Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Pantagruel - Chapter 12 – 23, pp. 86 – 164,
Pantagrueline Prognostication for 1535 - pp. 165 – 185, and Prefaces to Almanacs for 1533 and 1535 - pp. 186 – 194

(Note: If your edition does not include the Prognostications and Prefaces, don’ worry. Our discussion will be focused on the main books.)

Panurge’s resumé is filled with full pouches and pokes. Thaumaste arrives from England to discuss big ideas with Pantagruel, but instead makes faces with Panurge. Unable to make a love connection with a great dame in Paris, Panurge throws her to the Great Danes of Paris. Pantagruel and company set sail to save the Amaurots from the Dipsodes. After a rout of the invading knights, Pantagruel and his men feast well, and Pantagruel passes much gas and many miniature men and women to poot! Beware Pantagruels bearing gifts of euphorbia-resin. Pantagruel and his men quickly conquer the Dipsodes, and then easily resettle the rest of their empire. End of Book One!


Do the magical elements blend into the realism of the story? Is there a sense of this being a real world with magical elements or does it lean more towards fantasy and myth?

I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying the Screech translation; for once, I am able to comprehend the word play and fun that Rabelais is using.

The debate sans words with Thaumaste and Panurge is absolutely hilarious. I believe it is the funniest episode I have encountered in classic literature. I couldn't help but laugh out loud and my two little sons where asking, "What is it Dad?" I could easily see Monty Python doing such an act.

As to your question, the book feels entirely real world to me, although maybe a little like a "school boy fantasy" with all the potty humor and Panurge's interactions with the citizens of France.
To me what the book Pantagruel uses as its "magical element" is exaggeration.

Ryan wrote: "I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying the Screech translation; for once, I am able to comprehend the word play and fun that Rabelais is using.

The debate sans words with Thaumaste and Panurge ..."

Yes, exaggeration is a great word to apply here. All the characters exaggerate and brag throughout. Pantagruel's giantness (is that a word?) certainly qualifies as a magical element, especially the vastness of his throat.

The humor is great too. I keep finding jokes that seem like the source for modern clichés and axioms and such. when I have more time, I should go back and highlight a few.

It's been a long time since I read it, but I was highly entertained by the absurdity of how inconsistent the book(s) is(are) regarding things such as size, and the limits of physical space, even the limits of the reader to imagine/visualize are exceeded. It's not unprecedented in folk literature, or works such as the Edda and the encounters of Thor with giants, but the parody, and sheer playfulness of it in Rabelais is a riot.