Gargantua and Pantagruel

At a glance

Five novels by François Rabelais.

Author

François Rabelais1494–1553

First published

1534

Original language

Middle French

Genre

Fantasy

Readers

Adult

Length

Epic200,000 words or more

Readers' rating

3.4 out of 5from 27 ratings on Hardcover

How long it takes to read

About 21 h 23 min at 250 words a minute, or 34 h 29 min as an audiobook.

Compared with other books

The books closest in length, and a few well-known ones for scale.

1. 1War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy587,287Compare
2. 2Our Mutual FriendCharles Dickens326,054Compare
3. 3Nicholas NicklebyCharles Dickens325,379Compare
4. 4Gargantua and PantagruelFrançois Rabelais320,685
5. 5The Forsyte SagaJohn Galsworthy320,170Compare
6. 6A Clash of KingsGeorge R. R. Martin318,903Compare
7. 7The Fellowship of the RingJ. R. R. Tolkien177,227Compare
8. 8Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen121,970Compare
9. 9Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJ. K. Rowling76,944Compare
10. 10The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald47,094Compare

Counted from the text

Automated estimates from the selected Project Gutenberg text; it may include a preface or notes.

Words in the text

320,685

Chapters

263about 1,219 words each

Average sentence

22.5 words

Vocabulary

469 different words in every 1,000Distinct words in the sampled text; this does not measure writing quality.

Where the numbers come from

The word count comes from the sources below.

• gutenberg.orgword count
• openlibrary.orgcover and record
• wikidata.orgdescription and author
• hardcover.appreaders' rating

The word count is Musael’s own count of the Project Gutenberg text, which can include a preface or notes.

Checked on 2026-10-27. Page counts change from edition to edition. Cover from Open Library; the edition shown may differ.

Questions