Classic Collection of British Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

Mary-Rose McDaniel: Good quality regardless of small print. Old English in the first half and tales translated in the second half. Not all words were in olde English but very good all the same.

United Kingdom on Oct 14, 2023

Leous: It’s a really good book and just has a very enveloping history behind it that captures the attention of readers and allows you to emerse yourself into the book, 10/10

United States on Oct 13, 2023

Birhanu: Classic

United States on Oct 09, 2023

Lorenna: Ótima leitura e edição excelente.

Brazil on Aug 01, 2023

B. Hobson: A well-made original Middle English edition of the Tales. I wish I still had my old edition with facing pages of ME and modern translation, but this is the next best thing.

United States on Jun 15, 2023

Solène: Rien à dire, reçu nickel 👌🏻

France on May 27, 2023

Nilschillout: The book is revolving around 30 pilgrims of different professions contesting about who can tell be best story in order to win a meal. Organized by a inn owner, the pilgrims each agreed to tell 2 stories on the way to Canterbury and 2 on the way back. The inn owner should be the judge and reward the winner with a free meal.

Its not quite 120 stories but still. I found myself quite amused with the vulgary language uses in the Miller's tale or fascinated by the fate of 2 cousins fighting each other in the name of love in the Knight's tale.

The only con I can think of is the distinctive vocabulary used by the translator in the introduction.

Germany on Jan 31, 2021

Craig A. Breighner: I have purchased several of these well-constructed little Penguin editions. For Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES I was expecting, perhaps, a bilingual version on opposing pages or an interlinear transliteration of the Middle English original, but these were not to be. Instead, this version contains a very readable "modern English" verse rendition by Nevill Coghill, the first printing of which occurred in 1951. It is certainly not the language of Chaucer, but Coghill does an admiral job of maintaining the humor and spirit of the tales. He is an able rhymer and reminds that there is merit (and considerable effort, apparently) in compiling a version that is accessible enough to unfamiliar readers to be easily followed and understood, but still lyrical enough to signal that they are experiencing something special in the history of English Letters -- the unique underlying forms and style that make Chaucer "the father of English poetry." For readers who wish to graduate to the actual Middle English text, that version is available in a relatively inexpensive Penguin Classics paperback edition that the publisher identifies as the original [Middle English] language of Chaucer. Readers are...

United States on Jul 22, 2020

Goldwin McKinley: Reconnect with Chaucer

Canada on Jun 26, 2018

JGar: This review is for Kindle version of the Penguin Classics edition of the Canterbury Tales, edited by Neville Coghill. This version is in modern English.

The Canterbury Tales follow a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, a cathedral town in England. Having all coincidentally stayed in the same inn, the group decides to go Canterbury together. The inn's owner, the Host, decides to make the journey more interesting by asking everyone in the party to tell a story: whoever tells the best story, in his opinion, will win a free dinner. The author, Geoffrey Chaucer, is a member of the party and serves as the narrator, and even tells a couple stories himself.

Thus follows a series of poems. The topics vary wildly, and include faith, romance, gender equality, and wealth. Western culture has changed a lot since the Tales were written--but in some ways, we haven't changed at all. There is also occasional vulgar and perverted humor (my favorite--and not something I was expecting from medieval poetry).

Just as the Tales vary wildly in topic, so too do they vary in quality. Some are quick, enjoyable, absorbing reads, while others are snooze fests that are a chore to...

United States on Mar 03, 2016