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A review by wuthrinheights
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I've heard of the title before, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to get it. I didn't really know what to expect but boy, am I happy I got it. (My copy was a used one, and the previous owner wrote great notes in the first 60ish pages. I was sad when they stopped writing, because they were so helpful.)
It was surprisingly a fun read. The modern translation by Coghill was really easy to digest, and it was just fun, silly story after another. Medieval knights fighting each other over love, splashes of Greek mythology, the use of astrology, stories done in rhymes.
And it genuinely made me smile whenever Chaucer would pause telling his stories to focus on describing some things like the details of a temple. Or when there are breaks between the tales where the characters in the tavern would discuss the stories, or pick who gets to tell a story. It was such a fascinating read.
There were a LOT of stories in here, and my rating isn't that high because for a lot of them, I wasn't really that interested in the plot. But often, they would have great lines in between so I enjoyed the book in general. The Clerk's Tale, The Manciple's Tale, The Summoner's Prologue, and The Knight's Tale were my favourite though.
I think if I were to pick this up again, I'm going to need to annotate and analyse them a lot. A lot flew over my head and if I had more time, I would try to dissect each story to immerse myself better. But this first time was pretty fun so I'm not complaining! It was great to be introduced to Chaucer.
It was surprisingly a fun read. The modern translation by Coghill was really easy to digest, and it was just fun, silly story after another. Medieval knights fighting each other over love, splashes of Greek mythology, the use of astrology, stories done in rhymes.
And it genuinely made me smile whenever Chaucer would pause telling his stories to focus on describing some things like the details of a temple. Or when there are breaks between the tales where the characters in the tavern would discuss the stories, or pick who gets to tell a story. It was such a fascinating read.
There were a LOT of stories in here, and my rating isn't that high because for a lot of them, I wasn't really that interested in the plot. But often, they would have great lines in between so I enjoyed the book in general. The Clerk's Tale, The Manciple's Tale, The Summoner's Prologue, and The Knight's Tale were my favourite though.
I think if I were to pick this up again, I'm going to need to annotate and analyse them a lot. A lot flew over my head and if I had more time, I would try to dissect each story to immerse myself better. But this first time was pretty fun so I'm not complaining! It was great to be introduced to Chaucer.