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cbagni's review against another edition
3.0
To clarify, the three stars are for this version, not the Tales themselves. This specific version has a lot of spelling errors and the translation takes a LOT of liberties, often adding details that are not in the original. Seems like someone crapped this translation out under deadline and no one proofread it—plus, it’s not the full text. It’s abridged.
So, eh. It was ok.
So, eh. It was ok.
megwallitsch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
mikelangan's review against another edition
3.0
Words of advice; the book is written in rhyming couplets, make sure you buy a good translation rather than working through the words as written by Chaucer. To gain its full effect I would recommend buying a good audio version performed by accomplished actors. It makes all the difference and enhances the understanding and enjoyment of the various tales.
Chaucer is effectively the scribe recording the tales of various individuals on pilgrimage to Canterbury. It a clever mechanism that allows the exploration of a wide spectrum of society from the knight to the pardoner – a man who sells ‘pardons’ for sins (would be very handy for politicians, if they were ever to inadvertently tell a slight untruth).
It has been suggested that the tales represent Chaucer’s exploration of the role of chance in human affairs. How much does a person control his/her destiny? Is success or failure a matter of chance and circumstance or can one influence matters by your efforts and actions.
Chaucer’s skill lay in his ability to vividly portray his characters, their way of life and also the interaction within groups and society. More than 20 pilgrims tell their tales which contain a surprising amount of humour together with an undercurrent of disagreements and one-upmanship between the story tellers. The tensions wrought from class awareness are also evident.
Would I recommend it? On balance, I think not – it is different and important because of its place in English literature but it was a bit of a slog and the rhyming couplets lose their flow and impact unless read out loud (which might get some enquiring glances on a commuter train).
Chaucer is effectively the scribe recording the tales of various individuals on pilgrimage to Canterbury. It a clever mechanism that allows the exploration of a wide spectrum of society from the knight to the pardoner – a man who sells ‘pardons’ for sins (would be very handy for politicians, if they were ever to inadvertently tell a slight untruth).
It has been suggested that the tales represent Chaucer’s exploration of the role of chance in human affairs. How much does a person control his/her destiny? Is success or failure a matter of chance and circumstance or can one influence matters by your efforts and actions.
Chaucer’s skill lay in his ability to vividly portray his characters, their way of life and also the interaction within groups and society. More than 20 pilgrims tell their tales which contain a surprising amount of humour together with an undercurrent of disagreements and one-upmanship between the story tellers. The tensions wrought from class awareness are also evident.
Would I recommend it? On balance, I think not – it is different and important because of its place in English literature but it was a bit of a slog and the rhyming couplets lose their flow and impact unless read out loud (which might get some enquiring glances on a commuter train).
cmbohn's review against another edition
1.0
This is for the new version translated by Burton Raffel that was offered here as an Early Review.
At first, the new format was not my favorite. I really like the rhythm and feel of the original. But I never actually finished the Middle English version, and I did finish this one, so maybe that's because of the translation.
I have to say that I really didn't like it though. Nothing wrong with the translation itself. It was the subject matter.
First of all, it struck me as funny that they were on a religious pilgrimage, and yet they were so, well, irreverent! The rather bawdy humor in some of the stories didn't exactly fit the picture of religious pilgrims.
Another thing that seemed kind of strange was the way they kept referring to the Roman gods and goddesses. It was kind of an odd mixture.
But my biggest objection was the way women were portrayed. Some of the stories were just plain goofy, really. I hated the stories of Cecilia and Griselda. And even though I really like the wife of Bath, I thought her story was just plain goofy. A knight rapes a girl and the king wants him executed. But the queen and her ladies beg for mercy for him because he's good looking. So he gets a reprieve in time to travel the country, finding out what women want. Well, not to be raped would be pretty high on my list. But then he does it, and escapes, and blah, blah, blah.
Over and over again, I was bothered by how far out from modern society the attitudes were in this book. I just wasn't able to make the leap required to enjoy this book at all. I'm just glad it's done!
At first, the new format was not my favorite. I really like the rhythm and feel of the original. But I never actually finished the Middle English version, and I did finish this one, so maybe that's because of the translation.
I have to say that I really didn't like it though. Nothing wrong with the translation itself. It was the subject matter.
First of all, it struck me as funny that they were on a religious pilgrimage, and yet they were so, well, irreverent! The rather bawdy humor in some of the stories didn't exactly fit the picture of religious pilgrims.
Another thing that seemed kind of strange was the way they kept referring to the Roman gods and goddesses. It was kind of an odd mixture.
But my biggest objection was the way women were portrayed. Some of the stories were just plain goofy, really. I hated the stories of Cecilia and Griselda. And even though I really like the wife of Bath, I thought her story was just plain goofy. A knight rapes a girl and the king wants him executed. But the queen and her ladies beg for mercy for him because he's good looking. So he gets a reprieve in time to travel the country, finding out what women want. Well, not to be raped would be pretty high on my list. But then he does it, and escapes, and blah, blah, blah.
Over and over again, I was bothered by how far out from modern society the attitudes were in this book. I just wasn't able to make the leap required to enjoy this book at all. I'm just glad it's done!
penwiper's review against another edition
3.0
Done at last. Lots of weird stories in this book. The knight's tale at the beginning is the longest and arguably the most boring of the lot, but that's coming off rewatching a Colosseum tournament in a show that lasted over fifty twenty minute episodes, so I was already done with mock battles. :-) That said, my goodness, Chaucer doesn't pull his punches in some places, especially with the Pardoner's Tale. Having just been studying Martin Luther for the past couple of months in Protestant church history I found it even more interesting. The Miller's tale was also weird and strange as promised.
The ending of this version is quite abrupt, and I'm sure that's deliberately done since the story was never finished.
The modern version of this is not translated word for word, it's more loosely based than that. I'd say the modern version is similar to The Message vs King James, but it helped me figure out what the heck was going on in some passages and gave some clues to some of the more mystifying bits. I like Shakespeare. I can read KJV. Chaucer is much harder to grok without a bit of help.
Well, I can say I read Canterbury Tales now.
The ending of this version is quite abrupt, and I'm sure that's deliberately done since the story was never finished.
The modern version of this is not translated word for word, it's more loosely based than that. I'd say the modern version is similar to The Message vs King James, but it helped me figure out what the heck was going on in some passages and gave some clues to some of the more mystifying bits. I like Shakespeare. I can read KJV. Chaucer is much harder to grok without a bit of help.
Well, I can say I read Canterbury Tales now.
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