Customer Reviews

Penguin Classics Canterbury Tales

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While this is one of the better translations of The Tales I've seen, it's still unfortunately a translation. Even with a perfect translation, much of the rhyming and character of the original is lost. On the other hand, you can also lose much of the essence of the story by reading the Middle English text simply because the vocabulary can be so different (even though most of the time you can guess the meaning). Your best bet is to buy a copy of The Tales that keeps the original text but adds a line-by-line translation. The book may be twice as thick, but this way you can both read it the way Chaucer intended it to be, and read the translation right under the original words in case you're completely baffled by the vocabulary. I recently found a copy like that at a garage sale for 50 cents. It was the best 50 cents I've spent in a long time.

I enjoy the translation. I think it's ideal for the classroom. I can appreciate the tales that are streamlined for ease. It's very easy to follow.

The Canterbury Tales were almost ruined for me by my freshman English Lit class. They insisted on making us read it from The Norton Anthology of Literature, which of course is untranslated. This is pointless. Unless one is a specialist or going for a doctorate there is no point in reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English with all those endless footnotes. It takes one of the greatest books in English Literature - or World Literature, for that matter - and makes it torture. I have no need of "thilke" or "willhem" or "clepen." That is why Nevill Coghill's translation is such a boon. Now we can enjoy it in our own language the way the fourteenth-century English did (in truth, it is not that hard to translate as many of the words stay the same). I have taken to reading it, not as a novel, but as a collection of short stories - skipping around as I please. I think it is agreed that the best parts art the Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Wife of Bath (and the Prologue, of course) which makes for excellent starting points.

If you haven't read the Canterbury Tales in their native language than you are missing out. It isn't very hard, once you get in the flow of things it becomes just like reading anything else. The Bantam edition allows you to read the translated or the native version. I was disapointed at the amount of tales in this edition though. I was looking for a fuller picture of the tales, yet the translaters picked the tales that they fealt were the most important and I did enjoy it very much. For any of you out there that want to read the full Canterbury Tales in Middle-English I would suggest the Norton Anthology of Middle English Literature. That is Volume 1A of their English literature Anthology. It shows the full story without any translations. It is very exstensively annotated though, so you can decipher the Middle-English vocabulary.
No matter what edition you read though, your in for a genuine literary treat.

Over the years, this book has been banned upways, sideways, and down. Thanks to the Comstock Law (1873), Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' was prohibited for sale in the United States due to sexual situations and swearing. (In other words, the fun parts.) It continues to be abridged for content and language across the United States.

I read Canterbury Tales a while ago. It was an abridged edition. Severely abridged. Entire sections and tales were cut out, for PC and conservative reasons both. I reread it in an unabridged edition, and while even a truncated Chaucer is beautiful, I see how much I missed.

Yes, the Tales may be anti-semitic and sexist and Chaucer probably killed puppies just to see their expressions. It's still a beautiful example of writing. Rather than limit himself to portraying the upper classes and more refined manners, Chaucer elected to portray "low" manners and tastes as well, giving a more complete picture of life as he saw it. The completeness of the Tales for that time period blows me away.

It's long, but it's worth it. If you can, find an edition that keeps as much of the original language and slang as possible. It's slower reading, but his skill shines through.

While the 'Tales' in this volume are no less amusing and relevant, I would have preferred for it to have been read in Middle English, maintaining the original flow and meter (which is not that hard to understand after hearing it for a while).

When everyone says that Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are among the best of his time, I must agree. Chaucer was set with the task of creating tales told by "nine and twenty" people, and although these tales were never completed, the edition we do have is quite enjoyable. These twenty-nine characters, from the knight to the pardoner, describe everyday occupations during the medieval period. Chaucer uses sharp wit and occasional dirty humor to emphasize the moral lessons each tale teaches. Not only do the tales themselves teach us, but the characters that tell them. Chaucer has been brilliant to create the exalted knight, gentle prioress, rowdy miller, lively squire, and more! If you want to experience such an absorbing classic you must read it yourself!

This is a wonderful, hilarious book! Granted, it is not an easy read, but if you are a good reader or don't mind working through the old language, you will find this to be a very funny book. It also takes some understanding of the period it was written in. Without that understanding and the aforementioned traits, you may find this book to be "a waste of time". Rent the movie A Knight's Tale to see appearances by Chaucer, the Summoner, and the Prior. This movie, despite being somewhat fluffy and anachronistic, does have some elements of The Canterbury Tales which, after reading the book, you may notice.

Having tried to wade through a "non-modern english" version of The Canterbury Tales, I appreciate this book. It brings out Chaucer's playful language in a way that's more entertaining, because it's easier to understand. Re-reading some of the stories in this book, I was surprised by beautiful statements, amusing turns of phrase, and the sheer bawdiness of his writing.

However, I gave this book three stars first becuase I don't put Chaucer on a level with Spenser or Malory, and second because this is a standard Penguin book, which means it's more stripped down than I like. I prefer footnotes to explain references that I might not be able to take in context. In something as heavily alligorical as Chaucer's work, I believe this is very important.

I read this during my senior year in high school. I will never forget unwinding the words and finding a truly hysterical work of fiction. It was such an adventure!