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    The Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales
    Ebook739 pages10 hours

    The Canterbury Tales

    By Geoffrey Chaucer

    3.5/5

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    The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He used the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection resembles The Decameron, which Chaucer may have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilder Publications, Inc.
    Release dateJun 10, 2015
    ISBN9781633843110
    Author

    Geoffrey Chaucer

    Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) is considered to be the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. He maintained a career in civil service for most of his life, working as a courtier, diplomat, and was even a member of Parliament, however, he is famed for his literary work. Best known for his book The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer normalized the use of Middle English in a time when the respected literary languages were French and Latin, causing a revolutionary impact on literature. Chaucer is regarded as the father of English Literature for his invaluable contributions and innovations to the art.

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    Reviews for The Canterbury Tales

    3.5/5

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    • 5/5
      I read this in Middle English, so it was extremely challenging, but well worth the extra effort. The "Canturbury Tales" are a collection of stories, all but two of which, were written in verse. In the framing story, 24 pilgrims are on their way from Southwark to Canturbury to visit the Saint Thomas Becket shrine at Canturbury Cathedral. When they stop along the way, they entertain the group with tales, some serious, some hilarious, some racy, some satirical, and some laced with religious themes. The most famous of these is "The Knight's Tale," in which two friends, both knights, fall in love with the same woman. The funniest and bawdiest story is "The Miller's Tale," which includes extramarital sex, ass (ers) kissing, and farting! I'd highly recommend at least attempting to read the book in its original language, as the verses are incredibly beautiful and well-written. There are several versions that include either glossaries or interlinear translation which is necessary to fully understand the meaning of the text, but a strictly modern version will miss much of what makes Chaucer amazing.
    • 4/5
      A wife destroys her husband and contrives,
      As husbands know, the ruin of their lives

      Much as the theme of estrangement dominates a thread of traditional songs, (see Wayfaring Stranger, Motherless Child etc) much of early Modern literature appears concerned with faithless brides and the looming spectre of cuckoldry. It is possible that I am full of shit in tall weeds, but that said, I do think that there is a link between the themes (alienation and infidelity) and that both are understood in terms of our ontological displacement. Such were my reasoned reactions to Canterbury Tales. My unreasoned ones amounted to observation: look there’s a rape, that’s a rape, that’s a pogrom, why would anyone’s daughter want to sleep with him etc, etc? I read this in translation into modern English and was impressed about the rhyme, especially between Flanders and extravagances: who can fault that? The Tales is a display of language's majesty.

