Rable and his book "Pantagrüel and Gargantua"

in godflesh •  6 years ago  (edited)

In the "Author's Prologue," Rable reminds the reader of the deep essence of Socrates' philosophy that in Plato's dialogue, Alcibiades, praising his mentor Socrates, the undisputed king of philosophers, by the way, likens him to the mighty. They once called the small boxes with funny images on them ... But these boxes contain rare spices ... Such was also Socratic's words: if you only pay attention to his appearance and judge for his mind only his appearance, you would not give a damn about him, so he was ugly and so funny was his attitude. His nose was a chip, the look angry, the expression of his face dull, the dress simply, he was a gaunt, poor, unusual of women, unfit for any public service, but always laughed, always ready to meet friends with a cup and get jokes, hiding behind all this divine wisdom.

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But if you open such a box, you will find in it a wild, invaluable spice: superhuman depth of thought, astonishing moral strength, invincible courage, unparalleled self-control, unmistakable clarity of spirit, inertia and unbelievable contempt for everything that mortals so much excite, vanity, labor, travel and fight. Thus, the author of "Gargantua and Pantagrüel" novel makes an astonishing, impenetrable for any other writer a challenge for the reader: he likens his book to the silly / funny boxes / in which they will find "balsam, gray mantle, amoe, musk , citrus mass, precious stones, and many things similar to them. Rable himself tells his "good students and other fun people" that they do not have to create a hasty opinion about a book only on the "external index ", and under "the dumb, cheerful fables and the funny lies" to look for and " the essence of things ":" For human creations it should not be judged with such ease ... That is why you must solve this book and carefully judge what is spoken in it. Only then will you realize that the spice is worth it more than promised the box, or in other words.

In order to open a strong box, it must be from Pantogrüel, although this part of the novel follows Gargantua. The first publishers, who publish the Rable novel, arrange their parts according to the genealogy of the giants. Indeed, Pantagruel is Gargantua's son, but, as we have already seen, the book "Pantagruel" was written and published by the author before the book "Gargantua" . We come across the paradox - the son gives birth to the father. The unfolding of the work follows its biography, which contradicts the "biological" sequence of the actors in it. Rable s novel is the metaphysical odyssey of speech, as the fictional images and situations, the product of the author's fantasy, the chronology experienced by the act of writing replaces the actual process of birth, following the laws of nature. The chronology of the unreal is valued by Rable as an independent and inconsistent with the actual chronology that follows the natural rhythm of Nature, of God's creation. This bold transition made by this French Renaissance novelist makes the provocative narrative breakthroughs of Proust, Joyce and Celine in the early twentieth century possible.

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If only you get one more reader towards this famous book you will have achieved something here on steemit...

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

You are very right :) I hope more people to read and to be interested in art.

Just have read the last novel of Umberto Eco "Il cimitero di Praga". There he takes the style of Rable to tell the story - he shows true honor to him that way :)

I think Eco is a bit overrated...but I guess it is the same for books and art... interest/beauty are in the eyes of the beholder

Great synopsis. Following, respectfully.

Thanks :)

Voy a hacer la tarea lo buscaré y hojearé luego te cuento como me fue.

It's not like that at all! One can only guess at the real ideas embedded in this book. This was the era of the heyday of the Catholic Inquisition and some views of the author himself were reliably hidden in the work, it is the satire of a contemporary contemplating the environment and the way of life.

Interested, I'll look for this book, thanks for sharing

I read this book long time ago, so I remember only some details and the whole atmosphere. It always seemed to me so medieval. Although the feeling is captured with some great irony, it still feels as you yourself live in those ages.