The Canterbury Tales
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- Create Date：2021-05-18 11:53:07
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Geoffrey Chaucer
- ISBN：0007449445
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Summary
Written at the end of the 14th century， the poet Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are a collection of stories told in Middle English。 Thirty pilgrims leave Southwark to travel to a shrine in Canterbury and become the narrators， telling each other stories of chivalrous romance， fable， parable， debate and comedy as they journey。 Their accounts of the human condition remain as resonant today as when they were first written。
Reviews
Carol
，
High school
Nicholas Zoll
，
With all of the different perspectives it was a challenge to follow， also accounting for the style of writing but still an interesting read。
Michael Cheehy
，
This was an interesting read but at times I thought it was slow and hard to get through。 The style of small stories all a part of one larger plot was something I was unfamiliar with and so I did enjoy that aspect of the book。
Kailie
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The Canterbury Tales was not an evenly enjoyable book to me。 By its nature of switching to a new tale each chapter， it makes sense that some will be winners and some will not。 Some chapters I would be completely engaged and interested in the tale being told， only for the next to make me skim nearly the entire thing。 （For every Miller's Tale there was a boring one like the Summoner's。） One thing that was interesting was seeing how gender and class informed how each character was presented and act The Canterbury Tales was not an evenly enjoyable book to me。 By its nature of switching to a new tale each chapter， it makes sense that some will be winners and some will not。 Some chapters I would be completely engaged and interested in the tale being told， only for the next to make me skim nearly the entire thing。 （For every Miller's Tale there was a boring one like the Summoner's。） One thing that was interesting was seeing how gender and class informed how each character was presented and acted。 。。。more
Tyler V。
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”Let’s see if you can tell us one of those old tales from history。。。let it be gay or have a wholesome moral。” — Host to Chaucer， p。 184It is a testament to the universality of human experience， and the importance of sharing stories therein， that this collection can still prove meaningful， seven centuries removed。 I found the blue-collar tales—the Miller’s， the yeoman’s， and the cook’s—to be the most relatable and realistic， but almost every story is sententious and full of practical wisdom。 For ”Let’s see if you can tell us one of those old tales from history。。。let it be gay or have a wholesome moral。” — Host to Chaucer， p。 184It is a testament to the universality of human experience， and the importance of sharing stories therein， that this collection can still prove meaningful， seven centuries removed。 I found the blue-collar tales—the Miller’s， the yeoman’s， and the cook’s—to be the most relatable and realistic， but almost every story is sententious and full of practical wisdom。 For all this， the book is very repetitive when read cover to cover。 The meter， though slightly altered at times， grows grating after 400 pages。 I think Chaucer could have cut the whole thing down to 5-7 tales to a much greater effect。 Regardless， it’s downright perfect for parents who need bedtime stories—a lot of them are action-packed and have a pointed moral at their pith。 Some of them are even （dare I say it？） progressive。 3/5 。。。more
Pankhurie Thakur
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Good
Marina
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I read that in Middle English （pain） and oh boy I wasn’t expecting the summoner and the pardoner to be freaky freaky together but I’m very not disappointed。
Greg
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This isn't exactly the edition I read。 My edition was untranslated Middle English， and I also read the descriptions of each tale in R。D。 French's A Chaucer Handbook which aren't retellings of the story， but explanations of what was known about Chaucer's notes and source material at the time of the publication of that （old） book。I have to say that a lot of the value of reading the Tales would probably be lost in reading them in a modern translation or retelling。 The Prologue is probably the dense This isn't exactly the edition I read。 My edition was untranslated Middle English， and I also read the descriptions of each tale in R。D。 French's A Chaucer Handbook which aren't retellings of the story， but explanations of what was known about Chaucer's notes and source material at the time of the publication of that （old） book。I have to say that a lot of the value of reading the Tales would probably be lost in reading them in a modern translation or retelling。 The Prologue is probably the densest， thorniest patch where language problems are concerned。 I was aided in my comprehension by a good knowledge of French， a basic remembrance of my Latin， and an eclectic collection of facts that pertain to some of the allusions in the book。 For example， in the Reeve's prologue， he claims that old men are like an "open-erys，" which through sheer coincidence I happen to know refers to medlar fruit， which used to be called an "open ass" because it looks like a puckered bumhole on one side， and it doesn't get sweet to eat until it's bletted， meaning that it's so ripe that it looks like it's already rotten。 So in very few words， the Reeve is saying that men are only reaching their prime as their old bodies decay。 Somehow I've gone along enough curiosity voyages in germane directions that I understood a lot of these allusions without needing to pick up a guidebook。 So I was starting from a very fortunate place that let me read the book almost without pausing to study references and look up words， and that really helps the narrative pacing。