      My grasp of Chaucer amounts to the author saying through his myriad voices -- much like Bill Nighy in Hitchhiker’s Guide: there really is no point, just keep busy
    • 4/5
      The Canterbury Tales is by a wide margin the best-known work of English literature from the medieval period. It's not only enshrined in the school History syllabus between Crop Rotation, Monasticism and Castles, but it's a book that many modern readers still seem to turn to for pleasure, despite the obvious difficulties caused by the linguistic and cultural distance of six centuries. I've often dipped into it pleasurably before, and I've had a copy sitting on my shelves for many years, but this is the first time I've tried a cover-to-cover read. I found the language easier to deal with than I expected - Chaucer's version of southern English is a lot more straightforward for the modern reader than the nearly contemporary Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Anyone who knows a bit of French or Latin and a bit of German or Dutch ought to be able to read it fairly easily with the help of the marginal glosses. Especially with 600 pages to practice on, you soon get the hang of what it means and a rough idea of how it sounds (I listened to an audio recording of the General Prologue for help with this). In fact, the pronunciation of Middle English is usually more logical than that of Modern English. If what's written is "knight", it makes far more sense to say cnicht (or kerniggut if you're John Cleese) than nite...Like most people, I had mixed reactions to the Tales. The bawdy ones were fun - it's always interesting to see that people enjoyed fart-jokes as much (or perhaps even more) in those days as they do now. The chivalric-romance style of several other Tales was colourful but sometimes a bit slow for modern tastes (some of the descriptions in the "Knight's Tale" seem to go on for ever), but it was revealing to see that Chaucer was well aware of that and was prepared to make fun of it in the mock-heroic "Nun's Priest's Tale" and the deliberately boring and directionless "Tale of Sir Thopas", which is supposedly being told by the poet's narrator-persona, "Chaucer", until he's cut off by the Host. There are several "high-minded" religious Tales that look as though they are meant to be taken straight - the blatantly antisemitic - "Prioress's Tale" is perhaps best ignored; the "Physician's Tale", a gruesome story about an honour-killing, is not much better, except that there at least the narrator seems to distance himself a little from the idea that it's better to kill your (innocent) daughter than risk shame attaching to her; the "Second Nun's Tale" (the gloriously over-the-top martyrdom of St Cecilia) is almost readable, but even I was forced into skimming by the "Parson's Tale", a lengthy and very dry sermon on the subject of "penance" (it does get a bit livelier when it's discussing the Seven Deadly Sins...).Probably the most interesting aspect of the Tales overall is what Chaucer has to say about the relations between men and women. Several Tales deal with this topic explicitly in various different ways, and the core of the argument is obviously in the "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" - she argues powerfully and directly that the world will not collapse into disorder if women are allowed to decide the course of their own lives. The "Franklin's Tale" also takes up the idea of an equitable marriage in which neither partner owes obedience to the other and presents it in a positive light. It's tempting to read something of the Chaucers' domestic situation into this, but of course we don't have the slightest bit of evidence for anything other than that Philippa Chaucer had a career of her own. We read this for its scope, vitality and colour, and for the liveliness of Chaucer's verse, which manages to jump the centuries without any problem. It's striking how we're so used to groaning and expecting dullness or difficulty when we see a passage of verse in a modern prose novel - here it's precisely the opposite; we (rightly) groan when we see the prose text of the "Parson's Tale" and the "Tale of Melibee" coming up, and are relieved when we get back to verse again...One - irrelevant - thought that struck me for the first time on this reading was to wonder how the practicalities of storytelling on horseback work out. Even on foot, it's difficult to talk to more than two or three people at once whilst walking along, and when riding you can't get as close together as you can on foot, plus you've got the noise of the horses. So I don't know how you would go about telling a story to a group of 29 riders in a way that they can all hear it. If they were riding two abreast, they would be spread out over something like 50m of road, and it's unlikely that the A2 was more than two lanes wide in the 14th century...
    • 2/5
      In honour of my late medieval studies adviser, Dr John Bugge, I figured it was time to finish reading one of his favourite books. I read it. It's a collection of stories. I am honestly still not sure what the appeal is. *And I'm a medievalist.* But I read it and now I don't feel like I have to read it again. It can go onto my bookshelves so I can feel intelligent and well read.
    • 4/5
      I could listen to and read this repeatedly and still find more to love I think.
    • 2/5
      Zeer ongelijkmatig; sommige verhalen zitten met haken en ogen in elkaar, andere zijn pareltjes.Steken er bovenuit: ridder,vrouw uit Bath, klerk, grondbezitter, aflaatkramer, nonnenpriester.Wel mooie psychologische tekening.
    • 5/5
      I suppose this is my own Ulysses. Canterbury Tales is certainly one of those books, like Ulysses or Proust or Golden Bowl, that no one's actually read or if they have they hated it or if they didn't they're lying because they think it'll impress you. But I took a whole class on this in college and I had this terrific professor, and she showed me how awesome this is. Really, it's a heap of fun. Are you impressed?
    • 4/5
      Mark Twain said something like: "Classics are books you think you ought to read, but never do." Well, I am glad I put in the hours to listen to this book, but I cannot say I enjoyed much of it. Partially, it was the narration--some of the accents used were simply impossible--and partially it was boredom that set in when discussing theology that is so far from my own. Still, it is part of the "canon" and as such, it is good to be a bit more literate today than I was yesterday....
    • 5/5
      This is a very approachable translation of The Canterbury Tales. Many of my students still struggle with reading Chaucer in translation (at least with the translation in our anthology); however, this translation seems more approachable for my college students.
    • 5/5
      Oh, the treasure of finding and holding a shopworn copy of Chaucer's tales in my hands is just too much for words. His tales are not just downright funny, but they can be applied even today to the people we work with, live with, and play with on a daily basis. In fact, I kept laughing every time I read another tale that was a ringer for someone I knew. The classics hold up well, don't they?


