Why is this never mentioned among the other classics? Shit's pretty hilarious, a lot more entertaining than I thought.
>>7524888
because it's way more patrician than anyone here can handle
Because there are a lot of books in the world, and some are more popular than others.
>>7524888
I think literary critics already hold it in very high regard as an important piece of literature, but I guess it hasn't found its way to most average readers' bookshelves because it's old, weird and french.
>>7524890
What are you talking about? There are people here who have finished Gravity's Rainbow.
>>7524947
>equating difficulty to patrician
Gargantua and Pantagruel is one of the top 20 most important novels since the fall of the Romans
>>7524951
*but it isn't a meme so people don't actually pay attention to it like Ulysses and DFW
>>7524947
BUT THIS IS OVER 1100 PAGES, GR IS ONLY LIKE 800, THIS IS WAY MORE DIFFICULT
>>7524888
It is a major work of the 16th century; it is considered a classic; and it is hilarious indeed.
I find its reputation here to be pretty close to Tristram's: vaguely cited as important and funny, actually never discussed.
btw, it's read in highschool in France, although not the old french version but an adapted/translated one.
>>7525055
It's sad that it and Tristram are so rarely read
Which French edition to read?
>>7525782
oh the one on lib gen, les éditions des londres, has a contemporary adaptation and the original so i'll guess i'll go for that one
>>7524888
I keep namedropping Rabelais whenever feasible. Just never thought to leverage the "classic" label to get you fucks to read it. "It's got poop jokes every page AND is a classic!", yeah, that would work. I'll keep it in mind.
>>7525055
>btw, it's read in highschool in France, although not the old french version but an adapted/translated one.
I read the old (middle actually) french version back then. Not sure whether it was the one specified, though.
>>7525782
Pick an annotated original edition if you're a native speaker. I like those formats that lay the text on the right page and keep the whole left for annotations, Poche classics do that IIRC, they're very helpful -- even if you have no trouble understanding the language, which isn't far removed from modern French, some of the references are very valuable and key to getting the point of the text besides all the jesting.
>be junior in university
>finish 200-level intermediate french courses
>want to continue french by taking a 300-level literature class
>only offering that semester is "16th century humanist texts"
>start with a text called "L'Hemptameron" and I'm already struggling
>my french is barely good enough to read most conversational sentences, let alone renaissance lit
>gargantua et pantagruel is next
>edition we were assigned retained the spelling of 16th century france
>have to look up every third word and most of them aren't in the dictionaries because of the antiquated spelling
>it's like paradise lost spelling but in french
>fuck
>stumble through a few chapters barely understanding anything
>read a few chapters in translation
>finally get to the chapter about "torcheculs"
>describes all the things gargantua uses as a "torchecul"
>wait doesn't "cul" mean "ass"
>go to dictionary
>torchecul=asswipe
>mfw i realize rabelais is describing a giant wipe his shit on birds
>>7525872
It takes a very learned student of philosophy to determine that goose necks are the best ass wipes.
>>7525872
>>7524888
Because /lit/ doesnt mention the Renaissance classics much anymore. But it's a great read.
>>7525872
reddit.jpg
>you know you're not wanted here
Sadly the Decameron is another under read work today. But one day people will revive these classics. (one can have hope)
>>7526327
Decameron is great, really interesting to read something from the 1200s that's just dirty sex jokes.
