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What are readers saying about The Canterbury Tales?
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Jonathan posted a review at 2009-09-16 10:03:38.
(Language: English)
 
Chaucer writes the only poetry I have ever enjoyed reading. Some tales are shallow and rather uninteresting while others are brilliant, beautifully written, and deeply philosophical. Kind of what you would expect from a random group of people traveling together. He ends with the Parson's tale. A brief summary: "God desires no man to perish and there are many spiritual ways to the Lord Jesus Christ and the celestial city. Of which ways, there is a full noble way called Penitence, the lamenting for sin and the will to sin no more. The root of the tree of Penitence is contrition, the branches and the leaves are confession, the fruit satisfaction, the seed grace, and the heat in that seed the Love of God."
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eva posted a review at 2011-05-07 07:02:14.
(Language: English)
Some parts are really quite funny. I have to admit I was checking the notes frequently and needed a "guide" to help decipher WTH is going on. Difficult to read that language, but worth it if you slug through.
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Robert posted a review at 2009-12-21 06:58:06.
(Language: English)
One of those books I had to read in high school. Also had to memorize the opening lines of the Prologue. Hated it then, hate it now, but can't get "Whan that Avril the shores sota the drocht of Mars hath perced to the rota" out of my head. Know that I murdered the Middle English spelling. Deal with it. I'm not looking it up just to trash this book.
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Michele posted a review at 2010-11-05 09:54:00.
(Language: English)
Had to read it a few times to obtain my English degree...note "had to" wouldn't put myself through that again by choice
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-31 01:03:25.
(Language: English)
Why oh WHY do they insist on assigning this in high school English classes? It may get the "obscure language variant" requirement out of the way, but no kid is going to be able to appreciate Chaucer's irreverent mouthiness wading through all that wretched Middle English. It took me years to recover sufficiently to even pick the book up again and then I was surprised by how much I liked it. As soon as you get past the odd spelling and weird period slang, it's actually quite readable (so long as you don't take it too seriously). : )
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-15 12:13:30.
(Language: English)
I'm glad I read it. The extremely moralising stories bored me, but the ruder and coarser stories entertained me. Funny how the men and women from the Middle Ages don't seem to avoid topics such as farting or sex. One story was taken straight out of Boccaccio, which I had already read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-16 04:08:01.
(Language: English)
A great insight into society, history and - of course - language of the middle ages. It really comes alive and far easier to understand if read out aloud with a Gaelic brogue; and even easier if you have a little knowledge of Dutch, Flemish or Afrikaans vocabulary, for example: Surely (Modern English) = Siker (Middle English) = Seker (Afrikaans); and, respectively: Many = Fele = Veel; Far = Fer = Ver; Must = Moot = Moet; Die = Sterven = Sterf.
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sneha posted a review at 2011-03-05 01:47:07.
(Language: English)
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-08 01:09:56.
(Language: English)
It does get old...but the classics are always worth reading the first time anyway.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-11 02:11:24.
(Language: English)
Chaucer is the king of retelling Breton Lays, Courtly Romances, prose, and so much more in this collection of tales. Although perhaps distant from our time period, the tales are easy reads and quite hilarious...and oddly inappropriate. If you're looking for something different, take a peek! Additionally, I would wager it that it is far better than the Decameron by Boccaccio (which I have not read), even though it falls short of it's 124 tales by quite some bit.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-18 05:31:35.
(Language: English)
Who would have thought that medieval literature could be so risqué? The Canterbury tales, though by no means an easy read, is fascinating. This book really surprised me. I mean, I knew that the guy was important and was one of the first major writers in the English language, but I never realized that Chaucer was such a literary badass. Even though I know that this work is filled with important social commentary (most of which went over my head), and important linguistic achievements (all those sublime poetic meter thingies that he mastered), what really struck me about the book was the outrageous vulgarity. Chaucer's world is one where evil priests are punished by being made to spend eternity in Satan's bum, where jealous lovers fart in each other's faces, and where people just get drunk have lots and lots of sex. If for no other reason you find scatological humor written in Middle English to be amusing then by all means feel free to tackle The Canterbury Tales'. How's that for an educated review!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-29 10:45:23.
(Language: English)
I read this (in the real Middle English) in college. It is a historic book simply because it was written 'in the vernacular', which simply wasn't how things were done up until this point. I don't think this was The First book printed that way, but it was certainly one of the most important ones we have left. This is, properly, an anthology of stories. As I recall, most of them existed in one form or another before Chaucer scooped them up into this collation. The point is that these represented a slice of life (high and low) at a particular time in English history. They can be seen as seeds. Stories that launched other stories and other versions. I do recommend finding a good translation before diving in.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-28 02:07:07.
(Language: English)
When Geoffrey Chaucer created his famous Canterbury Tales, he was writing primarily for the ear, with the purpose of entertaining friends and colleagues at court. Whether he ever dreamed or suspected that his words would survive down through the ages is anyone's guess. But certainly, his keen and often amusing observations of human nature ring as true for the modern reader as they did for hearers in his own day. No modern translation can quite capture the sly, sophisticated wit of Chaucer's Middle English. It's not as daunting as you'd think. Try to find an edition that glosses the words for you, preferably at the bottom of each page so you don't have to keep flipping to the end and back. Also, if you can, Google a good pronunciation site (one that's based at a university) to help you get a sense of the cadence and lilt of Middle English. If none of that works for you, then at least read a good Penguin or Norton translation in modern English. Enjoy!