      Book Season = Sping ("when the sweet showers of April fall and shoot")
    • 4/5
      Fun reads but a bit eclectic in a chaotic sense.
    • 5/5
      Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales consists of a collection of stories framed as being told during a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Each in this company of about 30 pilgrims is to tell a tale on the journey there--the one judged to have told the best to get a free meal. In structure, and sometimes even in the content of the stories, this resembles the Italian Decameron by Boccaccio, written over a century before which Chaucer probably read. One of the differences is that while the Decameron is prose, most of The Canterbury Tales is in verse. But I think what really distinguishes it in my mind is the cross-section of English Medieval society Chaucer presents. Boccacio's storytellers were young members of Florence nobility, Chaucer on the other hand has people from all levels of society: a knight and his squire, a prioress, friar, parson, canon, priests, nuns and a monk, various professions, tradesmen and artisans, a merchant, cook, physician etc. Each tale has a content and style that matches the teller. The most memorable passages to me are the little portraits of the various pilgrims, especially the Wife of Bath. Which is not to say the individual stories don't have their pleasures; some are dull and long-winded, but quite a few are vivid, funny, and/or bawdy. I especially remember "The Shipman's Tale" with its pun on "double entry" bookkeeping, and "The Knight's Tale" was adapted by Shakespeare into Two Noble Kinsman. Purists and scholars will want to suffer through Chaucer's original Middle English. It can, with difficulty and frustration, be made out by the modern reader. Here's the opening:Whan that aprill with his shoures sooteThe droghte of march hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour;Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breethInspired hath in every holt and heethTendre croppes, and the yonge sonneHath in the ram his halve cours yronne,And smale foweles maken melodye,That slepen al the nyght with open ye(so priketh hem nature in hir corages);Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimagesMore power to you if you choose to do so. But if you're looking to enjoy yourself and read with understanding without constantly referring to footnotes, sacrilege though it may be, you might want to try one of the translations into Modern English such as those by Nevill Coghill, Colin Wilcockson or David Wright.
    • 4/5
      The whole idea of the Canterbury Tales is very cool, and I certainly enjoy reading the different stories and poetry, but I find that I don't actually -like- most of the stories. They all follow a distinct pattern and are either crude and tragic or just plain tragic.
    • 3/5
      One of my English teachers had a penchant for making his students memorize passages from certain books. Thanks to him, I will forever have the first few lines of the prologue memorized. It randomly pops into my head in lilting Middle English, and I find myself repeating, "Whan that aprill with his shoures soote, the droghte of march hath perced to the roote, and bathed every veyne in switch licour..."
    • 4/5
      This is a wonderful book. It took me some time to get into the book, because I am not that used anymore to this style of writing. However, when you get into the meat of the book, you will be amazed at the amazing variety of styles in the book. There are a multitude of characters. The stories cover a wide range, from the raunchy to the spiritual, to the boring. The style in which each story is told matches the story teller, and matches the story. It is astounding to come across such range in one book. Apart from the sheer brilliance of the writing, I think the book does give us a glimpse into the England of the times. This book is a must read
    • 5/5
      I love the Canterbury Tales. I took an entire class dedicated to the study of this beautiful piece of work. What I love about this collection of tales is that there is something for everyone; tons of dirty humor, some love stories, tragic stories, morality stories, animal fables, a satire on chivalry tales, poetry...

      There are over 20 individual stories, some that were unfortunately left unfinished. Each tale is told by a different person in this group of pilgrims making their way to Canterbury Cathedral. They are all from different walks of life; there is a Knight, a squire, a scholar, a prioress, a priest, a pardoner, etc. They decide to tell stories in order to pass the time as they travel.

      For those who are not used to Middle English is that you can read one at a time and/or skip around (after you read the General Prologue), and though you may miss a few things about the actual pilgrimage (some of the story tellers argue and whatnot), the tales themselves are still very enjoyable.