What's great about the book is the poetry itself。 The worst tales are the tales of Melibee and the Parson's Tales， which are prose treatises。 They have little of the whimsy， flow， inventiveness， and personality of the poetic tales like the Wife of Bath's prologue， the Pardoner's Tale， or the very famous tales of the knight and the miller。Generally the more secular tales are also going to be more engaging stories for the modern reader。 There are a few Christian morality tales sprinkled in like the Life of Saint Cecilia by the "Second Nonne" and the tale of Dame Custance （Constance）， and these don't have any of the character matters that make what we think of as an interesting story。 They're basically moral instruction， and they're pretty tedious to people with more secular tastes。It's pretty funny the amount of scholarly speculation that surrounds this book as to the order of the tales， whether Chaucer may have been directly criticizing public people of his time， the continuity of the tales， etc。 In few words， the Tales is incomplete， and not even almost complete， but less than half complete。 Within it there are contradictions regarding chronology of events， some stories are assigned to characters who don't have an obvious reason to be telling the story they choose， and the stories （arranged in my edition by Skeat） are ordered semi-arbitrarily in certain instances。 And the simplest explanation for the incongruities is simply that Chaucer wasn't done yet， and therefore the order and the assignment of stories was provisional。 There is no "true order" except in certain cases where the character prologues make it explicitly clear when in the journey the tale is being told。How many of us have had to learn the first 20 or so lines of the prologue in Middle English as an English assignment， and then read only excerpts for the rest of class？ I hate when challenging English texts are taught this way。 It's exactly in this manner that kids come to hate the classics like Paradise Lost， which was apparently so difficult to understand that they would only ask us to read maybe 50 lines of an excerpt for an assignment， as if we could get the picture of the work from sampling a few famous passages。 When I actually read Paradise Lost as an adult， it became my favorite book in English， period。 And it has a sense of humour that （for me） still shines through。 It's amazing how actually reading the whole story can do that for you when a 50-line excerpt can make the book seem deadly boring。And with the Canterbury Tales it's interesting to have that same sensation for a different reason。 In school， they focus on some of the more charming sections like the Prologue and the Miller's tale （"See kids？ Even old-timey poets had farces and potty humour！"）。 Reading the whole work end-to-end let me see the bad beside the good， though。 Some of the stories aren't good here。 Sometimes he's clearly working hard on the poetry， sometimes it feels like he's phoning it in。Definitely a worthwhile read， but it's an imperfect work in addition to being an incomplete work。 I can't wait to read something of his that he completed to his satisfaction。 。。。more
Heitor Duarte Derisso
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Simplesmente genial。 Eu não tenho sequer o que dizer de tão icônico que esse livro é de começo ao fim: ele possui tantas camadas de interpretação， que eu sequer sei se eu consegui entender metade do que o Chaucer propôs com essas histórias。O Conto do Beleguim foi simplesmente o melhor e eu amo como um texto da Inglaterra Medieval consegue falar coisas do tipo "você não encontraria os padres vagando no inferno pois o lugar deles é literalmente dentro da bunda do Diabo"。。。Eu acho que aí tem muito Simplesmente genial。 Eu não tenho sequer o que dizer de tão icônico que esse livro é de começo ao fim: ele possui tantas camadas de interpretação， que eu sequer sei se eu consegui entender metade do que o Chaucer propôs com essas histórias。O Conto do Beleguim foi simplesmente o melhor e eu amo como um texto da Inglaterra Medieval consegue falar coisas do tipo "você não encontraria os padres vagando no inferno pois o lugar deles é literalmente dentro da bunda do Diabo"。。。Eu acho que aí tem muito material pra aprofundar pois， como mesmo o Chaucer indica， ele se propõe a contar histórias "reais"， então isso já poderia supor que:1） ele está se eximindo da responsabilidade acerca do que ele está narrando; ou2） as personagens são tão palpáveis e reais que elas conseguem contar suas histórias com base em suas diversas realidades， como uma freira contando uma história edificante， enquanto que um cavaleiro conta uma história sobre heróis e honra。Essa leitura foi prazerosa e surpreendentemente fluida pois a tradução publicada pela CIA das Letras foi bem feita。 Eu estou surpreso porquebesperava ficar bem mais entediado， na realidade。 。。。more
Lini Renieris
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I really liked all of the stories and characters！ Definitely would recommend。
Jennifer Foreman
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A classic， but hoo boy is the Middle English tough！
Lora
，
tehee quod she， and clapte the window to
Elizabeth R。
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Traumatic reading requirement in high school honors English
Purya Rabet
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Ambiguous， problematic， brilliant。
Walter Polashenski
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This was even more fun than I thought it would be
Reigne
，
I really， really enjoyed this。 If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on Novel Star， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top
Jon Anderson
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Often funny， always revealing
TiffanyLamp
