05-17-24
Incredible performance.
The reader really made the humor of the work come through. I can’t imagine this book being read in another way.
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- amazon
- 02-13-20
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.
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11 people found this helpful
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- MargaRose
- 01-26-21
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.
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8 people found this helpful