      I suggest finding a copy that has both the original spelling and the Middle English spelling in order to enjoy the full impact of the language even if you are not a Middle English expert.

      It is a delightful collection of tales! I wish more people would read and enjoy them!
    • 3/5
      Canterbury Tales were ruined for me in school. If I'd read them out of school I would have loved them. Some of the stories are superb while some of them fall flat. If you don't mind shifting between the enthralling and mundane this book wouldn't be half-bad.
    • 3/5
      Normally I would give CT a four-star rating, but the particular edition I'm writing about is not written in the original Middle English; it's been "translated" and modified with a mind for the flow of verse rather than the original meanings of the words. Since I find so much of Chaucer's humor washed out by editors' tampering, I give this edition a measly three stars.
    • 2/5
      I read The Prologue, The Cook's Prologue & Tale, The Prioress's Prologue & Tale, Words of the Host to the Monk, The Monk's Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, the Pardoner's Prologue & Tale, The Wife of Bath's Prologue & Tale

      I enjoyed reading it, but its not a book I'd just pick up and read for fun.
    • 1/5
      Stopped at page 20. The way this is written I had way too much trouble keeping characters separate as I read. I was only in the earliest part of the book but had to keep deciding which character any pronoun referred to. It became way too bothersome to me and disinteresting once I accepted that it wasn't going to change. I really bought the book because I had heard that the Wife of Bath's tale was a bit risque...I finally just went to her chapter and read the last page and will suffice with that. A shame.
    • 5/5
      Loved the variety of stories available. It had something for everyone. It is now my travel book. As I can pick and choose what I feel like reading.
    • 5/5
      The pleasure of this book lies in the double bonus of the ever green stories of Chaucer together with the wonderful selection of illustrations drawn from contemporary, medieval illuminated manuscripts. I know that Cresset is a publisher for the mass market but this edition is particularly attractive and I think very collectable. There is an excellent introduction by John Wain and an apposite foreword by Melvyn Bragg while the text is Chaucer but with old English given an understandable and very readable translation by the great Chaucer authority, Nevill Coghill. This particular volume is not a text for university study but is a volume for pleasurable and bedtime reading. It returns me to the humour and the wisdom of Chaucer and reminds me that there are so many English expression from Chaucer which we still use today - for example, keeping mum, or many a true word said in jest, or rotten apples spoiling all in the barrel. We are reminded of the richness of the English language, the debt we owe to Chaucer and the freshness of these 14th century tales. This particular edition is worth acquiring ( readily available) and adding to one's book treasures. It is a very beautiful book. The illustrations are well matched to the text and repay close study. If you have never read Chaucer or if you read Chaucer as a chore, take another look and give yourself the treat of a classic of literature in a lovely format.
    • 3/5
      Read in a Penguin Classics translation from the 50s, this is a re-read for me. I last read this approaching 20 years ago when I needed distracting on a long haul flight. And having read it again, I can see why it did it's job! It's not exactly an easy read, it demands attention and concentration - no skimming here. but it rewards the attention with some classic pieces of story telling. The concept was enormous, each of the pilgrims (and there are approaching 30 identified) were to tell two tales. He didn't even get as far as one tale each, the work remains unfinished, but some of the stories are just sparkling studies of human nature even now. A lot of the stories are relayed as if the pilgrim is telling a story they have heard elsewhere, so a lot of them can be traced to other sources - there's little in the narrative arc that is original. What is all Chaucer is the linking passages, the representation of all of life in one group. They are a mixture of positions in life and it is noticeable that the ladies represented in the group and in the tales tend to be very strong females - very few shrinking violets here. For his time, that strikes me as noticeable. The introduction, when the pilgrims are introduces, could be (with a little tweaking) any group of random strangers you could gather together today. OK, there are a few more religious job titles then than now (they'd be bankers or management consultants now) but they're such an assorted bunch that they seem to spring to life as you read. I think that's part of the charm, this is the English at the birth of a national consciousness - these are my people, this is part of what makes us who we are.
    • 4/5
      I actually reread this in my copy of the Norton Critical edition, which is very good, with glosses, notes, and a lot of supplementary material. Unfortunately, you can't put two read dates in, so. Here we go.