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If you could read this by audiobook， please do。 This melodic poetry put flowers in my hair。 Of course， I had to stop and reflect after each tale。 Discovering the humor in classic literature is a joy that I'll take over a quick read any day。 If you could read this by audiobook， please do。 This melodic poetry put flowers in my hair。 Of course， I had to stop and reflect after each tale。 Discovering the humor in classic literature is a joy that I'll take over a quick read any day。 。。。more
Finola
，
geoff put the pen down please
Gourang Ambulkar
，
CAVEAT - My review is based on the translation done by Peter Ackroyd。 I trust that he has retained the gist and spirit of the original poetic rendition and hasn't spiced up/down the original theme。Well。 I started this book thinking that it might have some kind of tragic / comic stories bordering on the lines of Shakespeare。 But boy， was I surprised。 This is a collection of mostly bawdy， lewd and some bordering outright yellow pages type stories， sprinkled with some that flaunt virtues for good m CAVEAT - My review is based on the translation done by Peter Ackroyd。 I trust that he has retained the gist and spirit of the original poetic rendition and hasn't spiced up/down the original theme。Well。 I started this book thinking that it might have some kind of tragic / comic stories bordering on the lines of Shakespeare。 But boy， was I surprised。 This is a collection of mostly bawdy， lewd and some bordering outright yellow pages type stories， sprinkled with some that flaunt virtues for good measure。 From what I have read elsewhere， Chaucer has tried to represent the England of his day， as he saw it。 If that is true， then one can only imagine that it perhaps was the shadow of the dark ages still lingering on。 Beware， those of my friends， who bear proudly the flag of feminism， many stories and ideas conveyed in about all stories relating to women， would be repulsive， to put it mildly， for your principles。 I can't believe the reason why so much praise has been showered on this。 Perhaps that speaks about how lacking Vernacular English literature was in those times。On a funny note though Chaucer seems to have a witty intellect as is evident by his ingenious 'Karma' comebacks in some of the stories。 All in all it was a fun and a light read。 But I was left expecting some more。 My impression is that this could at best qualify for a poor man's Arabian Nights。Definitely not something that kids should be allowed to lay their hands on till they fully understand the historical context of the era in which this book was written。 。。。more
Veronica
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3。5- I read this book for a class and it was really enjoyable and especially interesting to see one author write such vastly different characters and stories all with different voices and intriguing stories wife of bath carried the book in terms of personality but I’m really not sure who won the story-telling competition at the end of the day
Monica
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Such a treasure each one of these books is。 I love it。 You can join in NovelStar writing contest happening this April till the end of May with a theme werewolf。 The details are in the link。 You can also publish your stories in NovelStar， just email our editors hardy@novelstar。top， joye@novelstar。top， or lena@novelstar。top。
Amio Hans
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Liked the story。 The sentences has written as if it is a poem。 Every sentence has a deep meaning。
Mariana
，
¡Me encantó！ Cada historia tiene su esencia y todas son muy buenas。 La última que leí fue "Constancia" y me impactó el matrimonio entre una cristiana y un musulmán。 ¡Me encantó！ Cada historia tiene su esencia y todas son muy buenas。 La última que leí fue "Constancia" y me impactó el matrimonio entre una cristiana y un musulmán。 。。。more
Taylor
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I read the original verisons and it was like reading a drunken Scottish toddler。
Rory Saunders
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Tough read to be honest。 Some of the stories were fantastic and others were dry。 Chaucer doesn't hold up like Shakespeare does， and seems much more academic with all the references to mythology and saints。It was much more lewd and debauched than I expected， and many of the stories were funny。Overall， I wouldn't recommend it unless you are studying English lit or have a particular interest in the subject matter。 Tough read to be honest。 Some of the stories were fantastic and others were dry。 Chaucer doesn't hold up like Shakespeare does， and seems much more academic with all the references to mythology and saints。It was much more lewd and debauched than I expected， and many of the stories were funny。Overall， I wouldn't recommend it unless you are studying English lit or have a particular interest in the subject matter。 。。。more
Lorrany
，
Esse livro foi uma surpresa， tive que ler alguns contos para a faculdade e realmente não imaginei gostar da escrita do Chaucer; porém， gostei tanto das histórias， que resolvi ler o livro todo。 Acredito que a tradução/adaptação em prosa tenha facilitado bastante minha compreensão， talvez em verso eu não teria tanta facilidade para entender cada uma das histórias。 Achei bem interessante que， mesmo se tratando de contos medievais， muitas temáticas ainda são atuais。 Recomendado！
Tim Poth
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Some stories i loved， some didnt do it for me but overall really enjoyed。
Ammy Dollete
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Author's way of storytelling is so good， i suggest you join novelstar's writing competition on april。 Author's way of storytelling is so good， i suggest you join novelstar's writing competition on april。 。。。more
Daisy
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Muy buen libro， me hizo recordar a Shakespeare en la forma de escribir 。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Canterbury Tales
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Canterbury Tales&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Canterbury Tales&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0