Reviews

I only read: The "General Prologue", the "Miller's Tale", the "Reeve's Tale", the "Pardoner's Tale", the "Wife of Bath's Tale", the "Merchant's Tale", and the "Nun's Priest's Tale". Some of the stories were funny and others were just weird.

katehoffland's review against another edition

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4.0

Wild from start to finish

sweill803's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

basementbf's review against another edition

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4.0

i had to read the book in middle english back in my senior year of high school, but fortunately, we have access to the internet in the 21st century so i actually managed to read AND understand a translation of chaucer’s canterbury tales.

i was torn between giving this a 3 or 4 stars and since goodreads doesn’t allow us to give .25-.75 stars, i just gave it a 4.

i’m definitely not a high-brow literature critic by any means, but considering these tales widely inspired and/or influenced both western literature and pop culture of today, i think the 4 stars is warranted.

would i give it a 4 stars if it’s compared to the other classics i’ve read? probably not, but it’d only be based on my preference rather than the fact that this ~800 years old story stood the test of time by articulating a universal sense of life such as lies and deception, lust and love, justice, etc.

if you like history, you’d definitely enjoy researching about this book, geoffrey chaucer, and the context within it. it’s extremely easy to get lost in the historical context of classics, (and by that i mean, falling into the rabbit hole of googling) especially when they’re as old as the canterbury tales, the iliad, the odyssey, etc.

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