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KT posted a review at 2010-04-29 02:23:03.
(Language: English)
We had to read this for school my senior year, but we only read a select few of the tales - the ones that dealt with marriage, plus the Pardoner's tale. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the tales and wish that we had had time to read more of them. I liked all the contrasting views of marriage and have a lot of trouble believing that one man could've written all of these. Not a must-read, but something I believe everyone should at least attempt to read at some point.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-20 05:20:22.
(Language: English)
It's survived for hundreds of years because for the most part, it reads like it could have been written in any time. (Granted, my copy is a modern translation--I feel sorry for anyone who had to read the original in school, but I would suggest picking it up again if you had a bad experience with it.) Most of the stories are a lot of fun, and they are so varied that if you happen to dislike one, you're reading one you do like in no time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-21 06:58:23.
(Language: English)
I am ALWAYS reading The Canterbury Tales - for some reason especially on Sunday mornings. I just LOVE them! Well, most of them. My favourites are the Miller's Tale and the Reeve's Tale! But ick I can't stand the Prioress's Tale, soooooooo pious, and I'm not a huge fan of the Man of Law's Tale, but still find it entrancing somehow - I mean, it's hard to take how Constance is an angel on Earth who likes to suffer, but there's something beautiful in how it's told, plus I actually wouldn't mind spending three years at sea floating around aimlessly. I was reading the Monk's Tales this morning. They're pretty cool.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-25 09:27:55.
(Language: English)
I had always wanted to read The Canterbury Tales, since everyone who actually read books said that it was one of the masterpieces of English literature. Genuinely interested, I picked up this copy 2 or 3 years ago and I'm glad I did. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by pilgrims on the way to Canterbury, to entertain each other. Some tales are fun, some are randy and just totally rude, others are long and sermonizing, and still some try to import lessons to 14th century society. I actually enjoyed the translation I bought and it's always a good book to revisit. I've recently finished a Chaucer class at school, and took it for the sole purpose of understanding The CT more, and to read it again. After that class, I understand more about the society and people that existed during Chaucer's time and can appreciate The CT even more, especially since the text we had was in Middle English. But if you don't want to go take a Chaucer class, you can just read the Tales at face value and enjoy them at a more relaxed pace. Definetely a fun read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-17 01:19:40.
(Language: English)
Initially felt like not reading this book. Slowly & slowly got so engrossed in reading it that i forgot other things. It's a masterpiece. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories set within a framing story of a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket. The poet joins a band of pilgrims, vividly described in the General Prologue, who assemble at the Tabard Inn outside London for the journey to Canterbury. Ranging in status from a Knight to a humble Plowman, they are a microcosm of 14th-century English society.
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Tommy posted a review at 2012-01-08 01:51:54.
(Language: English)
Great book. Greater still is the town of Canterbury England. Went there and loved it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-09-20 10:05:09.
(Language: English)
I also read a modern translation by Richard Brodie that was fantastic! All the sly humour came through beautifully and he stayed quite true to Chaucer's rhythm and rhyming schemes.
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Matthew posted a review at 2009-04-28 07:42:03.
(Language: English)
The first story is over 1/3rd of the book and it took me a while to get into it. After the warm up, the later stories were shorter and easier to follow. The stories on sex, marriage, infidelity, chastity, and finally devotion to Christ were very interesting. Its good to get way out of the modern literary comfort zone and stretch the mind out a bid. I listened to the audio book version the the author did a great job reading the stories in old English.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-28 08:13:25.
(Language: English)
Even though the language can be somewhat difficult, this is so worth reading! Each tale is so different, so I'm not sure how it could "get boring" halfway through. To me, it reads more like a series of short stories. If you don't have time to read the entire book, then simply choose a couple of tales and read them until you realize how awesome they are. (I recommend The Wife of Bath's Tale and The Miller's Tale).
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-23 05:51:35.
(Language: English)
The real inspiration for every Monty Python skit. Read it out loud to get more out of it, and don't be afraid to put a screeching halt to your progress by looking at the explications. Etymologies are a world away from cognates, so assume nothing! Would not recommend reading this at religious ceremonies, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, or around anyone even remotely sexually inhibited. Speaking of "worlds away," escathological texts are a world away from scatalogical stories such as these, so be careful who you introduce this to.
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A Reader posted a review at 2012-02-21 09:47:07.
(Language: English)
Read it for school. Perhaps I should try it again for fun...
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-11 12:48:31.
(Language: English)
This is a 14th Century collection of bawdy and cynical poetry written in Middle English, all woven together in the story of a pilgrimage to Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury. The diverse collection of people involved in the journey are each to tell a tale while the Host offers a reward for the best story. As each character tells his yarn, the others interrupt to ridicule and poke fun, each trying to outdo each other. Stories are named after the character who tells it and not what the story is actually about. I can see where the context is historical, the language poetic and the stories an important account of literature of the middle ages, however the stories are so over-the-top and are filled with so much rhetoric that they did not hold my interest. I made it through the book pretty quickly since I was not tempted to break down and analyze each story for hidden meaning or context beyond what was given in its introduction. If you enjoy Shakespeare's raucus comedies, then you will probably enjoy these tales if you can follow the Middle English. The version of the book that I read included a modern English translation, which was nice.
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