      I decided to reread The Canterbury Tales because a) I've read Troilus and Criseyde twice now, and loved it, and b) I had to look at the Wife of Bath's tale as a Gawain romance. Gawain is always going to be a draw for me, so I settled down to read it. I find it frustrating, in its unfinished and uncertain nature -- which tale responds to which, are we supposed to connect this tale with this part, etc -- but I did enjoy it a lot more this time. The different stories and styles display Chaucer's versatility as a writer, of course, and I found most of them fascinating in their own right. I have a special fondness for the Franklin's Tale, because I studied that and reading it again after some time away (and after earning my degree!) taught me so much more about it.

      I still prefer Troilus and Criseyde, and I still wish people could come to artists like Shakespeare and Chaucer in their own time instead of as a chore, as homework. But still! I appreciate The Canterbury Tales a lot more now.
    • 5/5
      I've found, like many before me, that Chaucer has many delightful little works within a work here. I thank him for popularizing English as a written art form, as I did not complete my training in Latin. You will be using such foul and blasphemous language as "By God's Blood and Bones" for many weeks upon completing this book. My favorite tale is the Miller's; that naughty Allison and her nether eye....
    • 4/5
      I must admit that I was expecting this to be a very stuffy, dry, boring book. I mean, it's a pretty old book, and sometimes books this old that are considered "classics" are a touch hard to get through. However, it was neither stuffy, nor dry, nor boring. In fact, quite the opposite of all those things. Very unexpectedly, this was an easy-to-read, entertaining book. Even though the "story-within-story-within-story" format occasionally had me flipping back to remind myself who was talking, I wouldn't call it difficult reading.If I'm totally honest, though, I must admit that there were one or two stories that I started reading and began to wonder where on earth they were going. However, for the most part Chaucer seemed aware of that himself, because he would often truncate stories when they started to get dull.If I can muster a minor criticism of this book, it would be the fact that a disproportionate number of the stories revolve around adulterous wives. I can't even remember how many of the stories feature that as a major plot point. This leads to another - well, not so much a criticism as an observation. This book was much *randier* than I expected. Every other story seemed to feature people hopping in and out of bed. So much so that I began to get self-conscious about reading this book on my commute to and from work each morning; I began to worry that old ladies would notice me reading it, and shake their heads disapprovingly.Regardless, I had a good time reading this book - or at least, a much better time than I anticipated. I suppose my most major criticism would be with the ending: we never get to find out who won the contest! There's no general "summing up" at the ending. It simply finishes with the last story, and when that's done, so's the book.
    • 5/5
      Written in the late 1380's through the early 1390's, Chaucer combines the elements of a diverse cast of travelers, age-old human themes, some borrowed stories from others (cleverly giving credit much of the time), and his own talent for tying everything together through a host that serves as both MC and judge. Some stories are baudy. Most of those that deal with religion have a tonque-in-cheek attitude, though there are a few that truly deal with love and virtue. This is a must-read classic.
    • 4/5
      The Canterbury Tales is an entertaining romp through the Medieval English countryside. If you don't know what it's about, the Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. The tales are told as a way to entertain each other on their journey and the one who tells the best tale will earn a fine meal paid for by the other travelers. This is actually an incomplete work as Chaucer died before completing it, but it is a fine example of early English literature and one of the most important pieces of the English Canon.The tales here vary in length and content as to the prologues and epilogues containing the goings on of the party members. Chaucer writes with a great sense of humor and, since he is writing in the language of the common folk, the content contains many lewd and bawdy jokes and events. It is a very entertaining read and if one wants more than just entertainment, there is a lot of social commentary about life in medieval England that can be gleaned throughout the text.I was a little unsure what to expect when I read this and don't be turned off by the introductory prologue in which our narrator introduces all of the characters. It can be a little long and dry in parts, but it helps to give a clear picture of the characters in the party as they interact with one another and tell their respective tales.
    • 3/5
      While these are quite tiresome to translate into modern english, or something understandable at least, the stories themselves are quite interesting.
    • 4/5
      Touted as unabridged. It contains unabridged versions of the 12 more popular tales.

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    The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer

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