decent community

It with our most extreme pleasure receptors that The Community introduces François Rabelais (1494-1553) as our Decent Bastard of the Week. François was nominated by Henri (en-ray) Boofboof of Nice, France. François gets the nod this week for being the man who most consider the founder of the novel. François’ larger than life characters were huge fans of bronsons, wordplay, sexual conquests, jams, grotesque behavior, and satire. We can probably assume Fran was as well.

Most well known for his epic Gargantua and Pantagruel, Monsieur Rabelais lived an unheralded existence in name of decency, while he was shunned amongst his comtemporaries as a man of foul intentions who went against the status quo. Celebrated now as an astute observer of his times, François Rabelais has the last laugh, as he was one of the foremost architects of modern decency all along. Communty reader Henri Boofboof tells more:

“À l’instar de Monsieur Jacques Cousteau a été le maître de toutes choses au-dessous de la mer, Rabelais est à l’origine de ce que les gars vous donne maintenant la parole décence. Frère François a parlé de ce que vous dites de retour en 1530, et qui a été à un moment où tout le monde était marié à la religion. Agir autrement a été heresay! Je félicite la communauté pour suivre les traces de François Rabelais, et c’est mon espoir sincère que d’autres viendront à reconnaître vrai décence dans votre vie.”  (translate)

I think Monsieur Boofboof hit the nail on the head with this one! Without a doubt, if we are looking for one of the forefathers of decency, we need to look no further than François Rabelais’ love of games, brews, good times, and the bizzarre. While everyone else is grubbing around for every last cent that may happen to roll on the floor, Rabelais is laughing in his grave — and The Community is sharing a decent laugh with him.

Filed under: books, bronsons, decent bastards, grizzle, politics, style